US cable operator Cox, as has been widely expected, this week began selling mobile phone service – initially in Arizona and San Diego. Called Mobile Access and operated by Cox and Sprint, it’s bundled with digital pay-TV, broadband and digital telephone services.
Mobile Access allows Cox customers to integrate their Cox home phone, digital cable and high-speed Internet services with Sprint wireless service, a complete quad-play.
“The integration of wireless services into our offering brings convenience to our customers, simplifying their entertainment and communications experience,” said Cox VP of wireless services Stephen Bye. Cox and Sprint want to go beyond quadruple-play services and build an integrated suite of services – the so-called single play – from which subscribers cannot easily disentangle.
Some of the single-play and other functions that Cox is initially offering subscribers include the ability to watch live TV on their mobile phone; access the web and Cox e-mail with their mobile phone; join web-based chat rooms and use instant messaging; download full-length songs from Sprint’s music store; play multi-player games and send and receive Sprint Picture Mail; receive free text alerts when voicemail is left at home; make one call to receive home and wireless voicemails.
Other capabilities include a single bill, unlimited calls to and from a Cox home number and free home forwarding.
“We think the future is all about having access to all of your content, all of your services from various access points,” David Grabert, director of media relations for Cox, said last December.
Goodness knows that modern man and woman can’t be separated from their e-mail and instant messaging for long. “The challenge of accessing their Cox e-mail when they are away from the computer is now simplified and accomplished with Mobile Access,” Bye said.
Cox, Bright House Networks, Comcast and Time Warner Cable have been working in a $100 million venture with Sprint to develop the service. In every case the service is called “Mobile Access from Cox and Sprint” or “from Time Warner and Sprint” and so forth.
It would seem certain that the four cable companies in the Sprint venture will rollout their mobile access service throughout their footprint long before AT&T and Verizon will be able to sell their pay-TV service throughout their footprints.
Of course the two telcos can sell satellite TV service – DirecTV and EchoStar – but the margins on that are likely pretty slim. AT&T has attempted some service integration with EchoStar in the Homezone pay-TV service it sells to any residence that can get AT&T broadband. However, Verizon has done little to nothing to integrate its DirecTV service with its triple-play bundles.
Comcast is testing the service in Boston and Portland, Oregon. Comcast charges $33 a month for Mobile Access. An additional $15 per month gets a video service that provides short video clips and live programs that are formatted for mobile-phone screens.
Time Warner is test marketing Mobile Access in Raleigh and Austin.
As we went to press, we had been unable to find where or even if Bright House is testing Mobile Access. The guess here is that it’s a city in Florida, perhaps Tampa.
Just as it will become increasingly difficult for Cox and the other cable companies’ single-play subscribers to disentangle, it will also become increasingly difficult for Sprint and its cablecos partners to disentangle. As one songwriter said, “This could be the start of something big.”
The four cablecos and Sprint appear to have the jump on AT&T and Verizon when it comes to integrating their mobile phone service with the rest of their bundles. That’s despite the fact that Verizon and AT&T have been involved in operating successful mobile phone companies for a much longer period. Wouldn’t it be ironic if the cablecos beat the telcos to the punch?
The two telcos trail the cablecos in pay-TV. However, Verizon seems to be on target in rolling out its FiOS TV service. AT&T seems to have run into technical snags with its Uverse IPTV service and may be falling behind its schedule.
The entry of four major cablecos into the mobile phone business will put added pressure on the telcos, especially as the Cablecos integrate the various services.