US cable giants Comcast and Charter Communications signed deals with T-Mobile US to power their respective mobile virtual network operator (MVNO)-based and enterprise-focused wireless services, deals that also notched a subversive victory for T-Mobile US against rival Verizon.

The “multi-year, exclusive” deals will see Comcast Business and Charter’s Spectrum Mobile for Business tap T-Mobile US’ 5G network to provide wholesale wireless communication services to business users. The T-Mobile US-powered service is set to begin next year.

Though financial details were not released, executives from both cable providers touted the low-cost financial angle to the deals.

“Our capital-light partnership with T-Mobile further strengthens our growth strategy in wireless for business customers and provides them exceptional value,” Comcast Business president Edward Zimmermann noted in a statement.

That was echoed by Charter product EVP Danny Bowman, who stated: “this partnership with T-Mobile will allow us to rapidly and cost-effectively bring even more value to our Spectrum Mobile business customers.”

The enterprise-focused services will run concurrently with wireless services already being offered by Comcast and Charter. Those services are mostly consumer-focused, using an MVNO model running on Verizon’s cellular network as well as different permutations of their own mobile networks that rely on a mix of licensed, quasi-licenses, and unlicensed (Wi-Fi) spectrum.

Both cable operators have found some level of success with their current MVNO-based wireless services. Comcast noted during its most recent earnings call that it was serving more than eight million wireless customers, while Charter counts more than 10 million wireless customers.

Comcast and Charter stated that they would continue to support their current mobile customers through the legacy arrangement.

Good for T-Mobile US, trouble for Verizon

Analysts noted that despite that reassurance, the T-Mobile US deal could prove detrimental to Verizon.

NewStreet Research lead analyst Jonathan Chaplin noted in a research report that the T-Mobile US deal opens up new opportunities for the cable providers that were limited through its Verizon MVNO arrangement. Chaplin wrote that this included potential limits on the cable providers to offer large, multiline deals that would have limited their ability to target large enterprise customers.

“We suspect Verizon wanted to protect their dominant market share in mobile amongst enterprises,” Chaplin wrote. “Arming Charter and Comcast with attractive converged solutions for medium and large enterprise customers will threaten Verizon’s share in mobile and make cable a more formidable competitor for fixed services.”

T-Mobile US has been attempting to tackle the enterprise space, which has been dominated by long-standing established deals with market heavyweights AT&T and Verizon. T-Mobile US has also been more aggressive in signing MVNO deals that can use excess network capacity to provide incremental revenues.

Verizon had been generating approximately $3 billion per year in revenue from its MVNO business. However, that financial arrangement with the cable providers is reportedly up for renegotiation next year, with the T-Mobile US deal adding negotiating leverage for the cable providers.

“Verizon signaled that they expected the MVNO rate to increase; Verizon bulls were likely anticipating it also,” Chaplin added. “The odds of an increase have just plummeted, and there is now some prospect of a decrease in the rate.”