Comcast Has What It Takes To Offer 5G

Comcast is one of the many business entities joining in the Federal Communications Commission’s incentive auction, which is offering 600 MegaHertz airwaves to interested bidders. Such an auction is normally participated by players from wireless industry, and for sure, Comcast might find itself bidding against some of the biggest mobile network service providers in all of America. The competition is expected to be fierce, especially in light of the dawning of the 5G age, with various wireless carriers looking to boost their respective capabilities in order to be one of the first providers of 5G service to customers. 

But Comcast remains undaunted. As expressed by Mike Cavanagh, the chief financial officer of Comcast, the company can make 5G work. Right now, Comcast is just beginning to explore various ways in which it can serve up 5G technology to consumers. Cavanagh made mention of the need to set up antennas, as well as acquire the space, power, and backhaul needed to make 5G work. 

But Cavanagh is optimistic about Comcast’s chances. He hinted about certain types of properties owned by the company that will be considered critical in bringing a fully functional 5G network to life. Indeed, Comcast already possesses the expansive fixed line set up needed to effectively support all that backhaul. Moreover, Cavanagh claims that the company already has the existing municipal infrastructure, as well as rights of way agreements, in order to build wireless networks in certain key locations across the United States. Lastly, Comcast does not lack the manpower to create, plus continuously operate, a wireless network.

More than a hundred business entities are expected to take part in the the FCC’s forward auction of airwaves, specifically spectrum to be given up by various TV broadcasting companies. Comcast, for one, is claiming for now that it is only going after the type of spectrum that could give it strategic flexibility. In other words, as opposed to blindly chasing after airwaves in order to roll out wireless services in an instant, the company is being more careful in acquiring spectrum that fits its operational needs.

It interesting to note that as appealing as those airwaves look to potential bidders, the spectrum will likely not be made available until the end of this decade. Around that time, various wireless carriers will probably have begun rolling out their respective 5G network offerings. As for Comcast, it may need to expend some resources in getting high band spectrum, i.e. airwaves over 6 GigaHertz, which is believed by many industry watchers to be essential in deploying a 5G network.