Xfinity Mobile Available in all Xfinity Markets Now
Xfinity is what Comcast calls its internet service and while the company is known mostly for cable TV and internet services, it has launched a new mobile phone offering that it says runs on the “nation’s largest and most reliable 4G LTE network.” Presumably that is the Verizon network though that isn’t specified in the press release. Xfinity has its own network of WiFi hotspots and the deal here is that to save your data, the Xfinity Mobile service will connect you to those hotspots when they are available.
Access to the Xfinity hot spots is typically reserved for Xfinity internet customers. There are a huge number of those hot spots around the country with Xfinity offering 18 million of them. The company is able to do this because every customer it has on current generation cable models, that modem also acts as an Xfinity hotspot. For each new internet customer, the number of hotspots grows.
Given that in most areas where Comcast/Xfinity operates they are the only choice, the coverage is strong for hotspots. Being an Xfinity customer, I can tell you in my Colorado Springs/Pueblo, Colorado area there are lots of hotspots. The idea is that you will be on hotspots 70% of the time says Xfinity allowing you to reduce the amount of data you buy and your bill.
Two plans are offered with Xfinity Mobile, one is $45 monthly per line, for up to five lines, with unlimited data. You will get throttled after 20GB per month. Xfinity Mobile says that most people are choosing option two, which is by the gig. With that plan you pay for the data you use at a price of $12 per gigabyte of data. I can see that by the gig plan working if you have lots of hot spots in your area. It’s not clear if you have to purchase a smartphone form Xfinity or if you can bring your own. You can mix lines with unlimited and by the gig pricing on one account. Offered devices include Galaxy and iPhone devices along with the LG X Charge and costs can be stretched out over 24 months for approved users.