Internet and cable company Comcast has been on the verge of launching its own wireless MVNO service for a long time. Earlier this month, FierceWireless reported that Comcast, despite its many moves and strategic deals, has “no current plans to enter the wireless market with its own offering.” It looks like the days of Comcast being on the brink of launching a mobile service are coming to a middle.
Surprisingly, the company is actually pretty well-placed to launch some kind of service, and has had a contract with Verizon to operate as an MVNO since 2011. Obviously, Comcast didn’t actually do anything with that agreement and rumor has it that there is some renegotiating going on in regards to the terms.
As if that wasn’t evidence enough that Comcast has its eye on the wireless market, Comcast also has confirmed it has a wireless deal with Sprint and currently boasts more than 11 million hotspots. Both deals could easily fold into a pretty nice network for Wifi calling services or hotspot services but none of this has come to pass as of yet.
In the same Fierce Wireless article, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told Fierce Wireless that Comcast considers the unused MVNO deals to be assets to the company, which hints that Comcast might be looking to purchase another wireless company to kickstart its business. T-Mobile CEO John Legere hinted that a merger with Comcast would be definitely something T-Mobile would be interested in, but Comcast just responded with a collective shrug.
“…[We are] very, very focused and content with what we have got. At the same time, you never say never. The world keeps changing. You look around what others are doing. And you do it with a financial discipline and a goal to finding value for shareholders,” Roberts told Fierce Wireless.
I’m not really sure what, exactly, Comcast is waiting on, but with the company’s reputation for terrible customer service it might be a good thing that it simply can’t seem to make up its mind. Prepaid customers are fickle and I’m not sure that most people would put up with the same tyrannical policies that run rampant in the company’s cable business.
What do you think? Would you sign up for a Comcast wireless service if it was mildly competitive?]]>
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