Comcast Expands DOCSIS 3.0 Reach In Northern California

Comcast this week will offer ultra-fast Internet service based on the cable industry's DOCSIS 3.0 technology to 27 more communities in Northern California, as the operator is shooting to deploy "wideband" services to nearly 80% of its footprint nationwide by the end of the year.

As it has in other DOCSIS 3.0 markets, the MSO will offer two new tiers of service -- Extreme 50, with up to 50 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up, and Ultra (22/5 Mbps) -- and will double top speeds for existing Performance tier customers to 12 Mbps down and 2 Mbps up.

Comcast previously deployed wideband in the San Francisco Bay Area, Monterey-Salinas and several portions of the Central Valley earlier this year.

Beginning Dec. 23, the operator will offer the DOCSIS 3.0-based services to residential homes and businesses in the following cities and areas: Beale Air Force Base, Biggs, Butte County, Chico, Colusa, Corning, Durham, Grass Valley, Gridley, Hamilton City, Lake Wildwood, Linda, Live Oaks, Magalia, Marysville, Nevada City, Nevada County, Olivehurst, Orland, Oroville, Palermo, Paradise, Penn Valley, Sutter, Wheatland, Willows and Yuba City.

For residential customers, Extreme 50 is priced at $99.95 per month and Ultra is $62.95 per month (both bundled prices with a cable TV subscription). The higher-speed tiers are subject to the same 250-Gigabyte monthly usage cap that Comcast has in place for all broadband subscribers.