After announcing deployments in Huntsville, Alabama, and Chattanooga, Tennessee, in recent weeks, Comcast said it will bring DOCSIS 3.1-powered gigabit services to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, later this year.
Like Huntsville and Chattanooga, Tuscaloosa wasn’t on the list of cities Comcast identified as the next deployment targets when it released a list of 11 additional DOCSIS 3.1 cities late last year.
“We’ve been announcing on a market-by-market basis. So, Chattanooga and Tuscaloosa are the two we just announced. Will keep you posted on future markets as they come around,” Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas told FierceCable in an email.
So do deployments into Huntsville and Chattanooga represent a new deployment strategy for Comcast, which seems to be taking on AT&T and Google Fiber in the competition-rich Southern region?
“You’re right. These are both new!” Douglas responded.
RELATED: Comcast rolls out DOCSIS 3.1 in another surprise city, Chattanooga
Comcast last year rolled out DOCSIS 3.1 in Atlanta; Chicago; Nashville, Tennessee, and Miami. Late in the year, Comcast said it would have CableLabs’ next-generation network standard in 15 cities overall by early 2017, with deployments scheduled for:
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Portland, Oregon
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Denver; Indianapolis
- Knoxville, Tennessee
- San Francisco
- San Jose, California
- Salt Lake City
- Seattle
Comcast has been the most aggressive U.S. cable company in terms of deploying the new Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) version. The upgrade requires new modems and gateways in customer homes, as well as within the Cable Modem Termination Systems (CMTS) located at Comcast facilities. Of course, it doesn’t require Comcast to deploy new wiring.
Comcast said it plans to have DOCSIS 3.1 deployed across its entire 39-state footprint by 2018.
“Comcast’s commitment to bringing ultra-fast speeds to Tuscaloosa is a major milestone for our city,” Tuscaloosa Mayor Walter Maddox said in a statement. “We appreciate Comcast’s continued investment in Tuscaloosa, and look forward to enjoying all of the advantages of having the nation’s most advanced technology.”