Comcast bumps up speed for home-Internet users

SAN FRANCISCO  Home Internet users need for speed is about to get a major rush.

Comcast on Thursday announceda new, blur-fast residential service, called Extreme 105, available to consumers in more than 40 million homes in San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Miami, among others.

The service delivers data at 105 megabits per second  more than 60 times faster than a T-1 line, which most businesses rely on, Comcast says.

The new service can download a high-definition movie in 8 minutes, compared with 2 hours and 15 minutes for a standard, 6-mbps Internet connection at home. A TV show would take 20 seconds, instead of 7 minutes.

Comcast hopes to whet the publics insatiable appetite for high bandwidth as more consumers use Internet-connected devices such as televisions, tablet computers, smartphones and gaming consoles at home. Thats borne out in the latest statistics from market researcher Nielsen, which shows nearly 200 million Americans on the Internet in March, up 4% from February.

Last year was the first time more than half of Americans using the Internet had home networks. Some 4.5 million have nine or more online-connectable devices, says Forrester Research.

This speed tier takes (our Internet services) to a whole new level, Cathy Avgiris, senior vice president and general manager of communications and data services at Comcast, said in a phone interview. With it, were powering the digital home of the future.

Cable is catching up with demand for faster connections as a new generation of connected TVs and services such as Netflix take hold, says Forrester analyst James McQuivey. The digital living room has become the digital home. Your kids are watching a movie on Netflix in one room; someone is playing a game in another. There is a need, and demand, for high-performing networks.

Comcasts service isnt the fastest home broadband service. Verizons FiOS offers speeds up to 150 mbps, but it doesnt reach nearly as many homes.

The Extreme 105 mbps service, which also offers uploadable speed of up to 10 mbps, is available for new or existing customers at an introductory price of $105 for 12 months, part of a triple-play bundle.

Service also comes with a wireless home-networking gateway that turns a house into its own Wi-Fi hot spot.

Comcast, which offers its estimated 17 million U.S. Internet customers a variety of broadband speeds, will also offer Extreme 105 on a stand-alone basis.