Comcast (NSDQ: CMCSA) will start selling very aggressively priced internet bundles — including both wireless and wired networks — tomorrow in Portland, Ore. as part of its investment in Clearwire (NSDQ: CLWR). The service, being called High-Speed 2go by Comcast, will be available in other cities, including Chicago, Philadelphia and more areas by the end of 2009. Release.
Comcast has been very eager to roll-out a wireless service to its customers since investing in Clearwire back in November 2008, and is now doing so at fairly affordable prices.
Wireless plans will start as low as $30 a month, but the more impressive bundle is the one on the high-end of the offering (especially for anyone who pays for wireless internet today). It includes access to Comcast’s wired home internet service, Clearwire’s 4G WiMax network and Sprint’s 3G cellular network. Altogether the package costs $70 a month, which is roughly $10 more than the average 3G wireless data plan and only $5 more than one of Clearwire’s higher-end plans (which doesn’t include a wired internet service in the home). The speeds are limited to 12 Mbps in the home, and 4 Mbps while on the go and differ a bit from what Clearwire offers. Also, this is only a limited time special. After a year, the price jumps to $92.95 a month, but you can put that into context with Comcast’s wired 12 Mbps plan, which costs about $43 a month alone.
The deal marks the first cable operator to take advantage of Clearwire’s WiMax network. In November, Comcast, Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) Cable and others were part of a $3.2 billion investment into the company. In addition to the monthly bundles, customers may have to pay additional costs for the wireless modems. Intitially, Comcast said the wireless service will not be able to support a “voice product.”
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