Comcast has a new partnership with Thumbplay that offers downloads of mobile entertainment applications from Comcast’s broadband portal, www.comcast.net. The options will include a library of music, ringtones, videos, games and graphics that can be downloaded to mobile devices from a new mobile focused Comcast portal, m.comcast.net. Thumbplay has built an exclusive library of content and also offers its own subscription service. In addition to the Thumbplay content, Comcast users will be able to download email, news, weather, and TV listings among other things to their mobile device.
The move by Comcast is an obvious value add play for its broadband users. But in addition, it’s a precursor to a more extensive mobile experience Comcast hopes to offer when their Clearwire partnership becomes active. Comcast COO Steve Burke recently commented that the Clearwire partnership is on track to close by the end of 2008. The Thumbplay move and the applications it represents are just the type of mobile apps that Comcast and Clearwire want to exploit with WiMAX. Comcast looks to get a little bit of a headstart today.
