Comcast is giving all its customers the option of a big speed boost.The company said Thursday that it’s offering broadband speeds of 1 gigabit per second to nearly all the 58 million homes and businesses in its 39-state territory. The speed upgrade isn’t free; gigabit internet costs from $90-$140 per month

The bump comes at a time when consumers are starting to recognize the need for added bandwidth to stream videos and video games — often to multiple devices. The company had previously offered 1 gigabit speeds in select parts of its territory, but today it’s expanding the service to just about everyone. Customers upgrading to the 1 gigabit service should see increases in download speeds of  30 percent to 40 percent.

“This isn’t about one connected device consuming an entire gig,” said Fraser Stirling, senior vice president of Digital Home, devices and artificial intelligence at Comcast, in an email statement. “But when you have 10 devices using 100Mbps at the same time, you see the pipe fill up.”

Discussion Question: Do you think you need 1 gigabit per second Internet speed? Why or why not? What benefits would you expect to see if you purchased this Internet plan from Comcast?

Source: Marrian Zhou, “Comcast offering 1 gigabit per second service to it’s entire territory” CNET.com, October 18, 2018.