At The Cable Show in Las Vegas this week, the CEO of Comcast demonstrated downstream speeds of ~150 Mb/s on a DOCSIS 3.0 cable connection. The AP reports that a 300 MB video was downloaded in “a few seconds” and a 32 volume encyclopedia and dictionary in under four minutes!

The roll-out of Verizon’s FIOS network has been rather slow because of the need to run new fiber lines to homes. FIOS connections are consequently still available in only a selected number of cities across the country (I’ve been waiting!). On the other hand, cable lines are almost ubiquitous in comparison, so if the new DOCSIS 3.0 standard can leverage the existing infrastructure to deliver such high-speed connections, it definitely has the potential to take the market by storm.

Comcast’s CEO says that this could be available “within less than a couple of years.” I certainly hope so! :)