Starting in December, Oregon and Southwest Washington Comcast customers will have a much-faster option called “Extreme 50 service” This service is capable of download speeds of up to 50 megabits per second.

Comcast calls it “wideband”, but its technical term is known as DOCSIS 3.0. This will be a dream for those who have a need to hog bandwidth. The only downfall that still bites you is the Comcast’s 250GB monthly download cap, which still remains in place. Extreme 50 customers should be able to download a high-def movie (6 GB) in about 16 minutes, Comcast says.

Aside from Verizon’s FiOS, it’ll be hard for home users to find Net service with comparable speed. Wideband won’t come cheap, though. Extreme 50, which offers up to 50 Mbps downstream and 10 Mbps upstream, costs a whopping $139.95 a month. Ultra, a relatively slower offering with 22 Mbps downstream, 5 Mbps upstream, is $62.95 a month.

It’s recommend that you shop Verizon FiOS, AT&T and Comcast before making any commitments.

TechJaws suggests getting FiOS which offers 50mbps down and 20 mbps up for $139.95 per month with phone service. The 20 mbps down and 5 mbps up for $52.99 per month with phone service.

I am a fan of Verizon FiOS as indicated by the blogs we have posted about this high speed fiber optic offering. No matter what, we need to have choices and at the same time save money on internet access. Comcast has slammed customers with expensive internet and cable TV prices. It’s time that customers have better choices!

From Peter Svensson, AP Technology Writer

New York regulators have raised the possibility of banning Verizon Communications Inc. from installing its fiber-optic FiOS service in New York City until the company makes sure it’s doing enough to provide electrical grounding for its equipment in homes.

Poorly grounded equipment or cables could give electrical shocks or start fires, but there have been no reports of FiOS equipment causing harm to people or property, Verizon said.

The New York State Public Service Commission, which regulates telecommunications, has been dogging Verizon on the electrical issue since 2006, and the staff concluded in a report to the commission last week that the company’s remedies don’t go far enough.

New York is the only state to have raised these concerns, but Verizon is installing FiOS in 15 others.

New York can have a bone to pick about grounding issues with Verizon FiOS, but remove the monopoly of having one company to provide what many of us depend on, internet and TV services!

As I write this my internet is bogging big time, but this is a normal occurrence with Comcast. This company raves on how great they’re in all facets of the offer sheet, but its all bull to say the least.

Comcast is over-rated and over charges for the most basic services. My bill each Month is more than $134 for cable that only offers Demand, ESPN and a wide range of channels that offer garbage. There is good new and if you’re lucky you may be able to get FIOS by Verizon. Check out the speeds and the pricing.

Fast
Up to 10 Mbps/2 Mbps $42.99/month*
First month FREE $47.99/month

Faster
Up to 20 Mbps/5 Mbps $52.99/month*
First month FREE $57.99/month

Faster Plus
Up to 20 Mbps/20 Mbps $64.99/month*
First month FREE $69.99/month

Fastest
Up to 50 Mbps/20 Mbps $139.95/month*
First month FREE $144.95/month

*with existing Verizon phone service

Now can you say wow! For as little as $42.99/month you get blazing download speeds of up to 10 mbps and upload speeds of 2 mbps. This is a great plan if you’re a gamer for both playing and hosting multiplayer games. Comcast doesn’t offer even half the upload speed.

FIOS is going to eventually put a hurting on Comcast and I look forward to seeing Comcast crawl into the corner like a bad child.

Verizon is currently upgrading all speeds for its FIOS (Fiber-Optic-Service) with speeds to 50Mbps US-wide. This will give users in 16 states the same speeds that were previously reserved only for the most competitive areas. All of FIOS 16 states now have access to up to 50Mbps downloads with 20Mbps uploads at the highest-end, $140 monthly tier ($90 in New York state and Virginia) versus the 30/15 services that were used for most regions; the synchronous 15/15 service is also slightly faster at 20/20 across those areas without changing the $65 monthly rate.

These and other plans are available without Verizon’s landline phone service for an extra $5 each.

Baseline speeds in these areas have been given similar treatment, according to Verizon. The most basic 5/2 tier ($43 per month) has had its download speeds doubled to 10Mbps for all areas; the more common 15/2 plan at $53 per month receives the second-largest upgrade today with an increase to 20Mbps downstream and 5Mbps upstream. All the speed upgrades become active next week, though Verizon notes that existing subscribers can call in to make sure that their service is running at the improved connection rates.

If you’re a big time gamer and have the hardware, you will be able to host multiple game servers in your own home. These speeds are incredible and affordable.

I am sure Comcast is worried, very worried and with good reason. I am feeling a mass exodus against Comcast when this service is ready, although not many of us will be within the FIOS network. It’s time for all (Customers) that are in range of FIOS to switch over. Say good-bye to the over-charging cable companies that offer very little bang for the buck.

Comcast and Time Warner Cable have also been mulling transfer caps with overage fees to reduce the cost of their own service while Verizon has so far refrained from taking the same approach with its fiber-optic network.

Check Availability Here

Verizon Wireless will buy Alltel to increase its subscriber base for around $28.1 billion.

The deal was announced on Wednesday from reports in the press and Verizon Wireless just made an official statement. This deal is all about one thing – and that is subscriber envy. Verizon Wireless will no longer be second to AT&T.

Hard Facts:

* Verizon Wireless ended the first quarter with 67.2 million subscribers.
* AT&T had 71.4 million wireless subscribers at the end of the first quarter.
* Alltel brings 13 million subscribers to Verizon’s table.
* Add it up and Verizon Wireless now has roughly 80 million wireless subscribers and can tout being the king of wireless.

If Sprint and T-Mobile were to combine companies they would have about 82 million subscribers, making it a close call on who would be the king of wireless subscribers.

As we said, size does matter. In fact, the Verizon Wireless purchase of Alltel may make a Sprint and T-Mobile merger more likely.

Alltel and Verizon Wireless expect the deal to close by the end of 2008.

What are your thoughts? Are you a current subscriber to Verizon or Alltel?