T-Mobile MVNO Astound expands to NYC, Chicago

Astound Broadband is expanding its new Astound Mobile service to a bunch more markets, including New York City, Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Last month, Astound Mobile announced its availability to customers in Massachusetts and Corpus Christi, Midland-Odessa, Temple and Waco, Texas. The company eventually plans to make its mobile service available to about 4 million homes in its 12-state service territory.

Astound is an MVNO using T-Mobile’s network and the Reach platform. Plans call for launching Astound Mobile Business later this year.

Astound bills itself as the sixth largest U.S. cable provider and is comprised of the former brands known as RCN, Grande Communications, Wave Broadband and enTouch Systems. Like other cable companies, Astound requires its mobile customers to also be broadband customers.

Here’s the company’s list of mobile markets that are launching this month:

• New York City and surrounding markets

• Pennsylvania markets of Lehigh Valley, Luzerne and Delaware County

• Chicago, as well as Evansville, Indiana and surrounding markets

• Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia and surrounding markets

• Texas areas of Austin, San Antonio, San Marcos, Houston, Dallas and Brownwood

• California, Oregon and Washington markets

“Astound’s ongoing journey into the wireless market comes at a time when it is more critical than ever for our customers to have fast, reliable, and high-value broadband and mobile services,” said Astound CEO Jim Holanda in a statement. “Through our relationship with T-Mobile, we are continuing to bring exceptional choice, value and competitive, award-winning services that customers need to stay connected.”

Astound offers two pay-by-the-gig plans and two unlimited talk and text plans. Customers can choose a plan whereby they only pay for the data they need or they can expand to an unlimited plan with data allotted to each user.

Astound’s mobile terms of service state that Astound Mobile doesn’t provide mobile devices. “Customers must bring their own Mobile Devices to use Astound Mobile Services,” it states. However, the company’s website lists a range of mobile devices for sale.

A spokesperson for Astound told Fierce that Astound Mobile doesn’t offer devices directly but it works with a third party that offers devices for sale. If the shopper doesn’t find something that interests them from that third party, they can visit another retailer and buy a phone to activate with Astound.

Cable's rise in wireless

Cable companies have been on a roll when it comes to adding mobile subscribers to their rosters. Comcast and Charter Communications, which use Verizon’s network, combined added more than 1 million wireless customers in the first quarter of 2023. In total, cable companies now serve nearly 12 million mobile subscribers, according to MoffettNathanson, which points out that cable companies are offering prices that are far lower than what the Big 3 wireless companies offer.

Cox Communications and Altice USA more recently amped up wireless services, and smaller service providers are just getting started through a plan ironed out between the National Content & Technology Cooperative (NCTC) and AT&T. Reach is also involved in enabling that service.