Comcast announced Thursday it will begin introducing next-generation internet powered by DOCSIS 4.0 technology, and Colorado Springs will be the first residential market in the country to receive it.

This latest version of DOCSIS technology is a giant leap forward in internet connectivity that can deliver multigigabit symmetrical speeds (meaning equal upload and download speeds) to customers over the connections that exist in tens of millions of homes in Comcast markets across the country, company officials said. This means consumers will have access to 300 Mbps, 500Mbps, 1Gbps and 2Gbps upload and download speeds, depending on the option they choose.

A small Colorado Springs neighborhood will be the first in the nation next week to get the new internet technology from the cable television and entertainment giant.

“We chose Colorado Springs and this neighborhood because the network and the team were ready to go. Colorado Springs also was the first market in the nation to get 2 gigabit-per-second internet speeds last year,” said Leslie Oliver, Comcast’s senior communications director for its Mountain West region.

But that speed applied to downloads, not uploads; with the new technology, users will be able to upload and download at the same 2 gigabit-per-second speed.

The DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) 4.0 technology will be offered first on Wednesday to about 60 households near Heatherdale Drive, southwest of Powers and Palmer Park boulevards.

The technology will be rolled out in other Colorado Springs neighborhoods as the company upgrades its network to handle the new technology.

Customers initially will be contacted by Comcast if they are in the area where the technology will be available. The company will offer symmetrical internet service called X-Class at speeds of 300 megabits per second for $55 a month, including required equipment, to 2 gigabits per second for $115 a month.

Comcast also offers internet service with slower upload speeds starting at 25 megabits per second for $20 a month.

The new technology will be gradually rolled out nationwide over the next few years, including parts of Atlanta and Philadelphia this year. It will eventually enable Comcast to offer two-way internet speeds of up to 10 gigabits per second.

“The ubiquity of our network, which is already accessible to tens of millions of homes, provides us with an incredible opportunity to bring multigigabit upload and download speeds to communities across the country with the scale and efficiency no other provider can replicate,” Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said in a news release. The new technology should provide improved reliability, lower latency and better in-home Wi-Fi service, he said.

Introducing the technology in Colorado Springs will allow Comcast to better compete as fiber-optic providers Metronet, Ting and Underline have begun providing internet service in the city at speeds of up to 2 gigabits per second at rates starting at $49 a month. (Service through fiber-optic is symmetrical.) Underline began serving customers in Fountain and an area between Colorado College and Academy Boulevard, while Metronet and Ting, which is selling residential internet service on a Colorado Springs Utilities network, are both serving customers in the Briargate area.

DOCSIS 4.0, which uses the entire spectrum of frequency in a cable network, was developed and released in 2017 by CableLabs, a cable industry research lab in Louisville, and is the sixth generation of a technology introduced in 1997 to transmit high-speed data over existing coaxial cable lines.

Comcast first tested the symmetrical internet technology in April 2021 and last year conducted a live customer test in the Philadelphia area.

Comcast is making changes in Colorado Springs in 2023.

The Associated Press file