[July 24, 2008] Comcast To Roll Out Phone Features Integrated Into Internet, TV Services Starting August Tweet (InvesTrend Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) July 24, 2008 (FinancialWire) Comcast Corp. (NASDAQ: CMCSA) said that it soon will offer new features as visual voicemail integrated with its Internet and television services. Aside from Embarq Corp. (NYSE: EQ), which in April unveiled a home smart phone, traditional phone companies are behind cable companies in deploying integrated smart features. Comcast and other cable providers are grabbing a share of the market for voice services. The company's phone service, which has 5.15 million subscribers, is growing by double digits as the company's basic cable TV business matures. Cable phone plans have become popular because of their set monthly price, generally for unlimited local and long-distance calling, and because they are usually bundled at a discount into a TV and Internet plan. Comcast has been testing new features such as a universal address book, visual voicemail and caller ID for TV. It will start rolling out these services nationwide in August, and they will be available in most Comcast markets by the end of 2008. Comcast also plans to introduce a cordless phone for the home with a screen that can access weather, sports scores, e-mail, but not attachments, a local directory and contacts, among other features. Shares of Comcast rose 22 cents to close at $20.05, while shares of Embarq rose 35 cents to close at $47.37 Wednesday. FinancialWire is a fully independent, proprietary news wire service of Investrend Information (a division of Investrend Communications, Inc.). FinancialWire news is written by professional journalists, dedicated to pure journalistic standards. FinancialWire does not receive or accept any compensation from any individual or subject company (or representative thereof) for its news or opinions. All FinancialWire news is available at http://www.financialwire.net . Please address any inquiries to [email protected] . Free annual reports for companies mentioned in the news are available at http://investrend.ar.wilink.com/?level=279 . (Distributed for Investrend Communications, Inc. via M2 Communications Ltd (www.m2.com)) Copyright ? 2008 M2 Communications Ltd. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]