Quadruple play

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 humorously referred to as "The Fantastic Four".

"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.

Given advances in WiMAX and other technologies, the ability to transfer information over a wireless link at various combinations of speeds, distances, and non-line-of-sight conditions is rapidly improving. It is possible that one could never need to be wired to get any communication service, even at home.

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.

Companies

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 claims to be "the only operator in Hong Kong that offers a genuine quadruple-play experience".^[4]

See also

• Dual play
• Triple play
• Fixed–mobile convergence

References