Verizon and T-Mobile have had some success picking up fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers in recent quarters, but Comcast, which has seen the pace of its own broadband growth slow down, isn't overly worried about FWA's performance.

FWA is an "inferior product," Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said today at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference. "Today, we can say we don't feel much of an impact [from] that."

Figure 1: 'We don't take [FWA] for granted, but we've seen lower priced, lower speed offerings before,' Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said, referring to Comcast's past entanglements with DSL.
Pictured is Roberts attending a ceremony in 2019 marking the announcement of a strategic partnership between Alibaba Group and Universal Beijing Resort for a new theme park experience in Beijing, China.
(Source: Reuters/Alamy Stock Photo)

Though Comcast isn't feeling much competitive heat from FWA, the category itself captured about 38% of US broadband industry adds in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to a fresh market analysis from MoffettNathanson. T-Mobile has claimed that about half of its FWA subs are coming from cable competitors.

DSL comparisons

But Roberts believes Comcast is more than prepared to compete with what he termed a lower-speed option.

"We've seen that with DSL in the past," Roberts said, referring to an old wireline technology that telcos such as AT&T and Verizon are rapidly phasing out. "We don't take it for granted, but we've seen lower priced, lower speed offerings before." Roberts expressed skepticism that the technology will remain "viable" in the long term.

Fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) competition is a different story with respect to performance.

Roberts noted that Comcast has been dealing with FTTP competition for more than 15 years, and has been able to grow its broadband base each year, adding 22 million broadband subs during that span. He estimates that about 40% of Comcast's footprint is overbuilt by fiber, and expects that to rise to 55% in the next five years.

That expected increase is "very manageable," he said. "We take it seriously. We know that playbook. It happens neighborhood-by-neighborhood. We know when the trucks are wiring up that neighborhood."

When asked how Comcast intends to differentiate in a broadband market that's only getting more competitive, Roberts pointed out that the operator now offers up to 1.2 Gbit/s (downstream) across its DOCSIS 3.1 footprint, and has unleashed a new gateway with Wi-Fi 6E capable of supporting multi-gigabit speeds. And while 28% of customers took speeds of 320 Mbit/s or more two years ago, that number has jumped to 55%. He said that's a relevant comparison given the speeds that many FWA-based services deliver today.

Roberts also reiterated that Comcast will focus on upgrades to DOCSIS 4.0 and the pursuit of 10-gig speeds, but didn't get into possible launch timing. D4.0 is "capital efficient" and will provide enough speed and capacity to "stay well ahead of consumer demand," he said.

"I understand all the concerns out there," Roberts said of the recent, slowing pace of broadband subscribers at Comcast. "But I really think we're pretty darn well positioned. "

'Just getting started' with mobile

Shifting to mobile and wireless, where Comcast has taken the offensive, Roberts also labeled that as a "capital light" business, given its attachment to the Verizon MVNO and the operator's own infrastructure.

Xfinity Mobile, now a profitable business line, has about 4 million lines across 2 million broadband subscribers. That penetration is still a sliver of Comcast's base of 32 million broadband subs.

"We're just getting started," Roberts said of mobile. "I hope that as we go forward, you'll see really a combined offering between our broadband and our wireless products."

Roberts said Comcast remains interested in a hybrid approach whereby it can offload mobile traffic in high-usage areas using licensed spectrum that covers about 80% of the company's footprint.

But he also characterized the use of CBRS spectrum as an optional piece of Comcast's mobile strategy, rather than a requirement. "We only would do that if we can make it cheaper than we can buy it," Roberts said.

Roberts also shed a little light on the relationship Comcast and Charter enjoy with respect to mobile offload. The operators, which both have MVNO deals with Verizon, "have one technology roadmap to interface with Verizon," he said.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading