Era Of Gigabit Internet Arrives In Pittsburgh
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Comcast is announcing the arrival of one gigabit internet speeds to the Pittsburgh region.
We live in a society now where expressions you often hear include: "The line is too long at the drive thru, the person in the grocery line has more than 12 items, there are too many previews at the movie, please don't tell me to take a seat "we'll be with you in a moment."
Face it, we are an instant gratification society. We want it now. So the idea of slow internet speed is simply unacceptable.
Enter the world of "one gigabit per second internet service," says Comcast Xfinity V.P. of Communications Bob Grove. He says, "this service is five times faster than our top speed for most of our customers which is 200 megabits per second."
From a practical standpoint Grove says it means you "can download an audio album in two seconds, a typical TV episode in four seconds, and an HD movie in 40 seconds."
Verizon Fios' Michael Murphy says the more devices you use the more you'll want the higher speed. "We're talking everything from televisions to tablets to cell phones to home monitoring equipment and everything in between." Murphy says, "we started building out our one gigabit service area in April throughout the Pittsburgh area." It's an involved process that results in "100% fiber optic transmission to and from the home." As a result the one gigabit service is not yet available region wide.
Grove says Comcast Xfinity uses a technically different system, "We're able to broadly deploy this throughout the Pittsburgh area not in just specific areas because there is no construction needed. It uses the wiring you have in your home, all you need is a new modem from us..
While most of Allegheny County has access to the Xfinity one gigabit service currently, with the exception of Ross Township, McKeesport, and some areas of the Mon Valley. Those areas should have service available within the next couple of weeks along with Washington County.
As Grove indicated you will need a new router which will need to be professionally installed. The cost is the same as the existing modem - $10 a month.
The higher speed internet service is also available for business customers.
