Comcast Confirms Plans For A Wireless Service

It was recently reported that Comcast could soon launch a wireless service, it can do that by activating an agreement signed with Verizon in 2011 which will allow the cable giant to resell Verizon’s cellular service under its own brand. It will essentially be an MVNO with Comcast not owning any infrastructure or maintaining the network, think of it as piggybacking on Verizon’s network. Comcast has now confirmed that it does indeed have plans to entire the wireless business.

This was confirmed by Comcast CEO Brian Roberts during the company’s quarterly earnings conference call. Roberts didn’t go into any details about what the service will entail, he did say that wireless is an important area for Comcast customers and hinted that the company might create an offer which combines Verizon’s cellular service with Comcast’s countrywide network of low-cost and free Wi-Fi hotspots.

This will allow Comcast to offer nationwide coverage with the phones on its network switching from cellular to Wi-Fi as and when required to ensure that users get the best possible coverage at all times. This might even be potentially cheaper than the services offered by the country’s four major wireless carriers.

Comcast’s idea for the wireless service isn’t exactly unique, Google’s Project Fi is basically the same thing, it combines cellular networks from T-Mobile and Sprint with Wi-Fi to provide users with good coverage for both voice and mobile data.Though from the looks of it Comcast isn’t in a hurry to get this service out the door, Roberts said that the company won’t even start testing the new service until six months from now.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: comcast, Verizon