Today, Comcast announced it is making the leap from broadband to wideband with the launch of next-generation DOCSIS 3.0 in the metro Richmond, Va., area.
This month, Comcast will begin to roll out the new services to residential homes and businesses throughout the communities it serves in the metro Richmond area, including the city of Richmond, as well as Chesterfield, Goochland, Hanover, Henrico and Powhatan counties. Comcast said the entire Richmond area is expected to have wideband in the first quarter of this year.
And yesterday, Comcast launched its DOCSIS 3.0 tiers in the Michigan cities of Battle Creek, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights and Holt.
DSLReports.com said additional deployments in the Great Lake State were slated for Auburn Hills, Birmingham, Canton, Madison Heights, Plymouth and Rochester on Jan. 19. The rollout continues on Jan. 26 into north and west Ann Arbor, New Haven and Ypsilanti.
Comcast has rolled out the faster DOCSIS 3.0-enabled tiers in more than 80 percent of its footprint and hopes to have it in close to 100 percent of its footprint by the end of the year.
Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 tiers are Extreme 50 and Ultra. Extreme features download speeds of up to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds of 10 Mbps for $99.95 per month with a subscription to Comcast’s video or voice services. Ultra has a downstream speed of 22 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up at a cost of $62.95 per month when paired with the company’s video or voice offerings.
In Michigan and Virginia, Comcast also increased the speeds for its existing Performance tier residential customers, who will now benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively, while the Performance Plus tier increased to 16 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.
Earlier this week, Comcast deployed its beta bandwidth meter in Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., according to DSLReports.
Comcast also recently announced that Hank Fore was promoted to regional vice president of the Oregon/SW Washington Region. Fore will report directly to Comcast West Division President Steve White and will oversee all aspects of Comcast’s video, high-speed Internet and telephone operations from Longview, Wash., to Eugene, Ore., serving more than 600,000 customers and managing about 2,100 employees. Fore has started his new job and is based out of the company’s Beaverton, Ore., office.
Fore joined Oregon from Comcast’s East Bay Area market in California, where he most recently served as area vice president. In this position, he held management responsibilities for about 500,000 customers and 1,100 employees. Under Fore’s leadership, he immediately focused on improving the customer experience, improving the local technical operations metrics, including on-time arrival of technicians and repeat trouble calls.
Comcast said Fore successfully launched a number of advanced services to his customers, adding Comcast Digital Voice, expanding HD and VOD options, and increasing high-speed Internet speeds.
“I’m honored to join such a customer-focused and technologically innovative team,” Fore said. “I look forward to working with Comcast’s outstanding employees in Oregon and southwest Washington to further improve Comcast’s relationship with our customers and bring them even more exciting technologies and entertainment.”
Fore is a West Point graduate and began his career with the United States Armed Forces, holding numerous positions. Ultimately, he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army before deciding to retire to pursue a career in the private sector, serving as an executive in technology roles at Times Mirror and International Network Services.
Prior to joining Comcast, Fore served as a regional vice president at Lucent Technologies, where he oversaw technical support services.