Working and learning remotely for the past year has brought unprecedented demand in several areas, especially as it relates to Internet speed and connectivity. That’s one reason Comcast is constantly working to build and evolve a smart, reliable network to deliver fast internet speeds to browse the internet, connect to education, stream or game.  

The upgrade to the Xfinity Gigabit service is part of a national rollout that began this year and is part of Comcast’s objective of delivering upload and download speeds of 1.25 gigabits per second. 

With it, customers can now take advantage of advanced WiFi technology capable of delivering speeds faster than one Gigabit per second (Gbps) to support the ever-increasing number of connected devices in Utah homes, which is 18 percent larger than the average US household of 2.61 persons. 

Some customers have dozens of devices in their homes. In fact, Xfinity xFi users plug in an average of 12 devices per home and added two devices in 2020, while high-end users have up to 33 devices, with five added since last year, according to The Xfinity Cyber Health Report. 

On track to satiate America’s need for internet speed, Comcast achieved another 10G technical milestone by conducting the first-ever live lab test of the Full Duplex DOCSIS system-on-chip device, which paves the way for Comcast to deliver multigigabit upload and download speeds over its hybrid-fiber coaxial network.

For years, we’ve been laying more fiber and extending it further into the neighborhoods we serve.  This work enables our network to:

• Thrive during the unprecedented Covid traffic surge, delivering above-advertised speeds throughout the pandemic, including to areas hit hardest. 
• Deliver the fastest speeds to the most people – we offer gig service to 60 million homes and businesses nationwide.

The great advantage of our network architecture is that in Utah, we already pass 987,600 homes and businesses with a powerful, fiber-dense network, and we can quickly, surgically, and efficiently add additional fiber and capacity when and where it’s needed. Moreover, we can often complete these targeted upgrades in weeks rather than months and years.  

“We recognize Comcast plays an important role in helping our customers stay connected, so we are constantly evolving our Internet product with new innovation,” says Deneiva Knight, Comcast external affairs director. “Our state-of-the-art gateways with WiFi 6 technology, wall-to-wall WiFi coverage, personalized tools and controls, and advanced cybersecurity, are all helping to make our customers’ connectivity experience better than it has ever been.” 

In addition, Extreme Pro+ customers in Utah see download speeds increasing to 800 Megabits per second (Mbps) from 600 Mbps. Similarly, Performance Starter+ customers experience download speeds boosting to 50 Mbps from 25 Mbps. With upgrades made at no additional cost, Utah customers have already begun to realize new speed benefits. 

“We’ve learned during the pandemic that a strong internet connection is essential to how we function at home, school, business, and in our social lives,” says Sandy City Council Member Monica Zoltanski. “This is a welcome upgrade that will give people the speed, security, and reliability they need to stay connected online.”

As the country shifts to hybrid working arrangements, home and business internet connections remain essential for video calls, homeschooling and streaming content.

“With a vision of assisting every student to become a productive adult and businesses to operate at their highest Internet capacity, we are delivering Comcast’s Xfinity Gigabit Internet service using Comcast’s existing network architecture and the connections that are already in most customers’ homes,” says Knight. “In Utah, we offer Gigabit Pro, a 2Gbps fiber-based synchronous broadband service that is twice as fast as anything else available in the residential market.”

Increased internet speeds support faster connections and more capacity to support the growing number of smart home devices being added to home WiFi networks today and in the future. 

“All of our data indicates more devices are being used now than ever before, and we only see that trend accelerating,” she says.

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) is a global media and technology company that connects people to moments that matter. Principally focused on broadband, aggregation, and streaming with over 56 million customer relationships across the United States and Europe. Visit utah.comcast.com for more information.