Comcast unveils a new wireless service, Xfinity Mobile

To cover customers, Comcast plans to partner with Verizon’s 4G LTE network along with more than 15 million Xfinity wifi hotspots to provide the coverage.

Comcast’s key competitors – AT&T’s DirecTV and Verizon’s FiOS – are part of companies with wireless offerings.

Unlimited data, talk and text will be available by mid-year for $65 per line for up to five lines, or $45 per line for customers with Comcast’s top X1 packages, which bundle together TV, internet and phone services.

The service Comcast is selling will be essentially the same as a Verizon plan, though Comcast will reduce speeds on unlimited plans after 20 gigabytes. Users need to purchase a phone through Xfinity Mobile for each of these 5 lines of service.

Today Comcast announced Xfinity Mobile, which will launch soon.

ComcastComcast on Thursday took the wraps off of its new mobile phone service, Xfinity Mobile. Xfinity Mobile will offer a number of plans, including one with unlimited data for $65 a month per line. Xfinity Mobile service payments will be automatically billed through the customer’s credit card.

“They are not at the very bottom of the market”.

Comcast said it can undercut incumbents on pricing because of its lower-cost promotional model. In other words, they are a prepaid network that uses another carrier’s network for service. Comcast notes that it will start slowing network speeds after a customer has used 20GB of data per month.

“I just don’t see Xfinity Mobile being created to be a market disrupter”, he says. Comcast’s 16 million WiFi hotspots are accessible for free. Comcast has been quietly installing wireless routers that contain a public channel as well as a private one for use only by the subscriber. And the company is adding a personal touch, shipping you a phone and identifying you by name.

Comcast claimed savings of as much as $576 annually for a hypothetical customer named “Frank” who uses 4.2 GB per month in comparison with a typical competitive offering. The company does not plan to offer phone subsidies. Xfinity Mobile will also feature devices from Samsung and LG. “They have to compete in this new mobile television space”, said Kagan.

And Comcast isn’t the only company in this position.

The $180 bln US cable firm is pushing into cellular service, nipping at the heels of Verizon and AT&T, which in turn are edging into TV. Xfinity Mobile operates on Big Red’s leading network.

Roger Entner of Recon Analytics says Comcast’s new wireless service might boost the company’s bottom line, while having a relatively low impact on competition.

So what is Comcast’s motivation to become a wireless carrier? Industry experts say that Comcast may have sold airwaves controlled by its NBC and Telemundo TV stations.

Now let’s find out what makes Xfinity Mobile its own thing in the wireless industry.

Strict confidentiality rules have prevented Comcast from saying what it did in the auction.

Comcast has been developing the wireless offering for months and tapped executives with wireless experience to help with the launch.