Comcast announced that starting in May it will be providing residential Gigabit Pro 2Gbps (gigabits per second) to over 1.5 million Atlanta customers. Its new Internet service surpasses Google Fiber and AT&T GigaPower.
Comcast will expand the Internet service to 18 million homes by the end of 2015. A gigabit is equal to one billion bits of data.
Comcast has already boosted its Internet speeds 13 times during the past 13 years. This has primarily been over coaxial (3D) cable.
The mass media giant's Gigabit Pro puts it in direct competition with At&T GigaPower and Google Fiber, but provides twice their Internet speeds. Gigabit Pro's lightning-fast speed is also four times faster than its current fiber-optic ISP (Internet Service Provider) home service.
AT&T GigaPower has been launched in cities throughout North Carolina and Texas. It plans to expand its services to 11 cities, including Atlanta.
Meanwhile, Google Fiber has plans to expand its fiber optic ISP service to Atlanta, Charlotte; and Nashville. It is already available in Kansas City and Austin.
Verizon announced recently that it will boost its 100Gbps fiber-optic network to various metro regions. Experts predict that the company is likely also preparing to provide fiber-optic ISP to businesses and homes.
Comcast stated that homes close to Comcast's fiber-optic network can purchase Gigabit Pro. They will still require the installation of "professional-grade" equipment, according to The Verge.
Marcien Jenckes, a Comcast vice president, said that the company has spent a "decade" constructing a 145,000-mile (233,350 km) national fiber-optics network. It also has plans next year to launch new 1Gbps networking technology.
Jeff Kagan, a technology analyst, observed that the "vast majority" of Internet users do not need 2Gbps. However, the cable TV industry is "falling," causing Comcast to expand its services to super fast Internet connections, according to Computer World.
Chattanooga, Tennessee has the U.S.'s fastest Internet connection, averaging downloads of 1Gbps, while the national average is 34.4 megabits per second.
Comcast was founded in 1963, and currently has 22 million Internet and cable TV customers. The mass media company is the world's biggest broadcasting and cable company, in terms of revenue.