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NGN Magazine Magazine logo
July/August 2009 | Volume 1/Number 4
Editor's Note

Comcast Debuts 4G WiMAX Internet Access

By Richard "Zippy" Grigonis

Many of Comcast Corporation’s 15.3 million high-bandwidth Internet customers have long desired a mobile extension to their service so they could access the Internet while on-the-go. Now Comcast has finally brought forth mobile WiMAX-based data services.

It all started when Comcast and Time Warner, bidding under the Sprint/cable joint venture name of "SpectrumCo", paid $2.4 billion for 137 spectrum licenses during the Federal Communications Commission’s Advanced Wireless Service auction in 2006. Then Comcast made an $1 billion+ investment in Clearwire in November 2008, to gain access to their WiMAX technology. At the time, Comcast COO Stephen Burke was quoted as saying, "We didn’t invest in Clearwire to make money on the stock. We invested in Clearwire to roll out a product that our customers want."

Those investments are about to start paying off, as Portland, Oregon has the distinction of being the first market in which Comcast introduces a 4G / 3G data-only Internet access service, enabling users to enjoy both America’s fastest wireless as well as a fast wired connection to the Net.




Comcast is selling two different data cards and service plans:

• Comcast High-Speed 2go Metro service uses a 4G-only USB-based wireless data modem, the 4G Mobile Broadband Device, to provide 4 Mbps download and 500 Kbps upload wireless service within the 4G metro coverage area. The device and Metro service operates only in the Clearwire 4G service footprint.

• Comcast High-Speed 2go Nationwide service delivers the Metro 4G service plus coast-to-coast access on Sprint’s national 3G network. The Nationwide modem automatically switches between available 4G and 3G networks.

The Comcast sells these wireless services bundled with one or more of its Internet, phone and TV products. Both new and existing Comcast customers will be eligible for special bundled pricing. Existing triple play customers can add the 4G WiMAX wireless service as an add-on for $30 per month.

The $49.99 Fast Pack Metro service includes Comcast’s 12 Mbps home Internet service, a free WiFi router for mobility and extended coverage in the home, and the 4G service providing up to Mbps download speed when customers are in the field.

Consumers can upgrade to the Fast Pack Nationwide service for an additional $20 per month, that includes the same services plus nationwide 3G mobile network access. Or they can order the Nationwide service sans home service for $50 a month.

Small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) can also subscribe to these High-Speed 2go services via Comcast Business Services sales teams. The 4G Metro service is available now for just $30 per month and the cost of the data modem ($99) is waived, as is the activation fee ($49) if you sign a two-year agreement for Business Class Internet.

Note that these new Comcast WiMAX-based services are data-only. That’s probably because Comcast got burned a bit when they, in 2005, joined Time Warner, Cox Communications, and Advance/Newhouse Communications in the joint venture with Sprint Nextel to offer a bundled wireless service called Pivot. But since about 80 percent of Americans already subscribe to a cell phone service, and since Pivot’s pricing models resembled everyone else’s, the service basically flopped. The operators all forgot the first rule of telecom survival: differentiate yourself. "Me too" services won’t make you rich.

Knowing Comcast, once this service gets going they’ll push pretty hard, maintaining WiMAX’ head start over the LTE (Long-Term Evolution) technology favored by Verizon and AT&T.

Richard Grigonis is Executive Editor of TMC’s IP Communications Group.

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