Comcast Sticking to Footprint for Xfinity Mobile, CEO Roberts Says

Comcast continues to look into offering its Xfinity Mobile service outside its footprint, but the mobile service won't go beyond the footprint anytime soon, CEO Brian Roberts said. The company hasn't found a business model that works beyond the footprint, since its competitive advantage is in bundling mobile with other services, he told analysts during an earnings call Thursday. The company didn't take questions about spectrum or the broadcast incentive auction, in which it spent $1.7 billion for 73 licenses (see 1704130056). In a note to investors, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said despite speculation Comcast's relatively slim spectrum buy was a sign it plans to buy a wireless operator, it very likely points to Comcast knowing it needs to get heavily into mobile wireless but not seeing an attractive takeover target in the near future. He also said a Comcast-Charter Communications deal is unlikely given the antitrust hurdles it would face and the risk it raises of prompting further regulation of the broadband marketplace. Asked during the call about the competitive threat of 5G, Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said, "It's early," especially given the time it will take 5G to scale, so it doesn't yet pose a significant threat. He also said Comcast is doing fixed and mobile 5G testing. Pointing to NBC being the top-rated prime-time network by a wider margin than it has enjoyed in more than a decade, plus next year's Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, NBCUniversal CEO Stephen Burke said he expects that to translate into notable leverage going into the ad sales upfronts. He said the company already is in discussions with big ad-buying groups. Roberts also said May will bring the launch of Comcast's cloud-based home networking Wi-Fi gateway, xFi.