Altice USA has inked a deal with Sprint and AT&T that it’s using to roll out a new wireless service known as Altice Mobile, as it seeks to break into and grow as a wireless service provider both in and beyond its footprint.
The company said it is investing to grow market share at what it views as a very attractive price point for customers.
CEO Dexter Goei said Altice USA believes “aggressive pricing on mobile” will let the company make money and grow volume.
“It will be volume driven,” he said in a recent interview at a Goldman Sachs conference. “We think we can get pretty good penetration pretty quickly.”
The company is selling unlimited wireless phone service for $20 to its Optimum customers and $30 to non-Optimum customers.
Altice Mobile offers what the cmopany calls “unlimited everything” including unlimited data, text, and talk nationwide, unlimited use of mobile hotspots and unlimited video streaming.
The plan also includes unlimited international text and talk from the United Stated to more than 35 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Israel, most of Europe, and more, as well as unlimited data, text and talk while traveling abroad in those same countries.
“We think we’re going to be profitable on a per subscriber basis,” Goei added. “Do you come out with a me too look alike product or do you come out and try to get a lot of volume and drive profitability a lot quicker?”
He said the company views this as having an “attractive economics” and benefits to existing businesses which could include “substantive synergies.”
Altice USA said the average mobile plan in the nation costs $70 per month, so individual customers can save up to $600 per year and more for multiple lines.
“The advent of Altice Mobile as the newest mobile operator exemplifies our vision to create one converged fiber and wireless network that delivers an ultra-fast broadband and mobile experience,” Goei added. “Altice USA is creating a formidable and powerful network to deliver superior connectivity and simplified customer experiences.”
Altice Mobile combine’s Altice’s fiber and mobile core infrastructure with Sprint and AT&T, giving consumers what the company called “fast and reliable wireless coverage wherever they are.” The company said Altice Mobile will also evolve to include new wireless technologies, including 5G.
Hakim Boubazine, Altice USA co-president and COO, said the company was pricing plans to attract business both in and beyond its existing footprint, while still making a profit.
“With one unlimited mobile plan and loyalty pricing, Altice Mobile gives customers the flexibility and freedom they want,” he said. “We’re also very proud to expand Altice Mobile outside our customer base and give even more people a taste of Altice’s great innovations and services.”
Altice USA’s mobile services has 2 million WiFi hotspots as well as access to networks in the U.S. that the company said will provide “seamless, reliable 99 percent nationwide coverage.”
Through its agreement with Sprint, Altice USA can not only market within its footprint, but anyone in that footprint plus a 20-mile radius, which could reach 75 million customers.
“If you think about the volume dynamics, it could get large,” Goei said, although he didn’t give projections regarding customers expected to sign on.
Altice USA is one of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the nation, delivering broadband, pay television, mobile, proprietary content and advertising services.
It reaches about 4.9 million residential and business customers in 21 states through the Optimum and Suddenlink brands.