Comcast set to launch DOCSIS 3.1-powered 1-gig services in Chicago

Comcast remains right on schedule with its rollout of DOCSIS 3.1 network infrastructure, today announcing that the technology is now powering 1-gigabit-speed internet services in Chicago.

The Chicago announcement marks the third DOCSIS 3.1 deployment for Comcast, which already rolled out 1 Gbps services in Atlanta and Nashville. The MSO said its DOCSIS 3.1 conversions would hit Chicago, Detroit and Miami, Fla. in the second half of this year. 

Comcast will offer Chicagoans 1 Gbps service for $140 a month but also said it would test promotional pricing. 

The cable company has already been offering its far more expensive ($300 a month) fiber-based 2 Gbps service, Gigabit Pro, in Chicago since last year. 

In the Windy City, Comcast is competing with AT&T, which began offering its 1 Gbps GigaPower service in the region last year. AT&T said the service is now available in about 125,000 Chicago-area homes. Comcast is also facing new competition in Chicago, with upstart cable company Layer3 TV staking an early claim in the area.

Last month, Comcast said it will invest $100 million in network improvements for both Chicago-area residential and business customers over the next three years. The MSO said it will bring 50 miles of cable to seven square miles of downtown Chicago including the Loop, River North and River West, making it the largest single concentrated fiber expansion in the company's history.

"We're delivering gigabit speeds over the network that already passes millions of homes in the Chicago area," said John Crowley, senior VP of Comcast’s Chicago region. "Our commitment to providing customers with a great experience is front and center with this announcement, and we're proud that Comcast's Chicago area customers will be among the first in the world to have access to this new Gigabit technology.”

For more:
- read this Comcast press release
- read this Chicago Tribune story

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