Comcast has announced that it is making the internet faster for more than 20 million of its customers. 

“The country’s largest gigabit network is boosting speeds on its most popular plans beginning this week, providing customers with an even better connectivity experience as they stream the latest 4K blockbuster, game online, video conference, and more, all at the same time. With this latest round of speed increases, Xfinity continues to provide unparalleled value compared to other providers – including significantly faster speeds and better reliability than mobile and 5G Home Internet,” Comcast said this week. 

It follows the recent network deployment by the company. 

According to Comcast, the speeds are changing by different amounts depending on which plan the user has.

The “Performance Starter/Connect” plan goes from 50 Mbps to 75 Mbps, while “Performance/Connect More” moves from 100 Mbps to 200 Mbps. The “Performance Pro/Fast” will move from 300 Mbps to 400 Mbps. The “Blast/Superfast” goes from 600 Mbps to 800 Mbps, while “Extreme Pro/Gigabit (formerly Ultrafast)” will go from 900 Mbps to 1 Gbps. 

“The number of devices connected in Xfinity households has skyrocketed 12X since 2018, and the need for fast, reliable, and secure Internet will continue to grow,” Bill Connors, President of Xfinity, Comcast Cable, said in the announcement. “That’s why today, Xfinity is increasing speeds for most of our customers across the country.”

As noted by Engadget, several of Comcast’s competitors have also seen rising speeds in recent months. Both AT&T and Google Fiber recently announced speed upgrades. The site also noted that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed changing the definition of minimum broadband speeds. That standard has been set at 25/3 Mbps since 2015. 

The FCC’s “notice of inquiry” proposes raising the national broadband standard to 100 megabits per second for download and twenty megabits per second for upload, and “discusses a range of evidence supporting this standard, including the requirements for new networks funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.” 

“The needs of internet users long ago surpassed the FCC’s 25/3 speed metric, especially during a global health pandemic that moved so much of life online,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a proposed change in July. “The 25/3 metric isn’t just behind the times, it’s a harmful one because it masks the extent to which low-income neighborhoods and rural communities are being left behind and left offline. That’s why we need to raise the standard for minimum broadband speeds now and while also aiming even higher for the future, because we need to set big goals if we want everyone everywhere to have a fair shot at 21st-century success.”

Stephen Silver, a technology writer for The National Interest, is a journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philly Voice, Philadelphia Weekly, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Living Life Fearless, Backstage magazine, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.

Image: Reuters.