Put the pieces together and it seems that Comcast is finally going forward with a Wi-Fi/cellular hybrid mobile service offering.
Comcast has an agreement with Verizon tied to a 2012 spectrum deal that allows the operator to use Verizon’s wireless network as part of an MVNO. Bloomberg is reporting that Comcast is closer now to finally cashing in on the offer.
Earlier this week, Verizon CFO Fran Shammo was asked about the MVNO deal—which also includes Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks. He confirmed one of the companies is going to execute on the agreement, though he couldn’t disclose which company.
“Obviously the industry is moving. Cable is going to do what they are going to do and we’re going to do what we’re going to do,” Shammo said, according to a Seeking Alpha transcript.
If it is indeed Comcast planning to combine Verizon’s LTE and its own large Wi-Fi hotspot network into a wireless service offering, analyst Roger Entner says it’s about time.
“It only took them like two or three years,” Entner said.
But, why now? Entner says Comcast is moving ahead because of the threat a newly combined AT&T and DirecTV posed to the MSO.
“AT&T going to market with a quad play, a quad play done well, and it scares the bejeezus out of [Comcast],” Entner said.
Not long after receiving final regulatory approval for the merger, AT&T rolled out a bundle offering combining AT&T wireless and DirecTV video service. The $200-per-month offer includes four receivers and four lines with 10GB of data.
John Stankey, CEO of AT&T Entertainment and Internet Services, counted on the new bundle to put the fear of god into cable operators.
“I want Comcast to really regret that they don’t have a wireless asset,” Stankey said during an event outlining the DirecTV merger. “I want them to have to do something. That’s success for me.”
But Comcast has done something in wireless before. In 2007, Comcast offered a wireless service that rode on Sprint’s PCS network. The service, called Pivot, was shut down two years after launch.
Entner says that Comcast has consistently underestimated what it takes to sell wireless in the past and that’s why the company has failed.
“It’s not like selling HBO on top of the cable bundle,” Entner said.
With Verizon’s excellent nationwide network behind it and a concerted effort to differentiate on plans and pricing, Comcast’s wireless ambitions may turn out different in 2016.
But the operator will still be behind AT&T, which could later today during its earnings call give us the first glimpse of how successful its new bundles have been.