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TECHNOLOGY Monday 10 april 2017

Cable giant Comcast offers cellular plans on Verizon network

ANICK JESDANUN plans after 20 gigabytes.
AP Technology Writer Verizon’s threshold is high-
NEW YORK (AP) — The ca- er, at 22 gigabytes, and re-
ble giant Comcast will start duced speeds apply only
selling cellphone plans when there is network con-
called Xfinity Mobile in the gestion.
coming months, using a Comcast will initially re-
network it’s leasing from quire customers to buy
Verizon. phones through the com-
Many subscribers will save pany. It’s offering iPhones,
money, especially if they Samsung Galaxy phones
don’t use a lot of data. The and one budget model
catch: Only Comcast inter- from LG. Customers can
net customers can sign up. pay in full up front or in
Comcast, which has nearly monthly installments, just as
25 million high-speed in- they would through a tradi-
ternet customers, said its tional carrier.
wireless service is aimed at Comcast’s pay-per-giga-
holding onto its customers. byte approach is similar to
Comcast’s key competi- what Google is doing with
tors — AT&T’s DirecTV and its wireless service, Google
Verizon’s FiOS — are part Fi. Customers don’t need
of companies with wireless to guess ahead of time
offerings. This photo shows a sign outside the Comcast Center in Philadelphia. Comcast will start selling how much data they plan
“We’re not getting into the cellphone plans called Xfinity Mobile in the coming months, using a network it’s leasing from Ve- to use; both plans charge
mobile business to be the rizon. Many subscribers will save money, especially if they don’t use a lot of data. The catch: Only them only for what they
No. 1 carrier,” said Sam Comcast internet customers can sign up. use. With traditional carri-
Schwartz, chief business (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) ers, unused data might get
development officer with carried over to the follow-
Comcast Cable. “It’s to ed data for $180 a month Comcast charges a flat would pay $48 at Comcast ing month; even if not, the
benefit our existing core combined, the same as rate of $12 per gigabyte of and $90 at Verizon. customer still pays for the
business. We’re not going Verizon. Many customers data, enough for about an For now, though, Comcast unused amount.
to make billions of dollars in won’t qualify for the special hour of video but plenty for won’t be rolling wireless But Google Fi hasn’t
profit.” pricing, though; for them, email and chats. charges onto the same bill caught on, in part because
unlimited data for four lines Comcast is waiving typi- as broadband, cable and it works with only a few
WHO WINS will cost $260. cal “access fees” of $20 other services. Google-branded phones
The best deals will go to Individuals, however, would per line that most carriers and uses networks from T-
Comcast’s highest-tier save on unlimited even charge for enabling voice VERIZON BY ANY OTHER Mobile, Sprint and U.S. Cel-
customers, those who al- without special pricing — and text service; the waiv- NAME lular, which aren’t as robust
ready spend roughly $140 $65 a month for Comcast, er will cover up to five lines. The service Comcast is sell- as Verizon’s. Comcast says
a month with Comcast for compared with $80 for Ve- So someone who uses no ing will be essentially the it can also take advantage
internet, video and wired rizon. data would get free wire- same as a Verizon plan, of vast array of marketing
phone services. A family For customers who don’t less service. A couple us- though Comcast will re- channels for internet and
of four could get unlimit- need a lot of cellular data, ing four gigabytes a month duce speeds on unlimited voice services. q
Twitter says easing 140-character limit in replies

BARBARA ORTUTAY ing to two, three or more stop counting usernames, text message, back in the stay true to its roots.
AP Technology Writer users at a time could be but the change did not go heyday of SMS messaging. Of course, there are ways
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter especially difficult with the into effect until now. But now, most people use to get around the limit ,
has found more creative character constraints. Twitter, which has been Twitter through its mobile such as sending out multi-
ways to ease its 140-char- When users reply, the struggling to attract new app. There isn’t the same part tweets, or taking
acter limit without officially names of the people they users, has been trying to technical constraint, just a screenshots of text typed
raising it. are replying to will be on appeal to both proponents desire on Twitter’s part to elsewhere.q
Now, the company says top of the text of the actual and opponents by sticking
that when you reply to tweet, rather than a part to the current limit while
someone — or to a group of it.Last year, Twitter said it allowing more freedom to
— usernames will no longer would stop counting pho- express thoughts, or rants,
count toward those 140 tos, videos, quote tweets, through images and other
characters. This will be es- polls and GIF animations media.Twitter’s character
pecially helpful with group toward the character limit. limit was created so that
conversations, where reply- Twitter also said it would tweets could fit into a single