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Comcast Business’ Nitel acquisition enhances its managed networking capabilities
VMware takes over the top spot from Cisco on VSG’s SD-WAN technology LEADERBOARD
Comcast Business continues to gain ground in larger businesses seeking alternative service sources, a trend reflected in its fourth-quarter results.
Due to increased revenue from enterprise solutions offerings and small business customers driven by higher average rates, Business Services Connectivity revenues in the fourth quarter rose 3.7% year-over-year to $2.45 billion.
Speaking to investors during Comcast's fourth-quarter earnings call, Jason Armstrong, the company's CFO, said Comcast Business has grown into a multi-billion-dollar unit for the cable MSO.
“Business Services has been growing at an industry-leading mid-single-digit rate, with a total revenue base approaching $10 billion and a margin of nearly 57% as of year-end,” he said.
Deepening business relationships
Having cut its teeth with small business customers, Comcast Business faces the same customer acquisition and retention challenges in its residential broadband segment.
Armstrong said, “We're operating in the same competitive environment as residential broadband.”
However, he added, "Despite the elevated competition, we are delivering nice revenue growth in this segment driven by higher adoption of our suite of advanced services that deepen the relationship with our large base of customers.”
However, Comcast Business continues to find opportunities for more extensive, multi-site business customers with its growing array of fiber-based Ethernet and SD-WAN services.
The service provider was ranked fifth on Vertical System Group’s mid-year 2024 Ethernet Leaderboard.
It has also become a dominant SD-WAN provider. Comcast Business was ranked number two on Vertical System Group’s year-end 2023 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD. Joining AT&T, Verizon, Hughes, and others, these service providers had four percent (4%) or more of the billable Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites installed in the U.S. as of December 31, 2023.
Armstrong said that with the “significant progress in revenue growth we're seeing across larger enterprise and government contracts, the overall category of business services has been growing at an industry-leading mid-single-digit range.”
New growth opportunities
Comcast continues to see opportunities to scale the business sector.
In December, Comcast Business announced it would acquire network-as-a-service (NaaS) provider Nitel, deepening its cloud-based network capabilities.
Nitel is a network-as-a-service (NaaS) provider specializing in delivering advanced managed services and connectivity solutions to enterprise customers across the U.S.
One element that Nitel brings to Comcast Business is its customer base, which includes 6,600 enterprise customers nationwide. The company focuses on mid-size enterprise clients, including financial services, healthcare, and education.
“We continue to identify new growth opportunities like our recently announced plans to acquire Nitel, which will enhance our capabilities to serve multisite enterprise and mid-market businesses,” said Michael Cavanagh, president of Comcast.
Parent company Comcast reported $31.9 billion in revenues, up 2.1% year-over-year.
Net Income Attributable to Comcast rose 46.6%, including a $1.9 billion income tax benefit due to an internal corporate reorganization.
The company “expects to receive the cash tax refund related to this benefit in 2025.”
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.