Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) is all set to significantly increase its existing residential-tier broadband services speed. The existing residential-tier “Extreme” (as it is called) offers 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream speed for a price of $99.95 per month. The new “Extreme 105″ will support 105 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload speed.
However, the new offering will be much costlier to the customers. Extreme 105 will cost $200 per month together with an installation fee of $249. This service is expected to start from early June. Comcast predicted that all of its residential networks will be upgraded to high-speed DOCSIS 3.0 (Wideband) network by mid 2010.
Major beneficiary of this service will be Arris Group Inc. (ARRS). Extreme 105 will require a special Arris WBM760 DOCSIS 3.0 CMTS. Arris is the primary CMTS supplier of Comcast. Nevertheless, business from Comcast to Arris got reduced in recent days due to near completion of DOCSIS 3.0 network implementation. Good market traction of Extreme 105 will also be incrementally positive for Arris.
Successful deployment of Extreme 105 will place Comcast as the fastest broadband service provider in the U.S. As of now, Cablevision Systems Corp. (CVC) offers highest Internet speed of 101 Mbps. Verizon Wireless (VZ) may possibly double the speed of its fiber-based FiOS network to 100 Mbps. Extreme 105 will give Comcast a competitive edge in the market.
Comcast already launched its business-tier Extreme service that offers downstream speed of 100 Mbps and upstream speed of 15 Mbps for a price of $369.95 per month. This DOCSIS 3.0-based network mainly targets small & medium sized enterprises, which is a huge growth area for the cable TV industry.
Industry sources predicted that Comcast is trying hard to develop a super fast Wideband network architecture that will support 250 Mbps download speed. For that, the company needs to install Wideband cable modems that can bond 8 digital downstream channels to create one larger and faster logical pipe to support throughput of 250 Mbps. Broadcom Corp. (BRCM) and Texas Instruments Inc. (TXN) are the two major supplier of that kind of modems.
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Read the full analyst report on “TXN”
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