Enlarge / Comcast’s xFi Advanced Gateway. (credit: Getty Images | Jeff Fusco )
Comcast announced today that it has tested “the final technical component necessary to deliver multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds” and said it’s on track to deliver multi-gigabit download and upload speeds to at least some cable customers “before the end of 2023.” The test using Broadcom equipment delivered download speeds of 6Gbps and uploads of 4Gbps, Comcast said.
Cable broadband lags far behind fiber-to-the-home in upload speeds, a frustration for many Internet users who lack access to fiber. Comcast and other cable companies have been promising a major upgrade to uploads for years without ever saying exactly when the improvement would reach customers.
Comcast is starting to get a bit more specific—although that “end of 2023” promise doesn’t specify what percentage of customers will get the upgrade when it first rolls out. Upgrading Comcast’s entire cable territory is expected to be a multi-year process.
