Comcast soft-launched Xfinity Mobile last week, and the MSO remains confident that the new offering will help the operator keep churn in check and become a profitable part of its business, company senior EVP and CFO Michael Cavanagh said Monday at the J.P. Morgan Tech, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston.
Though too early to judge its performance, Comcast is "optimistic" that Xfinity Mobile, a service that leans on an MVNO deal with Verizon and Comcast’s WiFi network, will lower churn in its existing businesses, tighten ties with customers, and use economics “that can be stand-alone profitable,” Cavanagh said.
“Hopefully, it affects the arc of growth in the business. But time will tell,” he added, noting that Xfinity Mobile, which is being offered to Comcast’s high-speed internet subs, will take advantage of the company’s 29 million customer relationships. “We'll do everything we can to leverage our existing business and assets, but we're going to walk before we run and learn as we go.”
In the early going, Comcast is offering a discounted unlimited Xfinity Mobile data plan for $45 per line (down from a regular price of $65). Comcast is also marketing a By the Gig plan that costs $12 per gigabyte per month. Xfinity Mobile customers are free to switch between those data options.
