Future will meld cable, wireless

Brian L. Roberts , 47, chairman and chief executive of Comcast Corp., has been expanding the Philadelphia cable television company's footprint into Internet access, telephone service, and other new businesses. Though his 2004 bid to buy Walt Disney Co. fell through, Roberts has led the growth of Comcast into a communications company with 24.2 million customers, 87,000 employees, and annual revenue of $22.3 billion. He spoke to Globe business writer Robert Weisman on a recent visit to Boston.

Q You recently rolled out a wireless service, Pivot, where Sprint customers can watch Comcast programs on their cellphones. What's the reception been like? Do people really want to do that?

A Boston is one of our two test markets. It's literally brand-new, so there's no real data. But we're hopeful. It's a fourth device that will be part of a package.

So you've got phone, you've got your computer, you've got your television. Now you have a tiny screen with your cellphone. And it remains to be seen what are the killer applications that people want. We want to be the first ones to figure that out.

Q Any idea what the killer applications could be?

A Over time it's going to be interoperability. Can I take my e-mail and get it on another device? I've been watching my on-demand shows, I've stopped watching at home, I want to finish the last five minutes. Place won't matter.

There'll be a relationship with the company that will manage my data, my television, my phone, my address books, and my voice mails. The seamless nature of that is what mobility brings.

Q How can cable companies like Comcast hold on to their subscribers in the face of intensifying competition from phone companies and satellite services?

A Having lived through 12 years of satellite competition, it's made Comcast a better company. We've improved our service, we've tried to fix whatever deficiencies we had, and it's forced us to innovate.

Today's Comcast is selling more new products than at any time in the company's history. We grew basic customers last year, even with the intensified competition. And we intend to grow again this year and next year.

Q Comcast shares, which rose more than 60 percent last year, are down since the start of 2007. Why?

A Wall Street was unhappy that we increased our capital spending in '07 over '06. The reason we increased our capital spending is we have so many new products people want to buy. For every phone, we have to put a box in your house. For every Internet, we have to put a modem in your house. But these are a one-time investment.

Some on Wall Street would prefer we pay a dividend or buy back more stock and not make that investment in new products. But that kind of choice is really easy if you're running a company for the long term.

Q You've said Comcast plans to expand in the business market. What services will you offer, and how big could that business get?

A If you look at small businesses nationally, that represents a $12 billion to $15 billion business for the Bells today. If we were able to get 20 percent of that market in the next five to seven years, that would represent another $1 billion-plus cash flow business for us, with a $2.5 billion to $3 billion revenue opportunity.

And it will be either a two-product sell where we'll do your phone and your Internet, or a Triple Play with phone, Internet, and television if it's a pizza parlor and they want TV.

Today there's virtually no competition for the phone service for those small and medium-sized businesses. We hope to have that business scaled up over the next couple of years.

Q When are we going to see a voice-activated television remote?

A Well, it's one of my favorite things to have actually played with. It's incredible. You talk into it and say, "Watch George Clooney ," and up comes every George Clooney show that's on now or in the future to record it or watch. But it's very expensive. It's not ready for prime time. So, for the moment, it's not on the drawing board. But some day.

Q How much television do you watch?

A The average TV is on seven hours a day. It's definitely less in my household. I've got teenaged kids, so I'm always trying to balance that.

Q What are your favorite shows?

A The family right now is, like the rest of America, hooked on "American Idol." Personally, I enjoy watching the news channels. And I've been watching a lot of golf lately.