Despite failed attempts by other service providers, Comcast’s (News - Alert) plan to bring VoIP into the residential communications fabric with the company’s Homepoint phone/router will be a successful one, an analyst with Stratecast, a division of IT market research firm Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert), told TMCnet in an interview.

 

According to Mike Jude, program manager for Stratecast, Comcast has made a solution that blends more easily into the residential communications fabric and has a capability invisible to what is already in use.

 

“Comcast’s approach is a VoIP router that can be easily plugged in and takes the place of a router in the home to provide in-house WiFi (News - Alert) as well as conventional telephony and VoIP calling capabilities for both home and wireless phones,” Jude told TMCnet.

 

Comcast recently introduced its Homepoint VoIP phone/router in the Fort Meyers, Fla. and Denver, Col. markets and the release immediately raised a question among the industry of whether or not Comcast’s VoIP offering can deliver and succeed where Verizon’s (News - Alert) HUB VoIP offering, which was recently dropped, could not.

 

The company’s Homepoint offering reportedly includes a base station that also doubles as an 802.11b/g router and serves as a cable modem. The phone also offers DECT (News - Alert) 6.0 capabilities and includes a battery backup, among other features.

 

Verizon’s approach, with the HUB offering, according to Jude, was to provide a specific device that did VoIP and had some other abilities like stream video, serve as a digital photo frame, and worked with Verizon wireless text messaging.

 

While the technology was “slick”, Jude noted,  it was not completely clear how the offering fit into the home environment.

 

As an approach, Comcast is offering a device blends into the home environment, while Verizon was pushing a finished product, Jude said.

 

“Comcast has provided something that is expandable through software and services with their Homepoint offering,” he said. “In addition to its current uses, the phone/router is also a platform for the company to add advanced services in the future.

 

The bottom line: “Comcast has a better opportunity,” he said.