NEW YORK (Reuters) - Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq:CMCSA - news), the largest U.S. cable operator, on Monday said it planned to double the downloading capability of its high-speed Internet service by the end of this year to distinguish its product from competitors.
"Our job No. 1 is increasing speed -- increasing from 1.5 megabits (per second) downstream to 3 megabits (per second) downstream," said Steve Burke, president of Comcast's cable division, at a Morgan Stanley media conference in Boston.
Burke's comments mark the first time the Philadelphia-based company has placed a time frame on the plans.
Comcast has been quietly testing such a service in several of its markets, including Pittsburgh, Knoxville, and Atlanta since June.
"We're doing that probably for the whole company by later this year," Burke said.
The service nearly halves the time it takes to download web pages, video and audio, a Comcast spokeswoman said. But uploading, or the ability to send data, will remain the same at 256 kilobits per second.
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"Our job No. 1 is increasing speed -- increasing from 1.5 megabits (per second) downstream to 3 megabits (per second) downstream," said Steve Burke, president of Comcast's cable division, at a Morgan Stanley media conference in Boston.
Burke's comments mark the first time the Philadelphia-based company has placed a time frame on the plans.
Comcast has been quietly testing such a service in several of its markets, including Pittsburgh, Knoxville, and Atlanta since June.
"We're doing that probably for the whole company by later this year," Burke said.
The service nearly halves the time it takes to download web pages, video and audio, a Comcast spokeswoman said. But uploading, or the ability to send data, will remain the same at 256 kilobits per second.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?
tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030909/wr_nm/media_comcast_morganstanley_dc_6