Comcast announces 2 gigabit connection will be available in parts of Oregon by the end of the year.
BY JACOB PALMER | DIGITAL NEWS EDITOR
Comcast announced its plans to provide an Internet service that promises 2-gigabit per second speed.
The company is aiming to implement the connection later in the year, OregonLive.com reports.
CenturyLink is already rolling out 1-gigabit service in parts of Portland, and Frontier Communications offers gigabit connections to a small number of its customers in suburban Portland. Google Fiber has spent 15 months evaluating the possibility of bringing its gigabit service to the Portland area but hasn’t set a timetable for making a decision. Connections that fast are overkill in nearly every household, at least for now. But fast Internet speeds hold enormous marketing power, as the fervor around Google Fiber has demonstrated. And as viewers demand more online video, and connected appliances and other Internet services emerge, they will place ever-greater demand on residential broadband.
Comcast announced its 2 gigabit rollout in April and said it would serve 18 million homes in 2015, but hadn’t said until Thursday whether Portland would be part of its rollout plan. Nationally, Comcast said the 2-gig service will be available in 650,000 homes in 2015.
Comcast has 600,000 subscribers in Oregon and Southwest Washington.
From the Portland Business Journal:
“We will continue to increase speeds to stay ahead of customer demands and to provide a wide range of options that meet customer needs,” Rodrigo Lopez, regional senior VP of Comcast Cable’s Oregon and Southwest Washington region, said in a release.
“The introduction of 2 Gig residential speeds by Comcast is an incredibly positive development for people who live, work and play throughout the region,” added Sandra McDonough, president and CEO of the Portland Business Alliance.
Puget Sound-based Wave Broadband is also looking to join the high-speed Internet wars in Oregon.
OregonLive.com writes:
“We are basically doubling the pace of our fiber expansion,” said Wave founder and chief executive Steve Weed.
Most of that new fiber will be dedicated to businesses and government agencies, but Wave is also seeking apartments and condos in the Portland area that want superfast, gigabit Internet service, joining what could be a surprisingly competitive market for residential broadband connections.
The company said it hopes to add 500 miles of fiber-optic cable in Oregon, adding to its 5,000-mile network along the West Coast.
