Comcast Xfinity Mobile goes nationwide (and with a lower price)

Comcast’s wireless phone service, Xfinity Mobile, launched in select markets in May. Now, the service – which blends 4G LTE service from Verizon with Wi-Fi hotspots – is available nationwide.

Xfinity Mobile offers unlimited talk and text as well as two different data options. The first option allows customers to pay for data by the gigabyte – $12 per. The other option affords “unlimited” data for $45 per month, per line (speeds slow after 20GB).

The unlimited option was originally priced at $65 per month but was offered at an introductory rate of $45. It seems as though Comcast has ditched the higher rate and is selling the service at the lower rate sans promo.

There’s no line access fee on up to five lines and you get access to Comcast’s 16 million Wi-Fi hotspots.

Do note, however, that you must be an Xfinity Internet subscriber to be eligible for the service. What’s more, it seems as though the wireless service is limited to a collection of phones that Comcast will sell or rent you although there does appear to be a few workarounds.

There’s also the issue of Comcast’s notoriously bad customer service but that’s a discussion for another time.

Like other premium television providers, Comcast is feeling the pressure from a shifting marketplace in which fewer people are subscribing to pay TV, instead going with cheaper options from over-the-top providers like Sling TV and YouTube TV. A move into the wireless space could help slow the number of defectors.