Comcast to double Internet speeds in Philadelphia

Comcast said yesterday that it would double broadband speeds for its customers in the Philadelphia and Boston areas as it competes with Verizon Communications Inc.'s FiOS service and seeks to make its broadband Internet service more attractive to DSL customers.

Many customers in Philadelphia's suburbs, including South Jersey, will get speed upgrade by mid-December. Philadelphia customers should have the faster speeds in the first half of 2009.

Faster speeds will proliferate across Comcast Corp.'s system as the company upgrades transmission facilities. Customers can log on to the Web site

» READ MORE: www.comcast

. com/fastestfast to see if the new speeds have reached their neighborhood.

Comcast says it will not increase broadband bills for the speed upgrade, which will require customers to reboot their modems or take other steps with their equipment.

Average speeds for most Comcast customers will double to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) from 6 Mbps and to 16 Mbps from 8 Mbps. The upload speeds will double to 2 Mbps, or stay at 2 Mbps.

A Comcast customer could download a standard-definition movie in 44 minutes with a 6-Mbps service. That download time is halved with the upgrade.

Mitch Bowling, a Comcast senior vice president, said the speed upgrade was a big step, while Comcast's other broadband-speed upgrades have been evolutionary.

"This allows us to provide the fastest speeds in the country," he said.

Comcast has taken a beating in a marketing battle for broadband customers with Verizon FiOS, whose fiber-to-the-home strategy boasts faster Internet speeds than cable.

Verizon spokesman Cliff Lee said yesterday that the company's base speed was a download of 10 Mbps and an upload of 2 Mbps. Its fastest offering is 50 Mbps for download and 20 Mbps for upload. It also has a popular 20-Mbps download and 20-Mbps upload.

"They're trying to catch us," Lee said. "We're still way out front." He pointed out that the speeds were available now wherever FiOS is available, while many Comcast customers would have to wait for the upgrade.

Bowling said the faster speeds should be available throughout Comcast's system by the end of 2010. Comcast's cable lines pass almost 50 million homes.

The Philadelphia cable giant is introducing two premium broadband tiers - Extreme 50 for $139.95 a month and Ultra for $62.95 a month.

Extreme offers speeds of 50 Mbps for downloads and 10-Mbps upstream. Ultra offers 22 Mbps for download an 5 Mbps for upload.