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Mediacom Mobile Showing Full Signal
By Sara Winegardner
It’s been one year since Mediacom Mobile went live in all of the provider’s markets, and the adventure has been one full of lessons for the company.
Mediacom SVP, Operations, Product Strategy and Consumer Experience Tapan Dandnaik says the goal in entering mobile was to be a part of the new bundle that would provide customers’ greater value and to more effectively compete with fixed wireless. He’s satisfied with Mediacom Mobile’s growth and position in the marketplace today, but that doesn’t mean getting to this point was easy. It meant developing something that many companies have had years to create and invest in. There’s a unique learning curve that comes with that.
“I think what has been foreign to us is that most of the time, we’ve come into the market as the first entrant, and now we’re coming into a very mature market with a lot of competition. From a marketing standpoint we’re realizing after talking to our industry brethren that it takes years to create that awareness,” Mediacom Group VP, Marketing Kristi Salmon says.
Mediacom isn’t shying away from the pressure, dedicating the necessary energy to get potential customers to feel more comfortable getting their mobile product from what has come to be known as an internet company.
Key to navigating that learning curve have been Mediacom’s customer service agents. Mediacom launched mobile to employees prior to rolling it out to consumers, allowing those agents to become experts and true brand ambassadors. They’ve been the touchpoint between leadership and interested consumers, educating the entire company on the different layers of concern. Customers were coming to the table with questions about cost savings on each plan, whether they would be able to bring over or purchase certain mobile devices and potential buyout or financing options.
“I think we’re getting close to a point in the next 30 to 60 days where we’ll have a majority of things [covered] that the agents find as a hurdle to get over,” Dandnaik says.
It has already implemented a device store, setting it apart from many of the smaller operators with mobile offerings. While Mediacom does not yet have a device deal with Apple, customers can buy Apple devices through that online marketplace. Plans are currently in place to test a device payment plan this summer with Mediacom’s MVNE partner Reach and, if all goes well, launch it sooner than later.
Eligible Mediacom customers can currently receive a free unlimited line for 12 months when they add Mediacom Mobile, but Salmon believes it would seem appropriate to layer in a device- or buyout-related promotion around the holiday season. Through it all, the team is identifying small fixes to the user experience to ensure subscribing is simple. “What’s exciting for me is we’re doing things that someone hasn’t done and we’re launching it in a way that is the Mediacom way. We’re not throwing tons of dollars at it. We’re doing it in a smart, effective way,” Dandnaik says. “There are things that are hard now, but once we have it there, a lot of our smaller partners will benefit from what we’re doing because at the end of the day, this is something they’ll be able to leverage.”
With the growing pains largely weathered, Mediacom has big plans for Year Two of mobile. It expects to bring multi-gig and symmetrical speed broadband to one million homes by the end of next year, and each time an upgrade is completed, it creates an opportunity to talk with folks about Mediacom Mobile.
“Every time we get an opportunity, we are reminding customers that we have a mobile product and how we can bundle and save you money. At the end of the day, the messaging is that we can save you at least 30%, if not more,” Dandnaik says. “Not only are we a leader on the internet side, but we’re also providing you value with mobile as well.”
Fast Fax
- Mediacom first filed for the “Mediacom Mobile” trademark in September 2022.
- Interested consumers must be subscribers to one of Mediacom’s broadband tiers in order to subscribe to a Mediacom Mobile plan.
- Technology company Asurion partnered with Mediacom Mobile in December to offer trade-in services and comprehensive device protection to all of the provider’s wireless customers.