Comcast Business retained its spot as the fastest-growing Ethernet provider in the U.S. in 2014, matching the distinction the MSO achieved in 2013, according to new data from Vertical Systems Group.
Comcast's business services unit pulled in $1.05 billion in revenues in the fourth quarter of 2014, and $3.9 billion for the full-year, up 22% versus 2013. The bulk of those revenues are still coming way of smaller business served off of Comcast’s hybrid fiber/coax networks and not yet from its fiber-based Metro Ethernet platform.
Speaking on the MSO’s fourth quarter call on Tuesday (Feb. 24), Comcast Cable president and CEO Neil Smit said Comcast Business is enjoying about 25% penetration in the small- and mid-sized commercial services sector, and about 5% in the mid-market, the area that the MSO is targeting with MetroE. Comcast has also developed an “Ethernet @Home” service that runs off of HFC to serve smaller business customers.
As for the broader Ethernet market, AT&T was the top U.S. Ethernet provider in 2014, according to Vertical Systems Group’s new leaderboard, followed by Level 3 (aided by its acquisition of tw telecom last year), Verizon Communications, CenturyLink, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, Cox, and XO Communications.
Providers in Vertical Systems Group’s “Challenge Tier,” which include companies with 1% to 4% share of the U.S. retail Ethernet market, include Charter Communications, Cogent, Lightpath (Cablevisions Systems), Windstraem and Zayo.
Vertical Systems bases its rankings on billable retail port installations.
