Comcast chief unveils faster cable Internet

LAS VEGAS — The future of the Internet promises the ability to download huge files — a full set of encyclopedias, for example — in a few minutes that previously would have required hours or weeks to transfer, Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts said Tuesday.

Roberts unveiled the next generation of cable modems to the public for the first time at a presentation at the National Cable and Telecommunications Show. The so-called wideband modems will allow users to download content — movies, songs, photos — at speeds of 100 megabits or more per second, Roberts said. That's about 20 times faster than current cable-modem speeds.

Verizon advertises speeds of about 5 to 30 megabits per second — depending on the price package — for Internet downloads on the FiOS fiber-optic system it is now rolling out.

As the audience watched, Roberts downloaded the Encyclopedia Britannica and a Merriam-Webster dictionary — in a little more than three minutes.

Roberts said he expected the new technology to lead to a wave of innovation.

"I think we're in a great position to create a new platform and let all these entrepreneurs figure out what to do with it," he said.

Cable companies are not saying how long it will take for this new technology, known as DOCSIS 3.0 — for data over cable service interface specification — which is being developed by CableLabs, an industry consortium.

Roberts' presentation was part of a larger theme at this year's cable show: Cable companies are trying to prove that they will remain competitive in an era in which they face new competition from phone companies offering TV and from startups offering Internet video.

He compared his demonstration Tuesday with one from the 1996 Cable Show, when he demonstrated new cable modems against phone companies' dial-up technology. Since then, both phone and cable companies have boosted speeds dramatically, allowing for the creation of new companies and technologies, he said.

"At the time of the first demo, Google didn't exist, and Amazon wasn't a public company," he said.

Roberts and others at Tuesday's panel argued that cable's superior technology would enable them to navigate successfully around the competition — and even benefit from it.

Philippe Dauman, president and chief executive of Viacom, which operates such channels as MTV and Comedy Central, said his company had found that Internet video reinforces the company's cable channels, rather than displacing them.

"We used to fight with Time Warner and Comcast over [programming] rates. Now we're engaged in how can we deepen the customer relationship," Dauman said.