Comcast is reportedly preparing to bolster their broadband Internet offering in an attempt to compete with high-speed rival Verizon Wireless. The cable company recently streamed a live event to employees that hinted at a faster service that would soon be available to customers that already have access to Verizon’s FiOS Internet package, according to reliable sources as reported by Broadband Reports.
Comcast’s boosted Xfinity Internet service would offer download speeds up to 305 Mbps which is conveniently just 5 Mbps more than Verizon’s fastest FiOS offering – certainly good PR for the cable company. There’s no information on pricing but we suspect it would be somewhere in the neighborhood of what Verizon charges if they want to be competitive, or somewhere around $200 per month.
It’s also unclear at this point when the service will be available or what the upstream speeds are. For what it’s worth, Verizon’s top tier package is rated at 65 Mbps upload. Broadband Reports notes that Comcast reached speeds between 75-100 Mbps during private testing last year.
Verizon announced speed increases to virtually all of their FiOS Internet packages in May but it was the top tier services that got the most attention. The company upgraded their fastest offering from 150/35 Mbps to 300/65 Mbps while their 50/20 Mbps plan was boosted to 150/65 Mbps.
Comcast’s current top Internet package is the Extreme 105 Xfinity, offering up 105 Mbps down to over 40 million homes across the country.
