In telecommunications, quadruple play or quad play is a marketing term combining the triple play service (broadband Internet access, television and landline phone) with mobile phone network operator 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 United Kingdom, NTL:Telewest (later Virgin Media) became quad-play in July 2006 when it merged with Virgin Mobile. This offered 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 running its mobile offering on the EE network. [3] In January 2017, Sky UK became quad-play through the launch of Sky Mobile. [4]
In Hong Kong, PCCW first claims to be "the only operator in Hong Kong that offers a genuine quadruple-play experience". [5] 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.