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Performance Pro speeds climb from 75 to 100 Mbps, and speeds on Blast Pro service rise from 150 to 200 Mbps.

(AP photo)

Comcast says it's boosting speeds by a third Monday for its two most popular internet services.

Speeds for Comcast's Performance Pro tier are climbing from 75 megabits per second to 100 Mbps, and speeds on its Blast Pro service are climbing from 150 Mbps to 200 Mbps. Comcast said 60 percent of its internet subscribers have one of those two plans.

"We want to stay ahead of the needs of our customers so they have a great experience," said Comcast's Oregon spokeswoman, Amy Keiter.

Comcast said the new speeds kick in immediately for the vast majority of customers, though in past years some subscribers have said their scheduled increases were not effective right away.

Prices aren't going up now; Comcast raised rates in September, and those ran from $5 to $8 a month. It typically charges $80 a month for Performance Pro, or $95 a month for Blast Pro. Customers can usually negotiate a better deal - on its website, for example, Comcast advertises Performance Pro for $40 a month for new subscribers who agree to a one-year contract.

Customers usually must reset their modems to achieve the faster speeds, either by pressing a reset button or unplugging the device and then plugging it back in after a few seconds. Comcast said some subscribers who lease modems from the company may need replacements, which are available free, and a small number of customers who own their own modems may need to buy new ones.

Comcast said this marks the 17th time it has increased speeds in the past 15 years. Last year it boosted speeds by as much as 50 percent.

The new speeds are many times faster than the federal broadband standard, 25 Mbps, and are much faster than most households need. As more people stream online video or play interactive games, though, subscribers are placing more demands on their internet services.

Comcast adopted a data cap on internet usage at the beginning of November, limiting most subscribers to 1 terabyte of data per month. Again, that's a great deal more than almost every household uses - equivalent to the capacity of a contemporary PC's entire hard drive. In time, though, new online applications may push more homes up against that threshold.

Starting next year, Comcast says it will offer a new internet plan at 1 gigabit per second. In other markets, it charges $70 a month for gigabit speeds and exempts subscribers from the data cap, provided subscribers commit to a three-year contract.

CenturyLink also offers high-speed internet service in most of Portland, while Frontier Communications serves Washington and east Multnomah counties. Google Fiber had been preparing to enter the Portland market this year, but it dropped those plans last July.

-- Mike Rogoway

mrogoway@oregonian.com

503-294-7699

@rogoway