Comcast said Wednesday that it will increase the speed of its high-speed Internet service early next year in metro Atlanta, without raising prices.
Comcast, the local area's largest cable TV provider, is battling BellSouth and other phone companies for high-speed Internet customers. Pricing among the providers is pretty similar locally, so they're rolling out higher speeds in order to increase their attractiveness.
Comcast currently charges $42.95 a month for a download speed of up to 3 megabits per second, and $52.95 for a speed of up to 4 mbps, for those who also subscribe to its cable TV service.
Those speeds will increase to 4 mbps and 5 mbps, respectively, said Comcast spokesman Reg Griffin.
Accompanying the faster speeds will be new services and applications, he said.
"We are planning another round of service introductions, specifically focusing on our six key customer areas of interest ? gaming, kids, communication, sports, movies and music," said Griffin, without elaborating. "Combining the speed with additional features is important because we are learning that it's not just about speed but what you can do with it."