Comcast Roundup: Philly gets faster Internet speeds, a cable guy gets arrested and More

Every Thursday morning, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup.

Philly, your life just got a little more Comcastic.

Comcast has completed its local rollout of “wideband” internet, introducing two new premium tiers of service.

Extreme 50, the higher tier, offers up to 50 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload. The lower tier, Ultra, offers 22 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up.

In other words, customers in the metropolitan area will soon be able to turn their Internet connections up to 11. The fastest current offering is 16 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.

The company has been upgrading our tubes since December 2008 and has already covered 50 percent of the nation with the upgraded DOCSIS 3.0 network.

After the jump, a Comcast tech is in to bondage, Comcast helps you go green and how you will soon be able to buy hapiness for under $7 a month.
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Comcast CEO gives the Internet a hug at The Cable Show

Brian Roberts (far left) sits on a panel about new media at The Cable Show.

Comcast CEO Brian Roberts had the honor of being a panelist at the cable industry trade show in Washington. All of the cable big wigs are slated to attend the event hosted by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, including News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch.

According to reports, Roberts used his time to persuade his colleagues that the Internet is not the enemy and is another avenue for monitization. The cable industry has been abuzz over customers canceling pricey cable packages in favor of getting media via broadband Internet connections. The practice, known as “cord-cutting” in cable-company-speak, has had an impact on cable companies. Many companies are also suffering because of cost-cutting consumers not renewing service to save money, and the Center-City based Comcast is no exception. As covered previously in Technically Philly, the company lost 233,000 cable subscribers last quarter.

Of the five member panel, Roberts was the most supportive of placing video online.
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Comcast rolling out faster Internet speeds, but not in Philly

Comcast, our friendly neighborhood telecommunications giant, has announced it is rolling out faster Internet speeds, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

As you might expect, the Center City-based company is starting its transition from broadband to what it calls wideband in the heart of Philadelphia — South Jersey.

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