Comcast Follows In Wireless Companies’ Footsteps With Prepaid Service
Article from KYW Newsradio:
(credit: LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images)
By Ian Bush
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Comcast is now testing for Internet what wireless companies have found much success with cell service — a prepaid option.
Instead of being under contract and submitting to a credit check, Xfinity Internet Prepaid Service gives you a week of surfing for $ 15, or a month for $ 45.
“Some targets might be consumers who might have no bank account, maybe have bad credit, are a credit risk, or they’re customers who used to get services from Comcast and maybe they got turned off for non-payment,” says Jeff Baumgartner, editor of the telecom industry news site LightReading.com.
He says the connection speed dips a bit from the subscription model (3Mbit/sec downstream vs. 6Mbit/sec in Comcast’s Performance Starter service). Still, he says, ”It might be OK for some video streaming, and it’s going to be great for e-mail and just general web surfing.”
Prepaid customers also buy the…………………continues on KYW Newsradio
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Related News:
NetSpend Deal Affirms Prepaid’s Might
Article from American Banker (subscription):
The prepaid sector’s maturation got further affirmation this week with the announcement that Total System Services (TSS) had agreed to acquire NetSpend Holdings (NTSP) for $ 1.4 billion.
The deal’s price tag is notable — a 26% premium over NetSpend’s stock price at the end of last week — but perhaps even more telling was the identity of the buyer. TSYS is a well-established payments processor that wanted a piece of the fast-growing prepaid market, despite the fact that it has little experience dealing directly with consumers.
“We view the prepaid market as very large and attractive,” TSYS president Troy Woods said during a conference call Tuesday. “The annual revenue opportunity for the prepaid industry is $ 4 billion and is projected to double over the next four to five years.” (To view TSYS’ pre…………………continues on American Banker (subscription)
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