Comcast makes good on promise of super-speedy broadband - CNET

Talk about an embarrassment of riches.

Atlanta will soon have not two, but three companies delivering superfast broadband, defined as 1 gigabit per second, or fast enough to stream all seven "Star Wars" films in ultra high definition without a stutter.

Comcast on Tuesday said it would test its new super-speedy broadband service to a limited number of "early adopters" in several neighborhoods in Atlanta, which promise speeds that are 50 to 100 times faster than what you're likely getting.

It marks the first city that the nation's largest cable provider will offer a gigabit connection. Demand for high-speed Inteet has heated up in recent years thanks to Google and AT&T and an ever-increasing appetite for more bandwidth by consumers and businesses. Comcast's leap to gigabit speeds is a departure from the broadband industry's history of gradually increasing speeds, even if the technology was capable of delivering more.

Pricing for the service will be $139 per month without a contract or $70 per month with a three-year contract, although Comcast says more pricing options will come with the broader roll out. Google, which was first to market with a gigabit service in Kansas City, charges $70 for its gigabit broadband service.