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D ue to a blend of improving economics and acceler- ating subscriber growth anticipated to take hold in the years to come, industry analysts Craig Moffett has grown somewhat bullish on cables’ wireless plays. “Cable wireless is now ready for its star turn,” said Moffett, analyst with MoffettNathanson. Traditionally taking a cautious view of cable’s relatively rocky attempts to attack the wireless market, Moffett now believes “it’s time to take cable’s wireless business seriously.” Moffett cites a few recent develop- ments impacting his new outlook. For starters, Comcast’s new multi-line pricing – part of the revisions to its MVNO deal with Verizon – make its overall offer more competitive with family-oriented mobile plans from AT&T and Verizon. Charter Commu- nications is expected to follow with something similar. Comcast, meanwhile, recently disclosed that its Xfinity Mobile business, which had about 3.1 million mobile lines in service at the end of Q1 2021, has achieved break-even status about four years after the service was introduced. And Comcast’s and Charter’s acquisitions of licensed CBRS midband spectrum put both in position to offload a “meaningful” amount of traffic that, in turn, will expand mobile service margins. “Taken together, these develop- ments suggest a much more important role for wireless in the future cable business model,” Moffett said. “These developments also portend a much more significant competitive impact on the incumbent wireless operators.” Moffett now expects Xfinity Mobile’s subscriber base to surge to 7.89 million lines by 2025, ahead of his original estimate of 7.04 million. Spectrum Mobile’s base, meanwhile, is now anticipated to reach 7.24 million subs by 2025, compared to Moffett’s earlier forecast of 6.54 million. MOBILE & WIRELESS CABLE WIRELESS WARMING UP Comcast Xfinity Mobile Subscribers: Revised v. Prior Forecast Source: Company reports; MoffettNathanson estimates Subscribers 0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000 3,993 3,888 4,983 4,775 5,873 5,449 6,843 6,054 7,893 7,044 2021E 2022E 2023E 2024E 2025E Revised Prior By Martin Vilaboy 24 CHANNEL V ISION | July - August 2021