Cable operator Altice USA made its long-awaited mobile entrance, bursting onto the scene with extremely aggressive pricing in a bid to rapidly build its customer base.

The company said its Altice Mobile service offers unlimited talk, text, data, hotspot use, video streaming and international roaming in more than 35 countries. The company is offering service through an MVNO deal with Sprint, with a related roaming deal with AT&T extending coverage.

Charges stand at $20 per month for existing broadband customers and $30 for non-customers who live within or near the company’s 21-state footprint. Consumers can bring their own phone, or purchase an Apple, Samsung or Motorola device at Altice USA’s Optimum and Suddenlink brand stores.

In a statement, Altice USA COO Hakim Boubazine said the service delivers “seamless and ubiquitous connectivity, a frictionless experience, and the latest technologies and devices, all at an unbeatable value”.

Courting subscribers
Indeed, analysts with Wells Fargo Securities said in a research note the $20 price point “is the most aggressive in the wireless industry for single-line plans”.

For comparison, Sprint offers the lowest-cost single-line unlimited plan among mobile network operators at $60 per month; while cable operators Comcast and Charter Communications each launched MNVO plays with unlimited tariffs for existing customers at $45 per month.

The analysts added the low-cost strategy should help Altice USA gain market share “particularly right before a seasonally high-volume Q4 for wireless phone activations,” but noted the company will likely need to raise prices in the future to achieve profitability.

In August, Altice USA CEO Dexter Goei said the company would aim to maximise traffic offload onto its Wi-FI network to minimise MVNO costs and maintain low pricing for customers.