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Comcast Launches Streaming Service and Unveils Pricing For 2G Fiber 107

Posted by samzenpus from the watch-it-another-way dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Comcast has announced the release of its Gigabit Pro service which offers speeds up to 2 gigabits per second. The service is $300 a month (agree to a two year contract and get the early promotional price of $159 per month) with a $500 installation and activation fee. The new service is only available in the Jacksonville, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Florida area. This announcement comes on the heels of the $15-per-month "Comcast Stream" launch. The live TV and streaming video service does not require a cable TV subscription, but live TV channels can only be watched on customer's home internet connections.
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Comcast Launches Streaming Service and Unveils Pricing For 2G Fiber More

Comcast Launches Streaming Service and Unveils Pricing For 2G Fiber

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  • Decisions, decisons (Score:5, Funny)

    by NoNonAlphaCharsHere ( 2201864 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @02:33PM (#50101183)
    If my choices were Comcast or rabbit ears on top of the TV and dial-up, I'd go for the rabbit ears.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Aryden ( 1872756 )
      If I had mod points +1

    • I wonder what the uplink speed is on that. Likely only 10Mbit.

      • From TFA:

        the symmetrical two gigabit service

        • From TFA:

          the symmetrical two gigabit service

          Don't omit the all-important words, UP TO. Oh, you're only getting 10 megabits today? Well, we said UP TO two gigabits didn't we? I remember when I was sadly on Comcast some years back and they offered UP TO 3 megabits, I'd get 1 megabit on a good day. That's a maximum, not a guarantee, they'd flatly say. And they were the only game in that small town so it was take it or leave it.

      • Even more importantly... what kind of speed can you expect once you reach the router in the local office?

        That is, are they hooking folks up to fiber, adn then feeding that fiber with a few T1s or are they going to have enough bandwidth for a few hundred people (never mind a few thousand) to get what they are paying for when the content isn't coming from the local comcast office/POP ?

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by suutar ( 1860506 )

          the router in the local office can probably handle it. The edge router is where they'll skimp on ports.

          I wonder what taxes and fees will add. 159 for internet plus 15 for streaming TV is not that far from my current cable bill...

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by suutar ( 1860506 )

            never mind, they won't have the channels I want.

          • Actually, I think I got early leakage of this when I talked to local reps the other day. Something that sounds in retrospect a lot like it, anyway.

            From what I've seen so far, the price quoted is indeed the price.

            The catch is that this kind of service isn't delivered to residential areas. You have to be in a business district where their infrastructure can handle it.

        • This is a little dated so things might have changed but there is evidence [level3.com] their current customers can't get what they're paying for.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Aryden ( 1872756 )
      Then again, compared to the Charter bullshit I now have..... I'd rather have the Comcast from before I moved.

    • Oddly I had the same decision to make with Time Warner Cable in my area and came to a similar decision.

      Internet - DSL (definitely slower speeds than TWC claims they provide)
      TV - Rabbit ears (OTA antenna for whats available), supplemented by Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, still comes out cheaper than what TWC was charging, and gives me more content than I can consume.

    • After a two weeks of trying to get comcast to fix my lack of connection I switched to DSL. I'm getting the advertised DSL speeds. What I'm wondering is why the hell is the upload speed of ADSL pegged at such a crappy ratio to the download speed. Cable has about a 2:1 ratio but ADSL is about 30:1. My upload speed is 0.8Mbs on a 20Mbs download line. Why? what's the physical limit on DSL that cable doesn't have on the asymmetric division? It used to be that this wasn't a big deal since relatively fe

      • My DSL is from Windstream, and 1.5mb down and 384k up. No blocked ports or anything.

        Unfortunately, I'm *just* on the edge of service, so if I upgrade to the 3mb offering my S:N ratio screws up and I can't stay connected for more than a few minutes at a time.

        Of course, they did just run a new fiber line right past my house a few weeks ago - unfortunately, I think it is on a different exchange for a different city (I have a city A phone prefix and city B physical address, my neighbors have city B phone prefi

  • No live sports? No thanks. (Score:4, Funny)

    by BenJeremy ( 181303 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @02:41PM (#50101253)

    Still no practical choices to get a full plate of live sports without being tied to cable... Football, Baseball, Hockey, Basketball - college and pro levels, that shouldn't be too much to ask for, but either you spend $100+ for cable, or run XBMC/Kodi with SportsDevil to stream it.

    Geez, idiots, just give me an option to pay $10~25/mo for live locals and sports stations and you'll get my money.

    Unfortunately, you are only interested in short-sheeting the consumer with fewer offerings than NetFlix or Sling at a higher price with more limitations.

    Is a sub-80 IQ a requirement for an MBA and a job as a media company executive these days?

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by asylumx ( 881307 )
      Seriously. You know it's bad when even the sports league's network blacks out their own broadcasts so only the cable company can carry it.

    • Don't the schools in your area have athletic teams? Most of their events will probably be free so I don't know what you are complaining about.

    • Downvoted as a troll? Is Slashdot giving Comcast execs mod points now?

