Comcast Corp. will increase its Internet speed for the D.C. metro area, the company announced Tuesday.
The upgrade should be completed by the end of this year and follows similar upgrades by Comcast in markets across the country.
The updated service will start in neighborhoods in Anacostia and then move to parts of Arlington County, the city of Alexandria, and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. Comcast spokeswoman Aimee Metrick said she couldn’t disclose the number of customers the company serves in the Washington area “because of competitive reasons.”
Nationally, Comcast hopes to reach 30 million homes with the updated wideband service this year.
“By the end, all of our customers will have some increase,” Metrick said.
Comcast is doubling the speed of two of its less expensive Internet plans, Performance and Performance Plus, for free. The two now have the capacity to reach up to 12 and 16 megabits per second.
The new “Extreme 50” service, reaching up to 50 Mbps, will be available for $99.95 per month.
One consumer advocate isn’t impressed by the offer. Mark Cooper, director of research at the Consumer Federation of America and a Comcast subscriber, said he doesn’t think Comcast is really making any competitive steps forward.
“They’re just matching prices,” he said. “There’s no big competitive changes here.”
Cooper cited Comcast and Verizon prices for comparative Internet speeds.
That might be true at the lower price level. But Comcast appears to be offering the 50 Mbps speed access at considerably less than Verizon’s, which runs $139.95 a month.
Comcast’s Metrick was unable to say how much the speed upgrade was costing the company, but said it wouldn’t require it to rebuild its network.
