Comcast is now offering its DOCSIS 3.0-based Deluxe 100 wideband tier to businesses in the Richmond, Va., metropolitan area.
“Comcast continues to invest in its fiber-optic network and next-generation technologies to provide its customers a superior experience,” said Rick Levesque, vice president of operations for Comcast’s southern Virginia area. “With Deluxe 100, our business customers have access to super-fast Internet speeds that will enable them to increase their online efficiency and productivity.”
Deluxe 100, which features downstream speeds of up to 100 Mbps and up to 10 Mbps on the upstream, was previously launched in Comcast’s hometown of Philadelphia, New Jersey, northern Delaware, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Augusta, Ga., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Salt Lake City, Colorado, the Memphis area, Washington State and Oregon.
The 100 Mbps tier is available to Comcast’s business-class customers for $369.95 per month and includes Microsoft Communication Services, which Comcast said was valued at more than $500, and a productivity suite that combines Windows SharePoint and Microsoft Outlook e-mail powered by Microsoft Exchange Server for no additional fee.
Comcast has previously said it was using cable modem termination systems from Arris and customer premises equipment from SMC Networks for its 100 Mbps tier that bonds four downstream channels.
While Comcast doesn’t say how many of its data customers have opted for the residential or business DOCSIS 3.0 tiers, data was a bright spot for the nation’s largest ISP in its most recent earnings report last month.
In the fourth quarter of last year, Comcast’s high-speed Internet revenue increased 10.7 percent, due largely to rate increases and more subscribers opting for faster data tiers. Comcast, the nation’s largest ISP, added 292,000 data customers versus 247,000 in the same quarter a year ago. For the year, Comcast added 1.1 million data subscribers, compared with 1 million in 2009.
On last month’s earnings call, Comcast said it had DOCSIS 3.0 rolled out to more than 85 percent of its footprint.