From businessinsider.com
Comcast thinks its secret weapon is an app that lets it talk directly to
consumers
By Abby Jackson|Feb. 11th, 2019
Cable companies want to differentiate themselves in a broadband market
rife with competition.
To set itself apart, Comcast is prioritizing Xfinity xFi this year,
Comcast's senior vice president Fraser Stirling told Business Insider.
xFi is an app that's accessible on mobile, web, and TV and lets Comcast
customers set up Wi-Fi networks, troubleshoot network issues, see which
devices
are connected to their networks, and block or pause connected devices.
It displays all the devices in a household that are connected and the
network activity
on all of them.
Comcast is working to engage more deeply with customers through xFi, and
sees it as a one-stop shop for everything from alerts to service
broadband disruptions
in the home to informing customers when a credit card is expiring. The
next step will be giving customers more information about their
network's speed
and capacity.
The company hopes all this will strengthen its relationship with
customers and protect against churn.
Comcast's share of the broadband market has grown. In the fourth quarter
alone, Comcast added 351,000 broadband subscribers, a 5.2%
year-over-year increase.
Its closest cable competitor, Charter, added 289,000 and AT&T lost 32,000.
In the first quarter of this year, the company plans to launch Xfinity
Assistant, a virtual assistant designed to allow users of the app to
troubleshoot
issues and schedule service appointments using voice commands.
Comcast also uses xFi to educate customers about technology. It tells
people things like how many devices using hundreds of megabits of speed
they can
connect on a single network, which Stirling said had led to more
informed and satisfied users.
Differentiating their broadband product is important to telecom
companies as they try to retain customers. That Comcast, the largest
pay-TV provider in
the US, has more broadband customers than video customers shows how
vital broadband service is to the company as traditional linear TV
subscribers decline.
Stirling said the British broadcaster Sky, which was recently acquired
by Comcast, is exploring how to deploy xFi across Europe.
--
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist WWW.David-Goldfield.Com
