Comcast intros Android app, says no usage-based pricing
updated 07:05 pm EST, Tue December 7, 2010
Comcast talks Xfinity for Android and usage prices
Comcast today posted an Android version of its Xfinity Mobile mobile app. Less advanced than Xfinity TV for iOS, the app can remotely schedule a DVR and check listings but can't remote control live programming. The app serves as a catch-all for other Comcast services and will take in VoIP voicemail as well as check Comcast mail.
The app should work with any Android 1.6 or later phone and is free in Android Market. A version of Xfinity TV is coming soon for the platform but didn't get any details.
At the same time, Comcast's cable division president Neil Smit said at UBS' conference today that there was "no plan in place" to switch to usage-based pricing, or plans based on the amount of bandwidth used. The 250GB universal cap was so far doing well. There was no pressure to change it since most users weren't coming close to the cap and weren't straining the network.
The attitude is different from some rivals that have implemented either different tiers or have no plans whatsoever. Time Warner was one of the most aggressive with tiers and tried implementing low caps only to face a wide backlash after advocacy groups and politicians accused it of unfairly deterring competition with its own cable business.
