Comcast Corp. made a joint statement with Liberty Global Plc and revealed that its customers will be provided with the opportunity to use the European Wi-Fi hotspots of Liberty. In exchange, Libertys subscribers will be able to use Comcasts Wi-Fi networks in North America. According to the statement, the service is to start on a trial basis later in 2014 and is expected to be offered more widely in 2015.
The companies only shared that the agreement will increase the access of their users to each others broadband networks in 2015. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Currently Comcast owns more than 3 million Xfinity Wi-Fi hot spots on the territory of the US. Liberty, on the other hand, has more than 2.5 million Wi-Fi home spots called Wi-Free and WifiSpots in several countries in Europe.
“This is our first step in bringing global Wi-Fi connectivity to our customers,” Tom Nagel, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for Comcast’s cable division, said in the statement, which was cited by Bloomberg.
Liberty has been following an aggressive global expansion strategy under the lead of John Malone. Comcast, on the other hand, has been primarily focused on its $45-billion deal with Time Warner Cable Inc., which is pending regulatory approval and some big media companies opposed to the acquisition.
Both companies are now trying to expand their Wi-Fi networks in order to provide their customers, who use mobile devices, with the opportunity to browse through the Internet without using up data on their wireless plans. As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Mr. Balan Nair expressed his companys hopes that the cooperation with Comcast will lead to “interest from other cable operators to join us”.
Comcast Corp. rose 0.12% on Thursday to close at $56.98 per share on the NASDAQ, marking a one-year change of +30.09%. The company is valued at $147.33 billion. According to CNN Money, the 21 analysts offering 12-month price forecasts for Comcast Corp. have a median target of $62.00, with a high estimate of $72.00 and a low estimate of $52.00. The median estimate represents a +8.81% increase from the last price of $56.98.
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