US Cable has strong hand in mobile, says Recon Analytics' Roger Entner

Roger Entner, the founder and lead analyst of Recon Analytics and all-around mobile industry expert, believes cable is well positioned to keep growing the mobile side of its business.

"When you look at cable, they're coming in with a very attractive price position – we give you wireless and home Internet for the same price that the big guys charge you for wireless alone," says Entner, who recently joined the Light Reading Podcast with editors Jeff Baumgartner and Mike Dano. "And that is a very appealing proposition. They're very consistent."

Indeed, Comcast and Charter Communications have just come off a third quarter in which they added a record 729,000 mobile lines, extending their grand total to 9.61 million. As home broadband subscriber growth slows, mobile has clearly become their new success story.

Altice USA's mobile service, coming way of a new MVNO deal with T-Mobile, has had more limited success, but the operator is still adding mobile lines. Meanwhile, Cox Communications and WideOpenWest have just entered the game, and the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) is crafting MVNO deals that will enable its membership of 700-plus independent cable operators and telcos to enter the mobile mix as well.

Entner is also keen on Spectrum One, Charter's new promo that provides attractive 12-month pricing on bundles that tie together home broadband and mobile. "It lasts only a year," Entner said of the promotion, "but it's a really strong decision."

He also shared his thoughts on network and service convergence. It will happen, he predicts, but don't expect it to come about through big waves of M&A in today's regulatory environment.

"The convergence from an experience perspective will happen," he said. "The convergence from an M&A perspective – I think a bunch of people in Washington, DC, have a lot more to say about that than people in Philadelphia, Stamford, Seattle, Baskin Ridge or Dallas."

You can download a lightly edited transcript of the podcast here. If you want to skip around and listen, here are a few topics discussed during this podcast: