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Can Comcast’s Mobile Service Win Over Customers?

Can Comcast’s Mobile Service Win Over Customers? Image Credit: Comcast

Wi-Fi has become a basic service, and it’s very tough for companies that provide a basic service to have a great reputation with consumers. Utility providers, whether they are providing electricity or water or a connection online, are never going to be the public’s favourite companies. Comcast, as the biggest home internet service provider in the US, suffers from this more than most.

So, Comcast’s new mobile service, due to launch next year, will have some work to do in convincing customers that it is worth ditching their current provider and taking a chance on. The service will be targeted at current Comcast customers, probably as part of a package of home internet connectivity and cable television. With streaming services ever-more popular, cable providers need to diversify and not rely on channel packages for revenue. Comcast’s new mobile service can be seen as part of this shift, as a way to be the delivery mechanism wherever its customers consume content, and long-term as a service that can be offered beyond its regulator-defined fixed footprint.

Of particular note is how Comcast will deliver this service. It will use Verizon’s network, but only as a fallback – they intend for most data and calls to use their vast network of Wi-Fi hotspots and homespots for connections. This approach isn’t completely new, but until now has been limited to smaller providers such as Republic Wireless, and companies looking to move into telecoms, such as Google’s Fi project. Wi-Fi first is generally perceived as a frugal choice, for those who don’t need much data and only rely on such a connection in an emergency, and who don’t want to pay for large data allowances. Comcast’s new service, done right, has the potential to both win over customers and change this perception of Wi-Fi first mobile services.

Comcast has 15 million Wi-Fi hotspots across the US. Its Xfinity Wi-Fi is bundled with its Xfinity home internet service, and it’s safe to assume that these same hotspots will be used for its mobile service. The number has been boosted by the (slightly controversial) move by Comcast to make home Wi-Fi routers double as public Wi-Fi hotspots. And while it doesn’t publish coverage percentages like a cellular provider does, all the major cities in the US are covered by the service. For users in urban areas, Comcast’s new mobile service has the potential to be a very good deal.

But in order to win over the competition, Comcast – and any operator launching a Wi-Fi first mobile service – must not only have good Wi-Fi coverage, but good quality Wi-Fi connections for their customers. If quality is poor and good connections are not maintained, Wi-Fi first will continue to be seen as a budget option, inferior to cellular services – and most Comcast customers will continue to use dedicated mobile operators rather than opt-in to this new offering. This requires a shift in mindset when it comes to Wi-Fi from unmanaged best-effort to a managed network asset.

A low-quality service is very likely if Wi-Fi is not properly managed. Many Wi-Fi hotspots are deployed and then left alone following initial installation, or beyond necessary maintenance if they fail. In these dense urban areas, the use of unlicensed Wi-Fi spectrum is always changing as people move around, and as Wi-Fi routers are moved, replaced and rebooted to try and get the best signal possible. The settings that achieved the best result at the point of installation are unlikely to get the same result a month later, a day later, or perhaps even a few hours later.

Comcast is starting from behind in an entrenched market, but it does have the advantage of offering a new service that is close to being unique, and on a scale that far outstrips its rivals. It has the potential of being cheaper and just as good as any other mobile service – but only if the Wi-Fi service offered is properly managed and can match its rivals. If not, it will run the risk of being a budget option with a reputation to match.

Author

At XCellAir, Todd is responsible for worldwide sales, product management and marketing. Prior to founding XCellAir, he spent nine years leading the Trillium software business at both Continuous Computing and Radisys. Todd focused Trillium on providing software and services for both 3G and LTE small cells, including enabling the world’s first LTE small cell deployments. He has been a thought leader and evangelist of small cells for more than eight years. He holds both a BS in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia and a MS in Systems Architecture from the University of Southern California.

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