    • Geez, idiots, just give me an option to pay $10~25/mo for live locals and sports stations and you'll get my money.

      Yup, totally this. I'd gladly pay a monthly fee to watch my local baseball team over the internet, but that option does not exist as far as MLB is concerned. I have to resort to jailbreaking my iPad, installing Protect My Privacy, purchasing MLB.TV Premium and then telling MLB's AtBat app that I'm located somewhere other than North America.

      (Note to anyone else interested... version 8.2 of AtBat seems vulnerable again to location spoofing. I don't guarantee the newer version they released a few days ago will

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by SrLnclt ( 870345 )
      Sports is what kept me on satellite for years. About 2 months ago I said enough - added Netflix, a Roku3, and a HD antenna. Borrowing a login of a friend so I can stream some of my sports. There is enough other stuff to keep me busy if I can't get a specific game.

      The cable companies know live sports is a game changer, so they likely work it into the contracts that the networks have to go through them, and any streaming needs to include a cable/satellite login. One day (hopefully soon) some of the leagu

    • Still no practical choices to get a full plate of live sports without being tied to cable..

      Or .... you could grow up.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @02:49PM (#50101317)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • How does the live TV streaming work? Is there some sort of a browser plugin they make you use to stream local channel 2, 3, 4, etc?

  • What's the cap? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Ultra64 ( 318705 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @02:49PM (#50101329)

    Let me guess, 2Gbps with a 250GB cap.

  • So they're promising a cap on their maximum quality of service, but not on their minimum quality of service?

    • So they're promising a cap on their maximum quality of service, but not on their minimum quality of service?

      Yes

  • In many places you can get 2G fiber for very close to the same costs. only drawback is you have to buy your own endpoint gear as they will not rent it to you.

    Plus if you get your fiver from a good provider you wont have your data going through the Comcast lag adding networks.

  • Then we moved and were too far from the CO for DSL, so we had to get Cox Cable modem. Now she understands. They recently upgraded me from 5 to 15 mBit. I would gladly give the extra 10 back to get a connection that doesn't periodically drop.

  • 2G or 4G? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by darkain ( 749283 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @03:16PM (#50101575) Homepage

    I wanted to make a 2G (bandwidth) vs 4G (cell network) joke, but decided to pop up with some actual useful information instead.

    Currently Comcast has this in their contract:

    "For upgrading from Performance to Blast!®, ranges based on area, from $10.00 to $12.00 more per month (subject to change)"

    This is an additional service charge ON TOP OF the higher price already charged to get faster internet service. That's right, they're advertising one price, and then tacking on additional fees for that bandwidth. Just for having faster bandwidth, you're forced to pay an additional $10+ on top of the already higher rate.

    So, what is the premium "Blast" or "2G" fees going to be with this new service? Sure, the base rate is already an outrageous $300... but this is Comcast, who is actively tacking on hidden fees to customers outside of the usual regulatory fees.

  • Unamused (Score:5, Interesting)

    by nehumanuscrede ( 624750 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @03:16PM (#50101585)

    Only in America can we roll out a service so very few will pay for* while, at the same time, big chunks of the nation are still unable to get any sort of broadband connection at all. :| The ISP's know where the money is so that's where they concentrate their deployments. At least make SOME effort to get bare minimum broadband access to everyone before you start selling the network equivalent of a sports car.

    I would love to see Broadband Internet treated like the POTS lines of yester-year as part of the Title II requirements. Quit letting the monopolies cherry-pick their regions for deployment and force them to deploy into the areas where Capitalism loathes to go. ( In your best Yale or Harvard voice " You know. . . where the poor people live." ) Hey Verizon, hows that FIOS roll out coming along that you promised everyone ?

    Threaten to go all 1984 on their ass ( referring to Divestiture here ) or nullify all non-compete laws when it comes to Metro Areas rolling out their own networks.
    It's amusing just how fast big ISP's can deploy high speed networks when a Metro area says " Screw it " and starts deploying their own.

    The ONLY way I'm ever going to see true competition or even competitive pricing is if I'm lucky enough to live in an area where Google has plans to deploy their infrastructure. That seems to be the only motivating factor if you're a large ISP these days. OMGGOOGLEISGONNASTEALOURBUSINESSCUSTOMERS DO SOMETHING !!!!!

    So the best thing we get out of Comcast is to roll out a service that's completely ridiculous in price. I wonder if you get a discount if you allow them to spy on your traffic like AT&T does ? ( Yes, I'm sure they all do it, but AT&T is the only one admitting to it and offering a discount for the privilege )

    *Because:

    a) It's Comcastic and ( one of, if not THE worst ranked ISP in the US )
    b) It's $300 / month and ( hahahahahahahahah . . . . no. See A above )
    c) No way in hell it will be unlimited usage ( regardless of their claims ) without some data cap or throttling mechanism

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by imidan ( 559239 )

      Look at it this way: if Comcast creates a 2gb service that's so expensive that nobody uses it, they get a little more ammo in the can for their claims that nobody wants or needs gb-scale internet access. When we complain about their crappy, slow service, they'll just point at the lack of adoption of this service and say, 'see? Nobody wants it!'

