Comcast's new 2-gigabit Internet service will cost customers a whopping $299.95 a month, which is more than four times what Google charges for its own high-speed broadband Internet service.
Admittedly, Comcast is offering two times the speed of what Google Fiber currently offers, but the cost is still too high for customers to consider purchasing a monthly subscription. What's more, Comcast, as is typical of the company, has stashed away in the fine print the extra hidden costs and charges customers will need to pay if they want to subscribe to Gigabit Pro.
The costs, which were first discovered by DSL Reports, include a $500 activation fee that customers have to pay upfront to have their new service installed and another $500 early termination fee if customers decide they do not want to pay for Comcast's 2-gigabit Internet service anymore. And, surely, some customers will likely want to opt out, as Comcast is not guaranteeing that everyone will get the expensive 2-Gbps Internet they are paying exorbitant fees for.
All in all, customers will be paying $4,100 a year for the first year to get the service, and $3,600 each year after that. Compared to Comcast's Extreme 505 Internet service, which offers 505-Mbps Internet for $400 a month, Gigabit Pro might be considered a steal, unless customers find out Google Fiber is offering 1-Gbps Internet at just $70 a month.
Also, like Google Fiber and AT&T's GigaPower, Comcast is limiting its service to select areas in the U.S. One of these is Georgia, Atlanta, which started receiving Gigabit Pro in May, but Comcast says it plans to expand the service to 18 million American homes by the end of 2015, obviously taking a dig at Google, which seems to have no plans at expanding Google Fiber to such a scale.
"Our approach is to offer the most comprehensive rollout of multi-gigabit service to the most homes as quickly as possible, not just to certain neighborhoods," said Doug Guthrie, senior vice president of Comcast Cable's South Region. "We already provide the fastest speeds to the most homes and businesses in Atlanta, and access to Gigabit Pro will give our customers all the broadband capacity they need to stay ahead of future technologies and innovations."
However, for business owners, Comcast is not making its 2-Gbps service available to business customers. Instead, it offers a different package that offers 10-Gbps MetroEthernet speeds that will, of course, cost more.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
