News
A new coaxial cable internet solution from Xfinity hopes to change the playing field by offering improved connectivity without costly retrofits.
By: Brad Randall, Broadband Communities
Xfinity’s Connected Building platform is already deployed to roughly 3,000 units, with pilots going “swimmingly well,” according to a Xfinity Communities executive.
The solution is built to be mounted directly over both coax and power outlets, with residents gaining access by scanning a QR code visible on the unit, according to Xfinity’s website.
Ilan Eframian, a VP at Xfinity Communities, previewed the technology with Broadband Communities at the 2024 OPTECH Conference & Expo ahead of an anticipated business-to-business release next week.
According to Eframian, the technology will be available on a retail basis by next year. He said the platform has the ability to save MDU owners from conducting costly retrofits.
Xfinity’s Connected Building solution, pictured without the cover removed at the 2024 OPTECH Conference & Expo.
“This started as an answer for problems for our customers,” Eframian said. “We have a lot of our large property owners that are wanting to deploy some smart devices, but don’t really want to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to do full retrofit to managed Wi-Fi.”
Eframian said retrofits in older MDUs can cost up to $1,000 per unit.
“Managed Wi-Fi is great, and it allows you to do all sorts of wonderful things,” he said, adding that managed Wi-Fi is mainly designed for commercial office buildings. “Putting that into a residential apartment unit works. We do a ton of it. It’s wonderful.”
Eframian said managed Wi-Fi is also “overkill” for almost every residential property, requiring opening up walls and installing access points, and hardware that will soon be obsolete.
He said Connected Building units will still require some time for installation crews to be in the unit, but he described the installation process as far less invasive.
According to Xfinity’s website, Connected Building is “the first of its kind from a U.S. ISP.”
Other companies, like the Swedish firm InCoax Networks, have offered similar solutions, namely their 5G mmWave Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Extension.
Xfinity has high hopes for the Connected Building solution, which has “received the highest pNPS (Product Net Promoter Score) of any Comcast product trial in history.”
Eframian said Connected Building units would first roll out in properties where Xfinity has bulk billing service agreements.
“If you are precluded because of a competitive agreement from signing a bulk deal, no problem,” he said. “We can offer to you on a retail basis, and so you still get the property wide benefits.”
How is the US connectivity landscape shifting in 2024? Join the operators and their communities in discussion at Broadband Communities Summit West live in San Diego.
