Today, Charter introduced Spectrum Mobile Second Line, which enables subscribers to utilize the same phone for personal and professional uses.
The extended capability costs $10 per month. The second line offers unlimited talk and text in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. It is available to residential and business customers.
The announcement from Charter said Spectrum Mobile Second Line can be added to eligible dual SIM Dual Standby (DSDS) smartphones. The technology is not new. Spectrum Mobile began offering dual eSIM phones in 2021. Phones with this capability represent the bulk of the company’s device sales since.
The offering enables the second line to share the first line’s data plan. Each line can be given a name, with the caller opting for which use from the device.
“Our customers want practical ways to keep their work and personal life organized on one device,” Spectrum Mobile Products’ Senior Vice President David Owens said in the announcement about Spectrum Mobile Second Line. “It’s a simple, integrated way to manage different numbers, whether for business or personal, without extra devices or toggling between apps.”
Spectrum Mobile Second Line is available at Spectrum.net, the My Spectrum App or by calling customer service.
The use of phones for both consumer and business purposes has long been a challenge to organizations and the security ecosystem. Issues include security, how to split the billing and — when the phone belongs to the consumer — how to ensure treatment of sensitive or confidential data when the employee leaves the company.
The use of personal phones for work purposes — which Spectrum Mobile Second Line seeks to address — is pervasive. As far back as 2021, a poll conducted by Opimiun on behalf of AT&T found that 54% of remote workers regularly used their work device for personal purposes. This includes sharing work computers with members of their families.
The challenges remain as the technology shifts. In 2022, Ericsson and Google demonstrated network slicing on an Android 13-based device. This new approach clearly will offer a new way to approach the issue.
