US cable company Astound Broadband advanced plans to enter the mobile market as a virtual player, targeting an initial launch later this month ahead of a broader deployment over the rest of the year.
Astound Broadband announced T-Mobile US as its host, lining up access to its 5G network. The move comes a little more than a month after it revealed it was provisioning the service through a partnership with Reach.
The cable player plans to offer its first services in two US states before expanding availability across the 4 million homes currently within its footprint.
It will bundle mobile with its home internet service, with tariffs to be based on data usage.
A representative told Mobile World Live the MVNO service will be available on Apple and Android phones.
While Astound Broadband doesn’t have the scale of Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications, its MVNO move could add pressure on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, particularly given reports cable companies accounted for a large slice of net additions in the US during Q1.
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