Comcast launched a new no-contract brand that includes a lower-cost and lower-speed broadband product targeted at increasingly popular 5G-based fixed-wireless access (FWA) services that have been launched by a handful of mobile network operators (MNOs).

The new offering is grouped under Comcast’s Now brand, which is a no-contract service targeted at “low-cost internet, mobile and streaming TV products.” It will include a fixed broadband service using Comcast’s already established cable internet footprint, new cellular rate plans using its established mobile virtual network operator mobile virtual network operator mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement with Verizon and a streaming video product.

Comcast is using the low-cost internet service to fight against the growing push from 5G-based FWA services, highlighted by its claim of providing “more reliability than fixed-wireless options for a better price.”

The broadband offering comes in two tiers priced at a speed cap. The entry-level tier is priced at $30 per month with unlimited data capped at download speeds of 100 Mb/s and a higher-tier option priced at $45 per month for unlimited data capped at download speeds of 200 Mb/s.

Those speeds are conveniently above the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) recent quadrupling of minimum speed benchmarks for fixed-broadband services being offered in the U.S.

Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong recently told an investor conference that 70% of its broadband customer base was signed up for network speeds in excess of 400 Mb/s, with one-third of its total base paying for speeds in excess of 1 Gb/s.

The Comcast Now tiers will compete against FWA services that don’t have advertised capped data speeds, though network performance monitoring firm Ookla reported late last year that 5G-based FWA services from Verizon and T-Mobile US are providing average download speeds of around 122 Mb/s. Those FWA services are available for between $25 and $60 per month depending on deals and details.

U.S.-based FWA service providers added nearly 3.7 million new connections last year, according to a recent report from Leichtman Research Group, which was 15% more than the market added in 2022. More significantly, the research firm found last year’s FWA growth accounted for 104% of the total net broadband additions for 2023, compared to 90% in 2022, and just 20% in 2021.

Nearly all of last year’s FWA connection growth was on the backs of two operators: T-Mobile and Verizon. Those two finished last year with a combined FWA base of nearly 7.9 million connections.

That growth has been bolstered by relatively inexpensive price plans.

A recent report from Parks Associates found 66% of customers subscribing to an FWA service from a wireless operator “consider their plans to be at a fair or good price.” This was a significantly higher sentiment than the 51% of fiber customers and 35% of cable subscribers who felt they were getting a good deal.

Comcast lost 34,000 broadband customers during the final three months of last year, which Armstrong said would be a low point.

Outside of the FWA battle, Comcast is also positioning the Now service as a potential option for customers currently tapped into the U.S. government’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).

That program was established in late 2020 as part of a congressional COVID-19 relief package to help subsidize broadband connectivity and has since gained more than 23 million participants. However, future funding for the program has not been approved and could run out by the end of this month.

Comcast stated that the Now offering “will provide customers enrolled in ACP with another option for affordable, reliable connectivity.” Armstrong said the internet service provider (ISP) had approximately 1.4 million customers that are tapped into the ACP program.

Other ISPs have also started to position ACP alternatives for consumers.