[1st-mile-nm] Comcast offers Utah customers 1-Gig internet

Thu Apr 27 12:40:18 PDT 2017

The article has many shortcoming and is a reminder of how much bad /
incomplete reporting there is even in a time when all journalism and
reporting are being cut back. Somehow there is still time to do puff pieces
on the most powerful companies on the planet.

Guessing that those areas where you can get the new service for half price
are the areas that already have some comparable service.

This is being marketed as a gig but it is a gig in one direction. In other
markets, the fastest upstream speeds are something like 35 Mbps. So you
 get 1,000 in one direction, 35 in the other. Want to do off-site backup?
Too bad. You can't take full advantage of the downstream because the
upstream is congested, too bad.

You want to talk about bandwidth caps?  Well the reporter didn't.

But we have yet another reporter making it seem like Comcast is so amazing
because they cannot be bothered to understand just how limited the Comcast
product is, overpriced, and generally totally unimpressive when compared to
the companies actually making good investments to serve local businesses
and residents.

Other than that, it is great.

Christopher Mitchell
Director, Community Broadband Networks
Institute for Local Self-Reliance

MuniNetworks.org <http://www.muninetworks.org>
@communitynets
612-276-3456 x209

On Thu, Apr 27, 2017 at 1:21 PM, Richard Lowenberg <rl at 1st-mile.org> wrote:

> This article does not mention UTOPIA, serving the same service areas.
> It will not extend to underserved rural areas of Utah.
> RL
> ----------
>
> Comcast offers Utah customers 1-Gig internet.
> Service available to all areas served by the cable company.
>
> By TOM HARVEY | The Salt Lake Tribune
> Apr 25 2017
>
> http://www.sltrib.com/home/5213417-155/comcast-offers-utah-
> customers-1-gig-internet
>
> Comcast is launching its new 1-gigabit-per-second internet service
> Tuesday, making Utah the first where the cable company has rolled out the
> super fast speeds to all its customers in a single state.
>
> Comcast says anyone in its service area now may order the service, which
> the company is offering in competition with CenturyLink and Google Fiber,
> whose comparable services are available only in certain areas.
>
> While Comcast has been testing the service in other areas, "Utah is the
> first state that gets it rolled out as a whole throughout our entire
> footprint," said Leslie Oliver, director of external affairs.
>
> Many of Comcast's current internet customers receive a 150-megabit service
> now. It can download a two-hour movie in about a minute and a half. With
> the 1-gigabit service, that same movie will take eight seconds to download.
>
> "We just not taking an incremental step here," said Mike Spaulding,
> Comcast's vice president of engineering. "We're taking a step forward in
> terms of speed availability to our consumers."
>
> The cost is planned at $159.95 a month without a contract, but two
> promotions also are being tested to boost participation.
>
> One will offer the service for $70 a month in certain Salt Lake City,
> Provo and North Ogden areas. The other promotion will be for $109.99 a
> month across the rest of the state.
>
> The service runs over the company's existing cable network and requires
> only the installation of a modem with a built-in home wireless network.
>
> It's the wireless component that excites Merlin Jensen, area vice
> president for Utah and Arizona.
>
> "We will have the fastest in-home wireless experience for customers," he
> said.
>
> Comcast's service area stretches north to south from Logan to Spanish
> Fork, and east to west from Park City/Heber City to Tooele.
>
> CenturyLink has been offering super fast internet speeds in Utah starting
> at $79.99 a month. But it's not currently available in all areas served by
> the company, which is building a fiber-optic network.
>
> Company spokeswoman Michelle Jackson said CenturyLink offers 1-gig service
> to more than 100,000 homes and businesses but wouldn't say how many now
> subscribe.
>
> "We are continuing to aggressively expand our gigabit service offering to
> both businesses and residents," she said in a statement, which also said
> slower speeds were sufficient for most consumers.
>
> Google Fiber currently offers 1-gig service in Provo and certain areas of
> Salt Lake City for $70 a month.
>
> The company bought Provo's fiber optic network four years ago and has been
> building a network in Salt Lake City, where it now offers service in
> neighborhoods that include downtown and parts of the university area and
> Sugar House.
>
> Google Fiber also said it is continuing to build its network to serve more
> homes and businesses.
>
> But it's that piecemeal approach, and the need to build out networks
> before even being able to offer the speedy service, that Comcast apparently
> sees as its competitors' vulnerability.
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> Richard Lowenberg, Executive Director
> 1st-Mile Institute     505-603-5200
> Box 8001, Santa Fe, NM 87504,
> rl at 1st-mile.org     www.1st-mile.org
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
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>
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