Not to long ago, Comcast announced XFINITY Mobile, which is their own wireless network that operates on Verizon’s network. It hasn’t yet launched, but analysts are already thinking that Comcast has had second thoughts about entering the world of wireless. Craig Moffett, an analyst, stated in a note to investors in regards to the very little that Comcast spent at the Incentive auction (just $1.7 billion), that “Comcast stared into the abyss that is wireless these days… and decided they didn’t like what they saw.”Moffett also believes that the speculation of Comcast buying a wireless carrier is getting tiring in Philadelphia, at Comcast’s headquarters.
Comcast did note, earlier this week after they announced their earnings, that they currently have no plans for the spectrum that they purchased in the auction. But did state that the amount they spent and got from the auction was strategic. It’s unclear, at least to the public, what Comcast is planning to do here with this spectrum. They could end up licensing it out to Verizon or another carrier down the road, in exchange for using that network as an MVNO for their own wireless carrier – that is actually how they got the deal for Verizon’s network on XFINITY Mobile. However, in the same statement, Comcast did note that the growth of XFINITY Mobile is not dependent on this spectrum that they purchased, which won’t be available for a few years – even though T-Mobile is wanting to start using it this year.
For years, Comcast has been rumored to be jumping into the world of wireless, and they announced earlier this year, their first step which is XFINITY Mobile. It’s a network that will run very similar to Project Fi, where it will use Comcast’s XFINITY WiFi hotspots that are all across the country, and then when those aren’t available, it’ll fall back onto Verizon’s network. They are also offering somewhat competitive pricing, with existing Comcast customers able to get unlimited data for just $45/month. Or customers have the option of paying for data per gigabyte, like Project Fi does. Of course, it has not yet launched, but should be launching in the very near future.