Expanding on and confirming our post from last week confirming Comcast's new Homepoint wireless VoIP handset, Comcast reach out to us today with a little more detail on the service. According to the nation's largest cable company, the service is only going to initially available in Denver Colorado and Fort Myers, Florida -- but Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas tells us "other markets will be forthcoming." As we noted last week the service costs $5 per month, replacing the $3 per month VoIP hardware rental fee. Comcast tells us they're offering users a HD Triple Play customers with HomePoint for $114.99 with a free handset. The company also says existing video and broadband customers are getting a $24.99/mo for 6 month CDV offer with HomePoint.
Tell you what, let Fort Myers keep Homepoint and give us Neapolitans DOCSIS 3.0 right now. How about that? -- "I'll follow the law until it's just stupid." -Ted Nugent
1. People have cell phones, most of which do everything (and more) that HomePoint does. Granted, HomePoint is significantly cheaper than a cell plan but Comcast will have to give it away with phone service to get people using/talking about it. The demo that has landlines nowadays isn't going to opt for an advanced phone unless it costs them nothing.
2. The modem is DOCSIS 2.0 and the router is 802.11g. Yes, being all-in-one is cool but this means that the folks getting the HomePoint service will probably also be getting Comcast's Performance internet tier. Again, the folks who would think that a smart home phone is cool are the ones wanting a DOCSIS 3 modem and a wireless router that will keep up.
That said, $25 per month is a good promo price point for Comcast to push this product along with CDV. Too bad I can't even really think about it because it would conflict with my Ultra tier (no I don't want to add a box to my "network table").
One more thing: I saw this handset a few months ago in the local Comcast office. I won't say that it's old news, but it's definitely out there.
That is a really really pretty service. If done right, it can be pay off very well. It seems mostly tech savvy users should have this type of phone and service. Since it is an ip based phone, troubleshooting should be easy for tech savvy users. I wish I had that type of service where I live. I hope our local cable provider rolls something out like that. I was hoping for a wireless ip based phone though. With all the customer retention wifi access points going up, CableCo's should try to bridge the gap
Comcast Confirms Homepoint Launch
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