In telecommunications, quadruple play or quad play is a marketing term combining the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television and telephone with wireless service provisions. [1] This service set is also sometimes referred to as "The Fantastic Four".
In addition to being a testament to technological convergence, quadruple play also involves a diverse group of stakeholders, from large Internet backbone providers to smaller startups.
Advances in LTE and other technologies are rapidly improving the ability to transfer information over a wireless link at various combinations of speeds, distances, and non-line-of-sight conditions.
"Mobile service provisions" refers in part to the ability of subscribers to purchase mobile phone like services, as is often seen in co-marketing efforts between providers of landline services. It also reflects the ambition to gain wireless access on the go to voice, internet, and content/video without tethering to a network via cables.
In the UK, the merging of NTL and Telewest with Virgin Mobile resulted in Virgin Media offering a "quadruple play" of cable television, broadband Internet, landline phones, and mobile, with prices for some contracts as low as £30 a month. It is marketed as "the simplest way for customers to get all their household communications from one provider". [2] BT Group launched its own quad play services in March 2015 ahead of its purchase of EE Limited running its mobile offering on the EE network. [3]
In Hong Kong, PCCW first claims to be "the only operator in Hong Kong that offers a genuine quadruple-play experience". [4] In 2016, HKBN entered the quad play market with a disruptive pricing strategy.
In the United States, many telephone companies like AT&T, Verizon, CenturyLink, Cincinnati Bell, Hawaiian Telcom, Consolidated Communications (formerly SureWest), and formerly, BellSouth, Embarq, Qwest, and Cox (in some markets), have quad-play bundling. Comcast's Xfinity began offering Xfinity Mobile in 2017, which is a mobile virtual network operator on the Verizon Wireless network.
Communications in Belgium are extensive and advanced. Belgium possesses the infrastructure for both mobile and land-based telecom, as well as having significant television, radio and internet infrastructure. The country code for Belgium is BE.
Telecommunications in Jamaica include the fixed and mobile telephone networks, radio, television, and the Internet.
Telecommunications in the United Kingdom have evolved from the early days of the telegraph to modern broadband and mobile phone networks with Internet services.
In telecommunications, a customer-premises equipment or customer-provided equipment (CPE) is any terminal and associated equipment located at a subscriber's premises and connected with a carrier's telecommunication circuit at the demarcation point ("demarc"). The demarc is a point established in a building or complex to separate customer equipment from the equipment located in either the distribution infrastructure or central office of the communications service provider.
Telewest was a cable internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange, and was also once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Technological convergence is the tendency for technologies that were originally unrelated to become more closely integrated and even unified as they develop and advance. For example, watches, telephones, television, computers, and social media platforms began as separate and mostly unrelated technologies, but have converged in many ways into an interrelated telecommunication, media, and technology industry.
Teléfonos de México, S.A.B. de C.V., known as Telmex is a Mexican telecommunications company headquartered in Mexico City that provides telecommunications products and services in Mexico. In 2014, Telmex was the dominant fixed-line phone carrier in Mexico. In addition to traditional fixed-line telephone service, Telmex offers Internet access through their Infinitum brand of Wi-Fi networks, data, hosted services and IT services. Telmex owns 90 percent of the telephone lines in Mexico City and 80 percent of the lines in the country. Telmex is a wholly owned subsidiary of América Móvil.
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC, doing business as Xfinity, is an American telecommunications business segment and division of Comcast Corporation used to market consumer cable television, internet, telephone, and wireless services provided by the company. The brand was first introduced in 2010; prior to that, these services were marketed primarily under the Comcast name.
In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning, over a single broadband connection, of two bandwidth-intensive services, broadband Internet access and television, and the latency-sensitive telephone. Triple play focuses on a supplier convergence rather than solving technical issues or a common standard. However, standards like G.hn might deliver all these services on a common technology.
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company. Before it merged with T-Mobile US on April 1, 2020, it was the fourth-largest mobile network operator in the United States, serving 54.3 million customers as of June 30, 2019. The company also offered wireless voice, messaging, and broadband services through its various subsidiaries under the Boost Mobile and Open Mobile brands and wholesale access to its wireless networks to mobile virtual network operators.
Claro Company, known as Claro Mexico or simply Claro, is a Mexican company part of América Móvil, a Mexican telecom group. Claro serves clients in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. The company's name means "bright," "clear," and also "of course," in both Portuguese and Spanish.
FASTWEB S.p.A. is an Italian telecommunications company that provides fixed and mobile telephony, broadband Internet and IPTV services. FASTWEB is also one of the prominent companies in Italy providing FTTH connections, and is a subsidiary of the Swiss telecommunication company Swisscom AG.
Virgin Media is a British telecommunications company, founded in 2007, which provides telephone, television and internet services in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are at Green Park in Reading, England. A range of videos advertising the company remain available on YouTube. It is owned by Virgin Media O2, a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica.
T-Mobile UK was a mobile network operator in the UK. First launched as Mercury One2One on 7 September 1993, the network was originally operated by Mercury Communications. one2one was purchased by Deutsche Telekom in 1999, who rebranded it with their global T-Mobile brand name in 2002.
The United Kingdom has been involved with the Internet throughout its origins and development. The telecommunications infrastructure in the United Kingdom provides Internet access to businesses and home users in various forms, including fibre, cable, DSL, wireless and mobile.
GO p.l.c. is a Maltese integrated telecommunications company. It is a quadruple play provider that offers local and long distance telephone services, wireless services, digital terrestrial television, DSL and Fiber to the home internet access. GO is based in Marsa, Malta.
Network convergence refers to the provision of telephone, video and data communication services within a single network. In other words, one company provides services for all forms of communication. Network convergence is primarily driven by development of technology and demand. Users are able to access a wider range of services, choose among more service providers. On the other hand, convergence allows service providers to adopt new business models, offer innovative services, and enter new markets.
HKT Limited, also known as Hong Kong Telecom, is one of the largest telecommunications companies of Hong Kong. It has a dominant position in fixed-line, mobile, IDD and broadband services in Hong Kong. HKT Group is a subsidiary of PCCW since 2000, after it was acquired from Cable & Wireless plc.