Province
Comcast Corp. CEO Brian Roberts introduces high-speed DOCsis 3.0, which allows a movie to be downloaded in less than four minutes. Photograph by : Getty Images
LAS VEGAS — Imagine being able to download a movie in four minutes. That’s what’s possible with new technology unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas yesterday — technology that makes so-called high-speed Internet 10 times faster than today.
Comcast Corp., the largest U.S. cable company, plans to roll out the new service to Americans this year that will hit top speeds of 160 megabits per second, said the company’s chief executive Brian Roberts.
The upgrades use a technology called DOCsis 3.0. Today’s high-speed connections are capable of providing connection speeds of around 10 megabits per second. With the improvements, Comcast can offer speeds in excess of 100 megabits per second when the service launches this summer.
A high-definition copy of the movie Batman Begins was downloaded in less than four minutes. With today’s high-speed Internet networks, it would take about six hours.
Comcast did not announce pricing. Its cable Internet technologies are similar to those used by Rogers Cable in Canada.
© The Vancouver Province 2008
