Faster Internet Service Coming to Metro Detroit

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Comcast said Tuesday it is bringing faster Internet service – up to 2 gigabits per second – to the Detroit metro and several other Michigan markets within the next month.

Its Gigabit Pro service will be delivered via a fiber-to-the-home solution to nearly 1.5 million homes in Michigan, according to a news release. Other markets included in the upgrade include Flint, Grand Rapids, Jackson and Lansing.

The service will allow for faster downloads on multiple devices, the company said.

“Michigan is swarming with tech-savvy residents who have a need for even faster speeds,” Tim Collins, senior vice president of Comcast Cable’s Heartland Region. “Bringing this new level of ‘fast’ to our customers reflects more than just our commitment to meeting their needs today, but also into the future.”

Gigabit Pro will be available to any home within close proximity of Comcast’s fiber network and will require an installation of professional-grade equipment. The company has fiber at the core of its network and, for the past decade, it has been extending it deeper into neighborhoods and closer to homes.

To date, Comcast has built out more than 145,000 route miles of fiber across its service area.

Access to some of the fastest broadband speeds in the nation will help put Michigan at the front of the technology revolution, state Sen. Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek, chairman of the Senate Energy and Technology Committee, said in the release.

House Communications and Technology Committee chairman state Rep. Brad Jacobson, R-Oxford, said the Comcast’s investment “not only brings one more competitive advantage to many Michigan residents, but will also reap significant economic benefits throughout the state.”

Comcast has been doubling the capacity of its network at least every 18 months, and the company has increased speeds for its subscribers 15 times in the past 13 years. In addition to fast, wired broadband tiers, XFINITY Internet customers have access to the industry’s fastest in-home wireless gateway capable of offering up to 700 Mbps Wi-Fi connections.

Gigabit Pro also plans to offer the service in the Greater Chicago area, which includes Benton Harbor and St. Joseph, as well as California, Colorado, Florida, Utah, Indiana, Washington state, and Atlanta, Houston, Portland, OR, the Twin Cities, and Chattanooga, Knoxville and Nashville in Tennessee.

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Photo via Flickr