Comcast announces 2Gbps upstream and downstream symmetrical broadband, the first to reach millions of people in the United States

IT House reported on September 11 that North American operator Comcast plans to roll out gigabit bandwidth to 34 cities across the United States by the end of this year, and will expand its coverage to more than 50 million by the end of 2025. households, making it the largest and fastest multi-gigabit Internet deployment in U.S. history. As part of this plan, Comcast is accelerating the transition of its network to 10G and DOCSIS 4.0 cloud virtualization architectures, and Comcast will begin offering 10G-enabled multi-gigabit symmetric services in 2023. In the latest press release, the company announced that it has begun rolling out 2Gbps plans over its broadband network in Colorado Springs, CO; Augusta, Georgia; Panama City Beach, Florida; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Modem upgrade required. Users in these cities can also enjoy upload speeds that are five to 10 times faster than current broadband, Comcast said. Upload speeds top out at 200Mbps, but Comcast plans to upgrade to higher speeds next year, which will bring download and upload peer-to-peer 2,000Mbps-class speeds, otherwise known as Gigabit 2x service. According to reports, although fiber-optic networks are expected to achieve symmetrical uploads and downloads, cable TV has fallen behind in this regard. With DOCSIS 4.0, a high-bandwidth broadband standard that allows up to 10Gbps downloads and 6Gbps uploads, providers such as Comcast can achieve symmetrical upstream and downstream connections over data lines. Comcast is currently transitioning to the new standard and achieved symmetrical upload and download speeds of 4Gbps in a network test in January. While companies like AT&T, Frontier, Verizon and Google are expanding their fiber networks, the service is still largely limited to users located in metropolitan areas. For those who need a faster connection, chances are they're not in an area where fiber is available. Erard Nafhi, executive vice president of Comcast Cable, said customers will need to upgrade their modems once Comcast rolls out upstream and downstream symmetrical service next year.