Comcast set to turn up cellular offload in Philadelphia

Comcast is getting ready to activate Philadelphia (PA) as a trial market for cellular offload (i.e. using complementary network technologies for delivering data originally targeted for cellular networks). The company is exploring if a combination of its existing mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) relationship with Verizon and its own cellular Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) network can provide the right coverage and cost. Comcast has 13 times more devices attached to Wi-Fi than in 2018 and now serves a billion in-home connected devices. In addition, Comcast’s investments in DOCSIS 4.0 will get the company to a place of bidirectional 10 Gbps network speeds. Brian Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast, says convergence is both a product and network strategy, as Comcast approaches a “vastly lower” and “capital light” cost structure because so much of its customers’ usage is in the home via Wi-Fi, combined with Comcast’s MVNO relationship with Verizon for mobility.