Comcast planning gigabit cable for entire US territory in 2-3 years

While Comcast has started deploying 2Gbps fiber-to-the-home service to certain parts of its territory, much of its network is going to be stuck on cable for years to come.

But customers outside the fiber footprint will still be able to buy gigabit Internet service after Comcast upgrades to DOCSIS 3.1, a faster version of the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification. Comcast said in April that DOCSIS 3.1 will be available to some of its customers in early 2016 and eventually across its whole US footprint. Last week, Comcast said it wants to complete the whole upgrade within two years.

"Our intent is to scale it through our footprint through 2016," Comcast VP of network architecture Robert Howald said in an interview with FierceCable. "We want to get it across the footprint very quickly... We're shooting for two years." It could take up to three years, the story said.