Cable service provider Comcast announced the release of two new services targeting the heavy residential downloaders and also one for for the business segment.

The two services are called Extreme and Ultra and are available at 50 and 22 Mbps of downstream and at 10 and 5 Mbps of upstream. The monthly fees are $139.95 for Extreme and $62.95 for Ultra. The company also offers a business plan, delivered at 22/5 Mbps up/down, available at $99.95 a month. Extreme’s monthly fees add up to three time what the company’s standard offer costs. Extreme was described as a service that "blows the doors off of other high-speed Internet connections" and is "perfect for hard-core gamers, households with several computers or online devices, and tech-savvy Internet users who crave the fastest speeds."

Comcast said that users will be able to "download a high-def movie in about 16 minutes, a standard-def movie in about 5 minutes and a standard-def TV show in a matter of seconds." Even though these are very good news, as users won’t have to wait too long for their downloads, a faster transfer speed invites users to heavier downloads and considering the fact that the 250 Giga Bytes monthly cap remains active, the monthly costs might be significantly boosted.

Comcast's PR representative Charlie Douglas talked about the company’s upgrades and its future plans, saying that "We have continuously enhanced our speed offerings for our customers for years. Ten years ago, fast was 1.5 Mbps. Today, we're now offering 50 Mbps speeds, and that is just the beginning of what wideband is capable of -- in the future, we'll be able to offer 160 Mbps or more." He also explained that the cap concerns all residential customers, while the business clients are free to go over it for now.

The company’s complete offer now offers seven options. Aside from the Extreme and Ultra services, there are also two other possibilities for residential users: Performance Plus (16/2 Mbps up/down), available for $52.95/ month and Performance (12/2 Mbps up/down) at $42.95/ month; the business services present a Starter with an unknown price that provides 12/2 Mbps up/down, the above mentioned new Premium for $99.95/ month and the Deluxe 50 service (50/10 Mbps up/down) available for $189.95 a month.

Mr. Douglas also addressed the installation process, which appears to be extremely simple for both new and old clients. "Where these new speeds are available, consumers of our six Mbps Performance tier or our eight Mbps Performance Plus tiers will not have to do anything but restart their modems to get the complimentary speed upgrades to 12 Mbps and 16 Mbps, respectively," he said.

Users can go online to the company’s Web site and check by entering their zip code if their location benefits from Comcast’s new offer. Among the covered areas are Boston, Philadelphia and New Jersey.

The company’s plan is to reach 10 major markets and 10 million homes and businesses over the next several months and just as Mitch Bowling, general manager of Comcast Online Services, put it, this improvement reaffirms the company’s commitment to provide "more speed to more homes than any other U.S. Internet service provider."