Comcast: 50Mbps speeds to 65% of territory by end of 2009

Comcast hopes to roll out wideband Internet connections to 65 percent of its footprint in the US this year. The cable giant said that it has already introduced beefed-up DOCSIS 3.0 speeds to more than 15 million homes and businesses, roughly 30 percent of its footprint, and its goal is to eventually get its entire footprint up to a minimum of 12Mbps. Comcast noted that its DOCSIS 3.0 rollout was already reaching customers in ten major markets across the US, including the Twin Cities, Boston, parts of New Hampshire, Philadelphia, parts of New Jersey, Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Ft. Wayne, Portland, and Seattle. Many of those markets are fairly recent additions to the list, and the fact that Comcast has already surpassed its October 2008 goal of reaching 10 million homes and businesses is encouraging. By the end of 2009, the company hopes to offer DOCSIS 3.0 capabilities to 30 million homes and businesses, enabling speeds of up to 100Mbps down.