Comcast goes international to compete with AT&T
When Comcast Corp. (www.comcast.com) started offering Digital Voice in 2005 to suppliment its Internet and cable TV services, many shied away.
What happens if the electricity goes out? Your phone service would go out, too.
Well, Comcast said it's conquered that problem by providing an eight-hour battery backup and offering special promotions, bundled with its Internet and cable TV services, that garnered more fans.
Still, the phone service was primarily local and domestic long-distance. It hardly rivaled other services, including dominant player and arch rival AT&T Inc.
To help beef up the competition, Comcast last month introduced international calling packages.
The Carefree Minutes basically offers 100 minutes for $4.95 per month, or less than 5 cents a minute to Asia and Western Europe. Packages for Latin American countries costs $9.95 a month for 100 minutes. All involve landline phones.
"We found that people were still calling internationally, but half of those calls were to these regions," said Comcast spokesman Rich Ruggiero.
He declined to say how many have subscribed to the new international plans or how many are with Digital Voice in the Chicago area. The company only provides Digital Voice subscribers nationwide: about 5.6 million so far this year, compared to 2 million in 2007.
Ruggiero still touted the international call plans as less expensive than AT&T and others.
Ruggiero said the plans offer savings of 40 percent to 60 percent over individual calls.
For example, calls to the United Kingdom could cost 8 cents a minute on a standard plan, compared to Comcast's less than 5 cents on the Carefree Minutes plan. Or calls to Columbia could cost 27 cents a minute on a standard call versus 10 cents on the Carefree plan.
But try to do some comparison shopping between the two companies, and you'll face a lengthy Web site or discussion with a representative that compares apples and oranges.
Comcast only reaches about 35 countries, compared to AT&T's 220. AT&T also has a detailed price list with a monthly fee and per-minute charges.
"What we're providing is a benefit of our global network and consistency of our service network," said AT&T spokesman Chris Bauer.
Surfing: A survey of 155 information technology companies by Oakbrook Terrace-based Computing Technology Industry Association (www.comptia.org) found that 46 percent of their customers are using radio frequency identification. Last year, it was 34 percent. The RFID tags can track products and other items through the manufacturing process or shipment.
•Aurora-based Westell Technologies (www.westell.com) has introduced two residential gateways that allow service providers to deliver WiFi. One is the SersaLin and the other is TriLin IMS.
•Glenview-based Navman Wireless North America (www.navmanwireless.com), a provider of vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions, will partner with Northbrook-based Donlen Corp. (www.donlen.com), a fleet leasing and management compan, will provide its extensive customer base with Navman's advanced GPS fleet management solutions.