Comcast says it’s begun offering gigabit internet service in the Chicago metropolitan area as part of a multi-city trial period.
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“As these are advanced consumer trials, we are testing different prices and promotions in different markets”, Comcast tells The Consumerist.
The same case with the two cities, the cable company is also going to use a DOCSIS 3.1 modem on top of the existing infrastructure to deliver 1 Gbps of speed in Chicago.
“We’re delivering gigabit speeds over the network that already passes millions of homes in the Chicago area”, said Comcast Greater Chicago Region senior vice president John Crowley.
Back in February, the operator unveiled plans to offer the Gig service in Atlanta and Nashville in the first half of the year, with Chicago, Detroit and Miami to follow in the second half. New and current Chicago area customers can visit Xfinity.com/gig to learn about the new service and request additional information.
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In the Windy City, Comcast is competing with AT&T, which began offering its 1 Gbps GigaPower service in the region past year. AT&T offers $90 per month of the gigabit service in Chicago. Also, AT&T claims that the company’s GigaPower service is now available in 125,000 homes in the region. Comcast now offers gigabit service in Atlanta and Nashville for $70, but only when users agree to sign a three-year contract. Several tech experts believe that Comcast may face tough competition from another upstart cable firm called Layer3 TV. That’s reportedly now available to 18 million homes across the country – including about 2.4 million homes in Comcast’s greater Chicago region – which includes Illinois, Northwest Indiana and Southwest Michigan. It should be except that compared to same service in Atlanta and Nashville, it costs twice as much for the speedy Internet connection.
