Verizon Wireless and Comcast have made a slew of announcements over the last 24 hours or so involving new markets where they will be marketing one another’s services.
The new markets are in nine different states – including California, Connecticut, Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Texas and Vermont. The deals offered are similar to what the partners have offered in previously announced markets – including Visa® prepaid cards or free service upgrades when customers sign up for Verizon Wireless and Comcast’s video, voice and/or data offerings.
The announcements are the latest in a string of new markets that the partners have launched since Verizon Wireless inked co-marketing deals with Comcast and three other cable companies just under a year ago. Comcast has been one of the most aggressive of the cable companies in announcing deals with Verizon, but the other cable companies – Bright House Networks, Cox and Time Warner Cable – also have announced co-marketing deals with the telco.
All of the markets where Verizon Wireless co-markets service with the cable companies are outside its parent company’s FiOS markets. As a condition of the approval of a spectrum deal with the cable companies, Verizon Wireless promised not to co-market with the cable companies in FiOS markets. Considering that and considering how many markets Verizon Wireless and the cable companies already have launched, the question now is how many other potential markets remain. It doesn’t seem as if there could be many more left.
In FiOS markets, Comcast and Verizon Wireless’s parent company remain fierce competitors, with both launching speeds as high as 300 Mbps or 305 Mbps in some areas.
