Comcast Business came away with multiple awards at this year’s Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) Carrier Ethernet Awards for North America, including the organization’s top honor, Service Provider of the Year, as the MSO beat out finalists AT&T and Verizon Communications.
Comcast, which is using Metro Ethernet to target mid-sized business customers, also came away with MEF awards for Best Marketing and Best Carrier Ethernet Business Application, recognized in the latter category for its deployment with the Denver Broncos.
Verizon Communications, meanwhile, came away with Best Wholesale Ethernet Service, edging out finalists AT&T and Comcast business.
“We are delighted to have earned this recognition from the Metro Ethernet Forum and this distinguished panel. It is a powerful statement that validates Comcast’s investment in our network that is built for business and delivering the benefits of Ethernet to enterprise customers across the country,” said Bill Stemper, president, Comcast Business, in a statement.
Comcast raked in $836 million in business services revenues in the third quarter of 2013, putting it on pace for an annual run rate of $3.3 billion. About 15% of Comcast Business revenues come from the mid-sized businesses and enterprise customers, which the MSO primarily services via its fiber-fed Metro Ethernet platform.
Cable MSOs comprised about 20% of the total U.S. Ethernet port base by the middle of 2013, according to Vertical Systems Group.
AT&T led the U.S. Ethernet services market in Vertical's mid-2013 report, followed by Verizon, tw telecom, CenturyLink, Cox, XO, Time Warner Cable and Level 3 Communications. All of those providers had at least 4% of billable retail port installations.
Charter Business, Comcast Business and Cablevision Systems’ Ligthpath division all made Vertical Systems’ “Challenge tier,” meaning they had at least 1% of billable retail port installations.
