I recently attended the 10th annual analyst meeting at Comcast Business (CB). It was the 9th event I attend (I guess I missed the first one). I have seen the growth of Comcast Business from a relatively scrappy startup, albeit one within a major corporation and with significant assets, to a relatively large company with about $10B in revenue run rate. It is notable that largely the same management team continues to steer the organization, providing a high level of continuity of execution. Comcast Business is one of the three major revenue drivers for Comcast Corp, the other two being residential and wireless. The company reaps a $60 billion opportunity in enterprise.
As would be expected from a larger company, the rate of growth has slowed from the early years when double-digit growth was the norm, but it continues to outperform its peers with a 4.8% growth rate y/y in 2024 for business connectivity.
Comcast Business continues to aggressively monetize the SMB market where it has an established beachhead and to grow its presence in the enterprise market.
CB's engines of growth are continued investments in the "underlay" (essentially the network), the "overlay" (applications and managed services), combined with a strong commitment to the customer experience.
Comcast has invested over $80 billion in essential infrastructure in the past decade. It has over 1 million miles of fiber connectivity in the US. Its network is resilient, even in hurricane prone areas, and is protected from cyberthreats. Comcast claims the lowest latency. It is using AI to optimize connectivity (every few seconds) to deliver network transparency with real-time access to QoS and to pre-empt and repair network degradations. Comcast also sees an enormous opportunity in edge compute clusters.
On the services front, CB is investing heavily into its managed services platform. It is expanding geographically (now in 130 countries) and growing solutions and sales. Its SD-WAN offerings have expanded to 5 vendors, giving customers a broader choice. It now counts over 125K sites. It has made security with an AI powered solution a fundamental part of its offerings. It also uses AI to create dedicated lines in a shared infrastructure and to drive automation at scale in operations. CB's goal is to simplify the role of the CIO, which has been growing in complexity. CB's customers are overwhelmed by technology, and it rightly sees an opportunity to support them by taking on the technology management. Its commitment to deliver differentiated managed services is the driver behind the recent Nitel acquisition, which closed recently; Nitel is a network-as-a-service provider delivering advanced managed services and connectivity solutions.
Network investments and innovation in services and solutions are combined with a sharp focus on the customer experience, with 24/7 support. It combines an AI driven unified digital experience with empowered experts and partnerships with leading technology vendors and global network and services partners. Nitel also brings capabilities such as instant quoting tools, where customers can get quotes all the way to service activation.
In addition to organic growth, CB continues to explore inorganic options in what it calls "programmatic M&A," essentially smaller acquisitions to complement its offerings portfolio
CB continues to execute a clear strategy. Clarity of focus will be even more essential during the current turbulent markets. Although the firm may be less impacted by the tariff situation than firms with substantial manufacturing, what is sure is that its customers will be facing headwinds in the months to come, and CB needs to continue to be a reliable partner to help them navigate.
Contact Liliane
