PHILADELPHIA—In a notable milestone in the race to provide much faster broadband services, Comcast has announced that it will begin the world’s first offerings of DOCSIS 4.0 technology to residential customers next week.
The deployment is notable because the latest version of DOCSIS technology is a giant leap forward in Internet connectivity. It will allow Comcast to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds to customers over the connections that already exist in tens of millions of homes in Comcast markets across the country.
As a part of the launch, Comcast will begin rolling out DOCSIS 4.0 to select neighborhoods in Colorado Springs, Colorado and will launch new markets throughout the country over the next few years. Select areas of Atlanta and Philadelphia are expected to begin rolling out before the end of this year.
The initial deployments will provide symmetrical up and download speeds of as much as 2 Gbps and will eventually allow Comcast to offer speeds up to 10 Gbps.
“The ubiquity of our network, which is already accessible to tens of millions of homes, provides us with an incredible opportunity to bring multi-gigabit upload and download speeds to communities across the country with the scale and efficiency that no other provider can replicate,” said Dave Watson, president & CEO, Comcast Cable. “Our connectivity experience, powered by the Xfinity 10G Network, will allow us to deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps over our traditional network to virtually all our customers, plus even better reliability, lower latency, and the best in-home WiFi coverage. We’re entering the next phase of this industry leadership with DOCSIS 4.0 technology to introduce X-Class Internet products that will revolutionize the way our customers get online today and many years into the future.”
Symmetrical 10 Gbps service based on fiber-to-the-home technology is already available in all of Comcast’s markets, and as part of its continued network evolution, Comcast reported.
New and existing residential customers connected via DOCSIS 4.0 will have access to Comcast’s newly introduced next-generation X-Class Internet portfolio. X-Class speed tiers include X-300 Mbps, X-500 Mbps, X-1 Gbps and X-2 Gbps upload and download speeds and low lag for the ultimate live sports streaming experience on Peacock, smooth connections on work calls, and ultra-responsive gaming, the operator said.
“The enhancements that we have been making to our network over the past few years have been foundational to creating an award-winning network architecture that is fully virtualized and capable of delivering these exciting capabilities to our customers,” said Elad Nafshi, chief network officer, Comcast Cable. “This is an awesome achievement and I’m incredibly proud of the team of brilliant technologists here at Comcast who have worked relentlessly to make DOCSIS 4.0 a reality ahead of schedule.”
Comcast reported that the operators deployment of DOCSIS 4.0 leverages breakthrough network technology known as “Full Duplex” that utilizes the same network spectrum to dramatically increase upstream speeds without sacrificing downstream speeds.
The operator also noted that the DOCSIS 4.0 launch is the latest in a long line of world firsts that Comcast has spearheaded in the effort to implement DOCSIS 4.0. In April 2021, Comcast conducted the first-ever live test of full duplex DOCSIS and later that year tested the world’s first 10G connection all the way from the network to a modem. In 2022, Comcast conducted a world-first live trial and connected a business location in the Philadelphia region to its live network including a DOCSIS 4.0-enabled 10G node and multiple cable modems. In February 2023, the company marked another major milestone in the nation’s largest and fastest multi-gig deployment by announcing its latest Xfinity 10G Network upgrade launched to 10 million homes and businesses.
Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) was first introduced in 1997 as a solution for high-speed data to be transmitted over existing cable wires, replacing dial-up phone lines for an Internet connection. In early 2016, Comcast was the first to introduce DOCSIS 3.1-powered Gigabit Internet service and rapidly expanded Gigabit speeds across the country to more locations than any other provider, the operator said.
