Northeast and Central division customers of Comcast are expected to get more bang for their buck starting next week. The company will be adding five countries to their popular Xfinity Voice Unlimited Plan. Many customers who have to call family or business contacts overseas opt for a cellular plan which can become pretty pricey. Comcast reviewed the calling trends of customers and discovered a lapse of calling coverage that was needed by customers.
Previous to this update, Comcast offered unlimited calling across the country, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. The update will now include South Korea, China, Singapore, India and Mexico.
In a press release, Comcast shared their customers are spending billions of dollars on excessive cell phone charges, and an additional million more for calling cards to call overseas. The company retrieved data from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and discovered where most of the calls were routing to. They added the countries which is expected to be embraced by a majority of their 11 million customers. Comcast states that nearly all of their residential customers subscribe to the Xfinity Voice Unlimited Plan.
Comcast is running a special currently through September 21. New customers can receive the Xfinity Voice Unlimited Plan for $29.99 monthly for the first six months. Following the six months, the charge can range from $39.95 - $44.95 monthly based on customer region.
Even without the special, customers can save incredibly over international calls versus select mobile carriers. Based on the information from the top four carriers, this is what was discovered regarding voice access, specifically, to the five countries Comcast just opened to:
| Comcast | AT&T | Verizon | T-Mobile | Sprint |
| $29.99/mo Xfinity | $5/mo World Connect | $10/$20/mo 1,000 International Shared Minutes ($0.10 min overage) OR $5/mo Value Plan-must have current Shared Plan for both (see rates below) or Pay Per Minute (see below). | $10/mo Unlimited Landline Calling to 70 countries, must have Simple Choice Plan. Or pay per minute (see carrier for details). | $15 add-on International Call and Text OR $10 add-on plus cost per minute. Other plans available. (see carrier for details). |
| Unlimited to five countries | Unlimited Mexico, Cost to S. Korea: $0.09/min. $0.15/min to China. $0.14/min to Singapore. $0.32/min to India. | Value Plan $0.01/min to Mexico or $0.49/min. $0.07/min Value Plan to S Korea OR $2.49/min. Calls to China: Value Plan $0.13/min or $2.49/min. Calls to Singapore: Value Plan $0.13/min or $2.49/min. Calls to India: Value Plan $0.29/min or $2.49/min. | $15/mo add-on for China, India, Singapore, South Korea. Mexico falls under $10/mo add-on. | International Connect covers calls to China, India, Singapore, S Korea, and Mexico under $15/mo add-on. |
Make a decision that is financially feasible based on your calling patterns, current carrier and consistency. Comcast advises customers can download the Xfinity Connect app to add up to four numbers to make/receive calls and texts for free from their mobile device, when connected to WiFi.