NCTC, Reach Ink Agreement for MVNO Service for Small Cable Cos.

Some National Content & Technology Cooperative cable operator members could start launching mobile service as soon as late Q2 or Q3 under an mobile virtual network operator agreement NCTC announced Tuesday with Reach Mobile, NCTC CEO Lou Borrelli said. In an interview, he and Reach CEO Harjot Saluja said the Reach offering was designed with different levels of customization available to NCTC's cable operator membership, with a handful of choices at the simplest end to more customization available at the other. All three service tiers give a white-labeled service with Reach providing back-office services and support, Saluja said. Borrelli said handsets will be available via Reach, but most subscribers coming through NCTC member companies will likely provide their own. Smaller cable operators generally don't have storefronts and likely won't "want to get into the whole retail/inventory experience," he said. They said NCTC member companies will have their own app in the Google Play and Apple's App Store where their customers can activate and manage their plans. Under the agreement, NCTC still has to select the underlying wireless network that will be offered to members. Borrelli said the co-op is still in discussions with carriers. Even minus NCTC members with their own arrangements with mobile network operators, more than 20 million customers of NCTC members would be eligible under the offering Borrelli said.