Comcast Wednesday announced it has become the third-largest residential phone service provider in the United States.
The cableco serves 6.47 million customers with its Digital Voice services throughout its 39-state service area. This exceeds Qwest’s reported residential subscriber base of 5.96 million.
AT&T and Verizon hold the No. 1 and 2 positions, respectively with 27.48 million and 20.96 million residential subscribers, according to 2008 financial data.
“Consumers are switching to Comcast’s Digital Voice Service because of our low prices, reliable service and innovative features,” said Cathy Avgiris, senior vice president and general manager for voice services at Comcast. The carrier sells its service at 20 percent to 30 percent discount off the incumbent telco pricing.
It also offers new home phone features such as Universal Caller ID, which lets subscribers see incoming caller info on their TV or PC. In addition, the SmartZone Communications Center online portal enables customers to manage their e-mail and voice mail in one place, and sync contact information from multiple sources into one universal address book.
Comcast also is rolling out an enhanced cordless telephone that includes the ability to view e-mail; view/forward/manage voice mail from the phone or PC; read news, sports and horoscopes; access a universal address book; and search the Yellow Pages.
