Comcast, Charter split mobile cost

Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity Mobile business is running big losses — a projected $1.2 billion for its first 18 months — as it launches against competitors Verizon Communications, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint.

But the nation’s largest cable/ internet company will now be getting financial help to take some of the pain away.

Charter Communications Corp., the nation’s No. 2 cable/ internet company, has agreed to a partnership to fund 50 percent of the logistics and behind-thescenes software for the smartphone business so that Charter can use the same software platform for its soon-to-launch Spectrum service.

Charter is expected to launch the new service this summer, mostly based on Comcast’s model.

The Charter funding will help finance the Xfinity Mobile’s Philadelphia development team, company officials said. Comcast did not disclose the amount of the funding or the development team size.

Comcast and Charter will separately advertise and market their mobile services, in addition to separately negotiating with smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung. But the two companies will share the software platform that does the billing, warehouse logistics, manages the plans, and orders the phones. The software also serves as the interface between the cable/internet companies and wireless network operators. Comcast and Charter basically lease wireless spectrum from Verizon to offer the smartphone service.

Comcast has been developing the software for more than a year. Xfinity Mobile launched around mid-2017. Charter will make an initial payment to the partnership to cover the costs that Comcast already has put into the software. Going forward, Comcast and Charter will fund the partnership on a 50-50 basis.

According to its first-quarter earnings statement, Comcast added about 200,000 smartphone subscribers in the first quarter and lost $189 million on the business. Comcast executives said Xfinity Mobile will be profitable when the business gets larger.