Comcast is aiming to deliver its advanced X1 cable service to New York and Los Angeles in an attempt to build a strong presence on the East and West coasts. The company predicts the X1 project will be complete within a year after their merger with Time Warner Cable is finalized.

The service is expected to "bring considerably higher Internet speeds" to customers in those cities, said Neil Smit, president and chief executive of Comcast's cable unit, according to the Star Tribune. X1 will also allow cable television viewers access to Internet apps, viewing recommendations and allow voice control.

"We'll be within the first markets in a year," Smit said.

The X1 service will be cloud-connected cable boxes and could help Comcast gain more subscribers in the large markets of New York and Los Angeles; one of the reasons Comcast decided to buy Time Warner was to get into those two markets.

In Los Angeles, satellite TV has dominated, while in New York, customers are mostly choosing Verizon's cable TV plans. Time Warner has struggled to keep customers in New York, but if X1 can bring them back, Comcast will surely take them.

Even better news for Comcast: ithe newest boxes that Time Warner has produced should be capable of handling X1's operating system, according to Smit, and that will make the transition much easier than building new boxes. 

Although Time Warner isn't likely to be a company much longer (pending the Comcast-TWC merger regulatory approval), Time Warner is still updating their capabilities in bigger cities including New York and Los Angeles.

There's no word yet about how much the upgrades and the rollout will cost, but customers in New York and Los Angeles can expect a whole new viewing experience very soon.

For now, users outside of the New York and Los Angeles area are paying $99 per month for a Triple Play package that includes X1 service.

Could the merger and entry into these markets create lower pricing? It's possible.