I don’t think anyone would be surprised by the fact that as LTE becomes more pervasive, a growing number of people are cutting the cord when it comes to cable and DSL services. It only makes sense, given the costs associated with managing both fixed and mobile services.
To recap, here’s how the progression has played out in recent years. First step: consumers began ditching their landline telephones in droves. Second step: home owners began ditching their cable streaming services and opting for over-the-top streaming services like Netflix and Hulu instead.
TV over LTE fixed wireless broadband appears to be the next step. As operators get on board with competitive data plans that cater to the television viewing consumer, there are numerous products that enable wi-fi connectivity to the internet over LTE, such as broadband wireless routers and Mi-Fi.
In fact, this CNN Money news item notes that wireless companies are all making TV distribution a priority; it outlines AT&T’s announcement of an unlimited data service (called the AT&T Unlimited Plan) for DirecTV subscribers that covers both wireless phone service and DirecTV or U-Verse TV.
Beyond household use, what this also means is that we’ll see even more television consumption on cell phones and tablets since users won’t have to worry about data overages or Wi-Fi availability. It’s a smart move, given that getting that last mile connectivity to homes has always been a costly proposition. The upshot of all this is that operators can lower their costs and keep more customers happy – as long as the LTE signal strength is there.
Which is of course exactly the area where Cel-Fi comes into play.