Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 wideband service is launching in several areas of California, including Fresno, Merced, Modesto, Stockton, Tracy, Tulare and Visalia, as well as Santa Barbara County.

With the launch, Comcast has started its rollout of the wideband service, with a top speed of 50 Mbps on the downstream, in central California and north Santa Barbara. Comcast previously deployed wideband in the San Francisco Bay Area and in the Monterey-Salinas area earlier this year.

Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 tiers are Extreme 50 and Ultra. Extreme features download speeds of up to 50 Mbps and upstream speeds of 10 Mbps for $99.95 per month with a subscription to Comcast’s video or voice services. Ultra has a downstream speed of 22 Mbps down and 5 Mbps up at a cost of $62.95 per month when paired with the company’s video or voice offerings.

Business customers will also have access to the new wideband services. Customers can sign up for the Deluxe 50 Mbps/10 Mbps tier for $189.95 per month, while the Premium tier has speeds of 22 Mbps/5 Mbps for $99.95.

Like it has done in other markets, Comcast increased the speeds for its existing Performance tier residential customers, who will now benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.

“Wideband utilizes our existing fiber-optic network in neighborhoods across our footprint. With this next generation of service, our customers’ online experience is dramatically enhanced,” said Steve White, senior vice president of Comcast’s California Region. “And this is just the beginning. Wideband, combined with our fiber-optic network, gives us the capability of meeting the needs of our customers for many years to come by offering even faster speeds in the future.”

Starting tomorrow, Comcast’s new services will be available to residential homes – businesses will get the faster tiers Nov. 5 – in the following cities and areas: Acampo, Altaville, Angels Camp, Armona, Arnold, Atwater, Avery, Ballard, Big Trees, Buellton, Camp Connell, Chowchilla, Clovis, Corcoran, Crows Landing, Del Rey, Dinuba, Dorrington, Dos Palos, Douglas Flat, Firebaugh, Fowler, French Camp, Fresno, Friant, Goshen, Grangeville, Grayson, Gustine, Hanford, Hardwick, Hathaway Pines, Jackson, Kerman, Kingsburg, Lathrop, Laton, Lemoore, Lemoore NAS, Linden, Lockeford, Lodi, Lompoc, Los Ba?os, Los Olivos, Madera, Manteca, Mendota, Merced, Modesto, Mokelumne Hill, Mountain House, Murphys, Newman, Oakdale, Orcutt, Parlier, Patterson, Pinedale, Planada, Plymouth, Rancho Calaveras, Reedley, Riverdale, San Andreas, San Joaquin, Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, Sanger, Selma, Solvang, Stockton, Stratford, Sutter Creek, Tracy, Tulare, Vallecito, Valley Springs, Victor, Visalia, Wallace, Winton and Woodbridge.

Comcast increased the speeds for its existing Performance tier residential customers, who will now benefit from doubled downstream and upstream speeds offering up to 12 Mbps and 2 Mbps, respectively.

Comcast plans to have its DOCSIS 3.0 wideband service in 80 percent of its footprint by year’s end, which was up from the 65 percent the company previously targeted. In an August earnings call, Comcast said it had DOCSIS 3.0 in 50 percent of its markets, and the operator has increased the speeds of its other data tiers in those markets, as well.

Comcast’s DOCSIS 3.0 speeds have already started launching in 11 major markets, including the Twin Cities (where it recently deployed a 100 Mbps service for businesses); the Boston metropolitan region and parts of southern New Hampshire; the Philadelphia metropolitan area; parts of New Jersey; Atlanta; Baltimore; Chicago; Ft. Wayne, Ind.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle. Comcast said it would launch in additional markets in the weeks and months ahead.

Comcast used pre-DOCSIS 3.0 wideband modems from Cisco in its first launch of wideband services in the Twin Cities last year. Comcast is also working with Arris, Motorola and other DOCSIS 3.0 vendors.