Comcast, Cox Keep Options Open on Wireless MVNO, but no Plans for Now
BOSTON -- Comcast and Cox Communications are keeping options open on using another company's wireless network to extend their services, their executives said at INTX. Comcast Cable's Cole Reinwand, vice president of the company's Xfinity Wi-Fi program, and Cox's Kelly Williams, vice president-strategic video platforms, largely echoed each other, indicating no mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) plan is now in the works. On a panel on spectrum Tuesday, Reinwand and Williams said much traffic is going over Wi-Fi. And they and others said concerns continue over interference to Wi-Fi from LTE-U.
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On MVNOs, "Comcast is a company that keeps its options open," said Reinwand in Q&A. "I think it's well known that we have a potential network arrangement we could take advantage of." Some "smart people" are looking at the issue, he said. "We've got options." If one can help customers in a better way than is done now, "great," added Reinwand. Comcast had no further comment for this story. A spokesman referred us to media coverage of CEO Brian Roberts saying here in Boston that a 2012 deal allowing it to resell mobile service on Verizon's wireless network gives the cable operator options to compete in mobile.
Cox's MVNO option with Verizon "expired and we have no plans to pursue right now," emailed a spokesman for that cable operator. On the panel, Cox's Williams said to "never say never." A "lot of things have changed in the environment since Cox last went down this road," he said. Now, more consumers are paying for their own devices, so providers can eliminate the major expense of financing smartphones for subscribers, Williams noted, citing AT&T's program. "We're always looking, keeping our options open."
Also on the panel, the Comcast and Cox executives talked up Wi-Fi. A Wi-Fi first approach has existed for "a while," given smartphones default to try to connect a user with such a network if one is available, said Williams. "The MVNO piece would really just represent situations where you either don't have Wi-Fi or want to send a traditional text message" or make a wireless phone call, he said. "Incremental traffic" generated from that is small, added Williams. Reinwand pointed to a "brand new" Wi-Fi on wheels that Ericsson had in the convention center hall just outside the panel room. The van with a mast that raises could go to "areas where we basically do not have Wi-Fi hot spots," he said. That van could serve about 2,500 users, said Ericsson's Manish Jindal, head of strategy development and portfolio management. "It's a great way to provide the coverage and capacity in venues" and could help in an emergency, he continued, saying it's capable of microwave backhaul or connecting terrestrially.
On Wi-Fi co-existing with LTE-U, Williams said that "we're trying to make the best of a suboptimal situation," while an executive at a broadband services vendor to cable companies said he hopes a solution can be worked out. "We'll see how it plays out," said Williams. Look for the dispute to "all get resolved," said Chief Wireless Strategist Leigh Chinitz of vendor Casa Systems. He pointed to licensed assisted access technology, which is undergoing "what I think a lot of people would consider a true standards process" as opposed to what some might consider LTE-U's "more informal process." An executive at LTE-U proponent Qualcomm had no immediate comment. It's "possible to come up with a solution" to most problems, the issue is getting agreement on what that looks like, said Chinitz. "The future for spectrum allocations will look a lot more like unlicensed than it looks like licensed."