Information, please (well written as to what are going to be the issues)
Comcast's Net phone operation will stress service, not cheaper calls
By Peter J. Howe, Globe Staff | January 11, 2005
After years of testing the waters, Comcast Corp. is plunging into Internet phone service later this year. But it will stress service and features, not deep cost savings.
Comcast plans to charge $40 a month for its unlimited Digital Voice service, but that price will be available only to consumers who also buy cable television and high-speed Internet service. For customers taking only one other service, the price will be $45.
Counting the price of both Internet phone service and the high-speed Internet access required to make it work, Comcast's service would wind up costing $20 to $33 per month more than equivalent services from Vonage Holdings Corp., AT&T Corp.'s CallVantage, or Verizon Communications Inc.'s Voice-Wing.
Comcast will offer a stand-alone Digital Voice package for $55 a month, virtually identical to Verizon's unlimited local and national phone plan.
While they plan no aggressive moves on price, Comcast executives said they aim to offer a more robust set of services than the largely do-it-yourself access that most current Internet phone providers market online. The Philadelphia cable giant will send technicians to subscribers' homes to set up the service and connect their home phone wiring to the "voice over Internet protocol" service, rather than have the service limited to a single phone connected to the broadband modem. Comcast will also offer live operators and 411 directory assistance services and battery-powered backup service to help ensure that 911 emergency calls go through during power failures.
"It's really not all that attractive a price point, but it's going to be more feature-rich," said Michael Lauricella, vice president of telecommunications research with Access Markets International Partners Inc., a New York information-technology consulting firm.
Comcast will not, however, immediately offer two of the most popular features of VOIP service: combined voice mail and e-mail, which lets people get phone messages from the Web, or Internet phones that can be unplugged and used anywhere else in the world, with calls coming in via the subscriber's home phone number.
"I think they're getting their hand forced to get into the game," Lauricella said, referring to pressure from upstart Internet phone providers like Vonage, Packet8, and Broadvoice, and from Verizon's new $5 billion foray into offering cable-like TV services over new fiber-optic lines.
Comcast's rivals were unimpressed.
"There is no compelling reason we can see for any customer to choose Comcast as their voice carrier," said Verizon spokesman Jack Hoey. For someone who wants only high-speed Internet access and unlimited Internet-based domestic calling, Verizon's VoiceWing service would cost $300 less a year.
AT&T's Gary Morgenstern said: "I don't think any of us will look to the cable companies to provide the innovative features that you'd expect from voice over IP providers. Things like security and telephone service are not their core competency, as they are for us."
Comcast has since summer been offering voice over IP service on a trial basis in the Springfield area, as well as parts of Indianapolis and Philadelphia. The company inherited more than 1.2 million conventional phone customers when it bought cable systems from the former AT&T Broadband in 2002, including more than 250,000 in New England.
Speaking to an investor conference in Phoenix, Comcast chief executive Brian L. Roberts said the new Internet-based Digital Voice service will be offered to 15 million homes in 20 big markets by the end of this year, about one-third of Comcast's total US service zone. It will be available throughout all Comcast franchises next year. "We do not have a specific rollout schedule for New England at this point," spokeswoman Jennifer L. Khoury said.
Comcast forecasts attracting 8 million subscribers by 2011. Among the perks it plans to offer in coming years are caller identification that pops up on subscribers' TV screens, so they can see who's calling without having to get up from the sofa.
But at least at the outset, Comcast appears likely to stress the availability of local, human technicians, something the industry leader, Vonage, generally can't offer its 400,000-plus consumers.
"It sounds like they're going after people who are a little less likely to be first adopters, people who appreciate some high-touch customer service," Lauricella said. "That may make some sense, because with Vonage it's kind of an e-mail and prayer when you have a service issue." |
