Comcast boosting speed of its internet in Conn.

As Frontier Communications continues to roll out fiber optic cable in Connecticut, Comcast announced it is expanding a new service to its Connecticut territories that will eventually allow for comparable broadband speeds, after back-end upgrades to its existing coaxial cable and fiber network.

Comcast provides service in portions of the

New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury, Middletown and Thames River Valley regions.

The Philadelphia-based company is the largest broadband provider in the nation with more than 32 million subscribers as of June, about 1.9 million more than Charter Communications, based in Stamford via its Spectrum service. Comcast also owns NBC Sports headquarters in Stamford.

Both Frontier and Altice USA have focused on stringing fiber optic cable to customer homes, as mobile carriers encroach into their territories nationally with 5G networks that can provide broadband speeds to home devices like laptops and TVs. Frontier told CTInsider this month that it has run fiber to 500,000 locations in Connecticut with the goal of adding 300,000 more in the coming three years, at a total investment of $800 million.

While Comcast is also introducing fiber-to-thehome in a small number of markets nationally, the company says its newest upgrade provides more than sufficient bandwidth for the vast majority of users.

“Whether its coaxial or fiber, who cares?” said

Elad Nafshi, chief network officer for Comcast at the company's Philadelphia headquarters, in a Tuesday interview with CTInsider. “We're able to deliver multiple-gigabit, symmetrical services ... across the footprint.”

The new service will initially allow for download speeds of up to two gigabits a second, and upload speeds at lower broadband speeds which will improve with additional network upgrades. In tests this year, Comcast reported upstream and downstream speeds above four gigabits per second, with plans to roll that out as a “10G” service in unspecified markets starting next year.

“We've competed against fiber for many years,” said Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, speaking in September during an investment conference hosted by Goldman Sachs. “We've been able to go through the cycle — the first time it shows up, people buy it. Then they've got to do a good job to service you, and you win some customers back. There's a wellheeled playbook for how we compete.”

Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle file photo A Comcast Xfinity installer outside a Houston home in March 2021. Comcast is doubling the broadband speeds for its Xfinity service in Connecticut, as Frontier Communications rolls out a new fiber-optic broadband service.