Comcast said that once its mobile WiMAX service resets to $69.96 per month, the company expects to achieve margins in excess of 40 percent. The cable company also plans to be begin reselling Clearwire's mobile WiMAX service in Chicago, Philadelphia and Washington state later this year.
Comcast COO Stephen Burke told analysts on the company's earnings conference call this morning that the service is being bundled with the company's other high-speed broadband services, and is attracting lapsed DSL subscribers. The most interesting part of his comments were about the margins for the service: "The product at the end of the year resets to $69.95," Burke said." And the combination product of the two has a very healthy margin. We were just talking about 40 percent margins. The margin is in excess of 40 percent, the combination once it resets to $69.95."
Burke declined to comment on possible additional wireless offers from Comcast, including voice services.
Comcast began selling wireless broadband cards for laptops on Clearwire's mobile WiMAX network in Portland, Ore., in June. The company also has expanded the service, called High-Speed 2Go, to Atlanta, and is currently selling the service on promotion for $49.95 per month for a year. The company offers two different data cards and service plans: One is a 4G-only data card that works in Clearwire's "Clear" markets while the other works in those markets and also accesses Sprint Nextel's national CDMA network. The nationwide service costs an extra $20 per month.
For more:
- see this AP article
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