  • Sounds reasonable (Score:5, Informative)

    by GoodNewsJimDotCom ( 2244874 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @03:27PM (#50101671)
    For only about as much as you'd pay in a car payment, you can have the speed other countries get for about the price of a cup of coffee a day.

  • "Actual speeds vary and are not guaranteed" (Score:4, Informative)

    by SecurityGuy ( 217807 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @03:43PM (#50101823)

    You lost me right there, guys. For $300/mo, you darn well better guarantee some particular minimum level of service. If you can't, or won't, there's zero chance I'm signing up for three years of somewhere between zero and 2Gbps.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mouldy ( 1322581 )
      With the term 'up to'; they can legally provide below than 0 speeds too.

      The download speed can be so slow, it actually goes backwards; that's how much 'up to' sucks.

  • Customer Support is clueless about this (Score:5, Insightful)

    by dmitrygr ( 736758 ) <dmitrygr@gmail.com> on Monday July 13, 2015 @03:56PM (#50101939) Homepage

    Tried to ask if it is available in my Area.
    Here's the REAL transcript:

    Live Chat
    user dmitry has entered room
    analyst Elvin has entered room

    Elvin
    1:42PM

    Hello dmitry_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Elvin. Please give me one moment to review your information.

    Elvin
    1:42PM

    Hi! Welcome to Comcast High Speed Internet Technical Support (Residential Accounts). You can call me Elvin, I'll be happy to get your concern addressed today.

    dmitry
    1:42PM

    My Issue: Is Gigabit Pro available in Rex Manor Area of Mountain View, CA?

    Elvin
    1:42PM

    I understand that you have question with Xfinity services. I am a costumer also, so I understand ho wimportant this is. I will assist you today.

    Elvin
    1:43PM

    May I know your exact concern, please?

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    Is Gigabit Pro available in Rex Manor Area of Mountain View, CA?

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    Gigabit Pro service from comcast

    Elvin
    1:43PM

    May I know what Gigabit Pro is, please?

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    claims to be available in the SF bay area

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    i want to know

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    dude...

    dmitry
    1:43PM

    it is on YOUR website..

    dmitry
    1:44PM

    http://www.xfinity.com/multi-g... [xfinity.com]

    Elvin
    1:45PM

    Thank you for that.

    Elvin
    1:47PM

    Gigabit Pro will generally be available to homes within one-third of a mile of Comcast's fiber network and will require installation of professional-grade equipment. Select markets in Atlanta, California, Chattanooga, Chicago, Florida, Knoxville, and Nashville have been chosen for initial launch, with the addition of numerous West Coast markets in the coming months.

    dmitry
    1:47PM

    ok...so can you tell me if a given address meets that criteria?

    Elvin
    1:49PM

    To properly assist you, I will transfer you to our sales department. Would that be fine?

    Elvin
    1:50PM

    I would like to set your expectation that you have actually reached Comcast High Speed Internet Technical Support.

    Elvin
    1:50PM

    No worries, I can still resolve your issue by connecting this chat to the department that handles this. I assure you that this will be accommodated accordingly.

    dmitry
    1:50PM

    ok

    Elvin
    1:50PM

    Thank you. Please wait while the problem is escalated to another analyst. There may be a 3-5 minutes hold for the chat to be assisted, and you will see a message that says I have âoeleft the roomâ; but please don't close the chat window for the next available agent to assist you.

    Elvin
    1:53PM

    By the way, may I know your zip code, please

  • The Best Part? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jon3k ( 691256 ) on Monday July 13, 2015 @04:54PM (#50102637)
    The best part is when no one signs up, they'll tell the FCC there's no demand for fiber.
  • $300 a month? My internet service better be delivered by hot Nubian sex slaves wearing nothing more than a smile.

    Seriously, fuck Comcrap, they suck, their service sucks, their reps suck, and did I mention they SUCK?

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      So the hot Nubian sex slaves won't suck? How typically Comcast.

  • The new service is only available in the Jacksonville, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Florida area.

    I wonder why. You don't need 2g fiber to watch Pornhub and WWE clips on YouTube.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by KGIII ( 973947 )

      I like the Redneck Riviera. I have some property down in Bay County, a decent sized house with some actual land, that is on the beach and has a great tax rate and was absurdly inexpensive for what it is. (When the Great Flood arrives I will not be there.) It is in Panama City Beach which is where Spring Break got its start and is still a very popular destination for nubile college girls who are wanting to get some experiences. I usually spend a month there as that time is not really all that wonderful in Ma

  • According to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, it won't require more than a stable 15 Mbps to stream 4K.

    Even ISO's at 25MBps are done in next to no time. Instead of pumping up the volume so to speak, it would be far more consumer friendly (and valuable) to reduce the price of the connection dramatically. Of course, that will never happen as a) there is no competition and b) profits! The price of broad band is especially gualing giving how much fiber was scooped up for next to nothing during the dot.bomb

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