Comcast’s quadruple play focuses on TV, billing

Comcast Corp. aims to find out if customers will buy wireless service from a cable company: the nation’s largest cable provider is launching a trial of wireless service in partnership with Sprint Nextel Corp. in two markets: Boston and Portland, Ore.
The launches are the first of the trial markets for converged services from the joint venture between Sprint Nextel and four cable companies: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox and Advance/Newhouse.
Eventually, seven trial markets are expected to be launched. Time Warner is scheduled to launch trials in Raleigh, N.C., and Austin, Texas. Cox plans to launch in two unspecified markets, and Advance/Newhouse expects to run a trial in one market.
John Garcia, president of the joint venture, said that there may be “a couple more launches this year.”
Launches of trial markets had been expected by the fourth quarter, but not all seven will be launched by the end of the year. Garcia said that both the cable companies and Sprint Nextel have been looking at whether additional launches during the holiday crunch make sense.
“We’re not really concerned about deadlines versus doing it right,” he said.
Comcast’s Mobile Access service is “a new arrangement from Comcast and Sprint that will make it easier for you to access all your home and entertainment needs on your Sprint wireless phone wherever you are,” according to Comcast’s Web site. The company added that customers will be able to “watch mobile TV channels, check your e-mail and make unlimited calls from your wireless phone to your Comcast Digital Voice home phone.”
The partnership was formed about a year ago, and the companies have since been working on product development and building links between Sprint Nextel’s billing system and the three different billing systems used by the four cable companies, Garcia said.
“We want to get the foundation right, build a strong foundation,” he added.
Comcast considers the trial market in Boston to be launched and is advertising in that market; however, Portland is still considered to be in a “soft launch” phase, according to the company.
However, the response to the new bundles from analysts has been lukewarm. Weston Henderek, wireless analyst for Current Analysis, noted in a research report that “the initial launch contains nothing earth-shattering in terms of service integration and . is really only a re-branding of straight Sprint service at similar price points.”
Andrew Seybold of Outlook 4Mobility commented that the “first offering is not one that will provide a clear indication of the demand for this type of combined service. We won’t really know how popular it will be until it goes beyond combined billing for telecommunications services and a common toll-free number for support.”
Both men agreed that the service will have to be judged once it gets beyond the basics, to control at-home electronic devices via mobile phones and to leverage the capabilities and convergence of wireline and wireless more fully.
“Comcast and the other cable providers are likely just rolling out the service initially to iron out any billing and customer service glitches in the beginning, before new services are offered,” Henderek noted. “However, until . value-added features and capabilities are added, [JV cable members] will likely struggle to add new wireless customers, given that the service will not be very well known and will not offer any additional savings when compared to existing national wireless carriers.”
Comcast indicated that the service can be accessed via four handsets: the LG Electronics Co. Ltd. Fusic, and the 8400, 2400 and Katana from Sanyo Corp. Those handsets can be purchased for the same price as in Sprint Nextel retail stores, Garcia said. Current Sprint Nextel customers who want to sign up for the bundles may also be able to get the over-the-air download of the unique user interface, which works much like the cable channel guide that users are used to. The handsets are Sprint-branded, but the phone screen will feature the Comcast name.
He also noted that the wireless revenue generated by customers who sign up for bundles goes to Sprint Nextel, and the carrier “owns” those wireless customers.
“We don’t care whether Sprint sells it or the cable companies sell it,” he said. “It’s a little cheaper. The bargain, we believe, is that the customer is going to stay longer.”
The Mobile Access service is being sold at both Comcast and Sprint Nextel retail locations in Boston and Portland. Customers will receive a single bill for their services and can call Comcast for wireless inquiries. Garcia said that Comcast customer service reps will handle basic wireless inquiries, such as bill explanations that make up about 80 percent of customer-care calls. More complex questions, such as issues with phone features, will be transferred to Sprint Nextel.
The service will have a local aspect, and Comcast is seeking local channels to include-although it does not currently carry any local channels in its two markets. Customers will be given local TV listings from their home markets, so that a customer who lives in Boston would still receive Boston TV listings even while traveling in other markets.
Activating the service requires a minimum purchase of wireless service and cable service from Comcast, although Comcast tells its customers that “to get the full value of Mobile Access service, it is best to have” a bundle including cable, VoIP phone service and high-speed Internet along with the wireless service.
The service also offers converged voicemail and mobile TV offerings for $15 or $25 per month. Those packages include both the Sprint Power Vision mobile TV content as well as channels that have been licensed by Comcast. The basic package currently includes 20 channels, and the more expensive package has 30. However, Comcast noted that “Comcast Mobile TV does not include the full cable TV channel line-up that subscribers receive on their home cable package.”
Additional new capabilities, including remote digital video recorder programming, more video experimentation and more work on the user interface, will come next year, according to Garcia.
“The position we’re trying to establish in the marketplace is the ability to take the things that are important to you at home with you, anywhere you go,” Garcia said.