Comcast to open its Stream TV service to non-customers

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) will reportedly open up its new Xfinity Stream service to non-customers in the coming months. 

According to a Comcast FAQ, first reported on by TV Predictions, the $15-a-month video service will be available to customers of rival ISPs -- and those who have no ISP at all -- within Comcast's footprint, provided they use the MSO's proprietary gateway modem.

"If you're not an Xfinity Internet customer, we are working hard to make the required equipment available in 2016," the site states.

A Comcast rep directed FierceCable to a San Jose Mercury News report from a month ago in which the MSO disclosed development of the gateway.

"Stream is a cable service like our others, just to different devices rather than a TV.  What the new gateway will really do is allow someone without Comcast (or any) Internet service to get Stream TV," the Comcast spokesperson said.

Xfinity Stream combines local broadcast channels with HBO and is targeted to younger consumers not in the pay-TV ecosystem. Comcast has launched the IP-based service in parts of Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan and New Hampshire, and plans to make it available across its footprint later this year.

Comcast officials stridently note that Xfinity Stream is not an "over-the-top" service — it runs on Comcast's managed network. 

For more:
- read this TV Predictions story

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Updated: This story was updated to include additional information from Comcast.