Thanks to its all-digital conversion project, Comcast announced today that it has launched more than 70 high-definition channels in areas of Denver, as well as in additional communities in the Centennial State.
Areas of Colorado Springs, Loveland and Longmont have also launched the new HD channels, as well as Parker, Centennial, Lakewood, Golden, Broomfield and Erie. Additional areas to launch in the next few weeks include Denver suburbs Aurora, Arvada, Westminster, Littleton and Englewood.
Comcast spokesperson Cindy Parsons said that the nation’s largest cable operator expects to have the new channels launched across all of its Colorado footprint by year’s end.
The new HD channels that were launched included Discovery HD, BET HD, Cartoon HD, Comedy Central HD, Lifetime HD, Altitude HD and MSNBC HD.
The new HD offerings came under Comcast’s Xfinity branding effort that was announced earlier this year. With the additional channels, Comcast said Xfinity TV offers more than 4,000 HD choices to local customers in the above areas. Comcast is branding its triple-play services with the Xfinity brand market-by-market throughout the year.
“By adding new HD channels and giving our customers Comcast Xfinity TV, Internet and voice, Comcast continues to invest in Colorado to bring the best in entertainment and communications services to our local customers,” said Scott Binder, senior vice president of Comcast Colorado. “Our digital enhancements throughout the state will allow us to provide the top HD entertainment and the most innovative products and services.”
The HD launches were the result of Comcast’s Project Cavalry analog-to-digital conversion, which started in other areas several years ago. Known as the “World of More” to its customers, Project Cavalry frees up additional bandwidth by converting the analog channels to digital. With the additional bandwidth, Comcast has been able to offer more HD, faster DOCSIS 3.0 data tiers and more on-demand choices.
Parsons said Project Cavalry was 60 percent completed in the Colorado region, mostly in the Denver area, along with Loveland, Longmont and Colorado Springs. Cavalry will continue on into the mountain regions and Colorado Springs with completion slated for the end of this year.
With the reclaimed bandwidth, Comcast launched its DOCSIS 3.0-based data service last year in Colorado, but Parson said faster speeds, which are rumored to be 100 Mbps on the downstream, will be launched in Colorado later this year or early next year.
Comcast started Project Cavalry in 2008. In its April first-quarter earnings call, Comcast said it had deployed more than 9 million digital terminal adapter (DTA) devices. The all-digital project has been completed in Portland, Ore., Seattle and San Francisco, and Comcast’s goal is to have it in 80 percent of its systems by year’s end.
