Comcast ups ante in Twin Cities with 1,400 hot spots, cloud DVR service, and more

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) continues to respond to growing competitive pressure in the Minnesota/Twin Cities region, announcing a range of service enhancements that include the addition of 1,400 local Wi-Fi hot spots, cloud DVR service and a $15 million investment into the MSO's business services network.

Users of Comcast's X1 platform in the Twin Cities area will now be able to utilize live in-home streaming of all video content available on their set-top box. They will also be able to use cloud DVR technology to access content from any connected location.

The 1,400 hot spots, meanwhile, will be installed in "high-traffic locations" such as public parks and recreation areas, retail outlets and transit stops, with full deployment slated for the end of the year.

Subscribers in the area will also now receive what Comcast is touting as a "simplified" billing statement.

The service ramp-up follows Comcast's announcement in January that it is offering 2 Gbps broadband services in the Twin Cities area. 

Minneapolis has become a hotbed of broadband competition lately. CenturyLink, for example, previously announced plans to bring its 1 Gbps FTTH service and Prism IPTV services to parts of the Twin Cities area. The Minneapolis City Council approved CenturyLink's video franchise agreement a year ago, giving consumers an alternative to Comcast for video services.

US Internet, meanwhile, has upped the ante further with a 10 Gbps service that it offers to part of the city. The service provider also has a 1 Gbps service with plans to roll out 2.5 and 5 Gbps tiers in 2016.

For more:
- read this Comcast press release

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