Comcast Announces 1-Gigabit Broadband for $140/month. The Same Service Is $20/month In South Korea.

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Comcast’s Xfinity is rapidly rolling out its DOCS 3.1, 1 Gbps download service throughout America for $140/mo.

Is the FCC’s broadband deployment strategy really working out for Americans?

Comcast is now aggressively expanding its high-speed, 1 Gig, DOCSIS 3.1 broadband offering in the U.S.  It’s lightning fast.  Oh, and it’s also $140 a month.

For most, an internet connection featuring 1 Gbps downloads is plenty fast.  According to Comcast’s marketing material, Xfinity’s ‘1 Gig’ offering will allow subscribers to download a 150 MB album in 2 seconds, a 600 MB show in 4 seconds, an entire 5GB movie in 40 seconds, and a full-blown 15GB game in 2 minutes.

Sounds like some serious Pirate Bay torrenting, though not sure Comcast has been such a staunch defender of copyright.  For most, HD-quality, realtime streaming is the thing, and this will undoubtedly enable it.  Cloud-based computing becomes that much easier, with larger files easily transferred and updated.

But, $140-a-month?  

According to CED reporter Bevin Fletcher, the $139.95 ‘deal’ is being rolled out across several new markets.  That includes multiple cities throughout Florida, after initial deployments in Jacksonville and Miami.

There’s also a special modem required, which reportedly ups the price by another $10-a-month.

All of which makes this a $150-a-month offering for speeds that are available for $20-a-month in South Korea.

Strangely, FCC commissioner Ajit Pai has touted America as the most advanced internet ecosystem in the world.  Sadly, that’s far from the truth.  Several years ago, South Korea started deployment on exactly the same ‘1 Gig’ offering — at price of approximately $20-a-month.  In fact, those plans started back in 2011, when the price was $27.

Now, it’s moving towards becoming the standard for South Koreans.  The 1 Gbps download speed is estimated to be 79 times faster than the average internet access speed in America.  And of course, most Americans pay more than $20 for their internet connection.

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Actually, Comcast also offers a 2 Gig plan — for nearly $300 a month.

So if you want to download an entire 15GB game in 1 minute instead of 2, then Xfinity’s got a plan for you.  But of course, the average American can’t afford that plan.

All of which makes you wonder when FCC chairman Ajit Pai touts the supremacy of American internet and the regulations that have been holding broadband ISPs like Comcast back.

Indeed, Pai has repeatedly stated that net neutrality is the reason why poor people in America don’t have broadband.  And why your internet bill is so big.

But maybe it’s just because the companies that bring you the internet — like Comcast — aren’t interested in giving you a good deal.  Much less spreading broadband to all those lower-income Americans that somehow got left out.