Comcast to Offer Online Phone Service ; Service Expected in Puget Sound Area Later This Year
Posted on: Thursday, 13 January 2005, 09:00 CST
Comcast Corp. plans to challenge local phone companies by offering Internet-based phone service in 20 markets this year, company officials said.
The Philadelphia-based company plans to offer its Digital Voice technology to all of its markets by next year. Company officials said they expect to be serving about 20 percent of phone customers in those markets within five years.
"Our initial focus is on getting it right and successfully introducing the service," Comcast CEO Brian Roberts said. "We've already worked out the kinks and are going to take a very patient approach."
Puget Sound-area residents can expect the service this year. "We don't have an exact time frame for the Seattle market, but we're looking at sometime later this year that we would make it available for our customers in Western Washington," said Steve Kipp, a Comcast spokesman.
He did not have a time frame when Eastern Washington residents could use the service. In Washington state, he said, Comcast has about 1.1 million cable video subscribers.
The service costs $39.95 a month for existing Comcast broadband customers for unlimited local and domestic calls. It also includes caller ID, voice mail and call waiting.
Rian Wren, the general manager of Comcast Voice Services, said he expects Digital Voice to make a profit within two years.
Some competitors are offering similar services at cheaper prices. For example, Edison, N.J.-based Vonage Holdings Co. offers unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls for $24.99 a month, or $14.95 for 500 minutes of calls a month.
And Verizon Communications Inc. offered a service in the Philadelphia area for $34.95 a month, with a discount of $10 a month for one year to customers who use its DSL service for high-speed Internet connections over phone lines.
Wren said his company will have significant competition but noted Comcast is offering features its rivals aren't. For example, Verizon and Vonage don't promise their services will work in a power failure, but Comcast provides a 16-hour battery backup.
Source: Seattle Post - Intelligencer
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