Comcast upgrading Internet speed of residential customers for free

So you’re basically committing to pay almost $7,200 over the next two years, plus the cost of installation and activation. Gigabit Pro can not yet be bundled with other Comcast services.

Cable provider Comcast says they will increase networks speeds for Chattanooga customers by 50%, at no additional charge, according to a news release.

The new service is only available in the Jacksonville, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Florida area. Customers with Blast! speed levels will see their velocities go from 50 to 75 Mbps, a 50 percent expansion.

Today’s announcement of the new higher speed for Comcast’s popular Blast! tier comes as Comcast rolls out its Gigabit Pro service, a residential fiber-to-the-home connection that can deliver 2 Gbps upload and download speeds. AT&T’s competing GigaPower service, which covers a limited number of Nashville residential units, starts as low as $120 per month. Still, gluttons will be able to take advantage of the service first in states like California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Tennessee.

While the increases are already in place, customers may need to restart their modems to get fully up to speed. The service requires installation of professional grade equipment outside and inside the home, and costs about $299 per month, a big jump in price as well as speed. The company is also testing DOCSIS 3.1, a scalable, national, next generation 1 Gbps technology solution, and expects to begin rolling out DOCSIS 3.1 in early 2016. Comcast will notify those customers who need to upgrade their modems to receive the increased service. It’s unclear if the company plans to reduce the speedy’ service’s price in markets where Comcast faces pressure from municipal broadband or Google Fiber. Google also charges “construction fees” – usually $300 – for Fiber customers who opt for its most basic internet tier.