Comcast Corporation (CMCSA) – the largest cable MSO in the U.S.– has decided to boost the speed of three of its XFINITY Internet service plans namely, Blast!, Performance and Extreme 50, at no extra cost.
At present, customers residing in Calif will be able to increase the Internet speed without any additional charge. However, the new service will not be available in few parts of Calif. Moreover, subscribers require 3.0 modem to avail the increased speed.
Comcast is increasing its Blast! Plan downstream speed from 25 Mbps to up to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds from 4 Mbps to up to 10 Mbps. Likewise, its Extreme 50 and Performance plans will be offering download speed of 105 and 25 Mbps, respectively, as compared with its earlier speed of 50 and 15 Mbps speed. CMCSA’s upload speed for the two plans will be 20 (from 15 Mbps) and 5 Mbps (2 Mbps), respectively.
Higher adoption of smartphones and tablets coupled with increased deployments of 4GLTE networks has surged the demand for video streaming. Moreover, availability of high definition video content has further created demand for faster network speed.
Besides, evolution of low-cost video streaming companies like Hulu and Netflix, Inc.(NFLX has resulted in a huge drop in cable subscriber growth. Furthermore, large telecom players like AT&T, Inc. (T) and Verizon Communication Inc. (VZ) are offering triple-play services, which include voice, video and Internet through its U-Verse and FiOS TV brand, respectively. This is affecting Comcast’s cable subscriber growth.
So, in order to meet its customer expectation as well as to drive its subscriber growth, Comcast has rolled out DOCSIS 3.0 technology which offers more than 50 Mbps downlink speed. CMCSA also delivers its triple-play services through its popular XFINITY brand, hence countering the threat arising from these large carriers. Besides, CMCSA’s speed of 50 Mbps is much faster than AT&T’s 4GLTE speed of 18 Mbps and Verizon’s 14 Mbps. In addition, CMCSA also provides faster in-home WiFi through its new Xfinity Wireless Gateway.
Currently, Comcast Corporation carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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