Business Services Tops $2.4 Billion in Revenue at Comcast Cable

Comcast Business Services has set itself apart not only for providing America’s start-up and growing businesses the top data, voice and TV solutions to reach their technology goals, but also for being a leader in growth and profitability at the company.

Comcast Business Services is the second-largest contributor to Cable revenue growth at Comcast behind high-speed Internet and achieved 34% revenue growth in 2012. 

Q&A with Bill Stemper, President of Comcast Business Services

How has Comcast Business Services gotten to where it’s at today?

BS: Comcast Business Services started in 2006 when we made the decision to package our Internet and voice services for a new market - the small business. At the time, we were targeting companies with less than 20 employees with customized products and dedicated support teams to meet the unique needs of every business. This strategy definitely paid off, and we’ve grown from there. Since 2006, we introduced new features to existing services, built out more advanced customer support options and expanded our product portfolio to introduce better solutions aimed at larger, mid-market businesses with up to 500 employees. By the end of 2012, Business Services has become a $2.4 billion unit of Comcast Cable and we’re extremely proud of that.

The Business Services model has clearly been successful, but why did Comcast decide to enter this space?

BS: Simply put, Comcast is uniquely suited to offer small and mid-sized businesses what others cannot in the realm of technological support. Not only are we a trusted brand, but we offer a range of data, voice and communications solutions to meet individualized needs for the variety of U.S. businesses out there. Comcast’s investment in building a fast and advanced fiber network is also a huge game changer. It’s enabled our division to provide secure and reliable connectivity that is flexible. Flexible is the operative word because businesses need to grow and our services allow them to achieve growth without breaking the bank.

Why did you begin targeting mid-sized businesses and how did that affect your overall strategy?

BS: I think in many respects our mid-market efforts are a replay of our small business approach, which has always focused on the basics: to deliver customized products backed by a sincere and rigorous commitment to quality and consistency.

Why does the level of network performance matter for small to mid-sized businesses so much?

BS: With businesses moving many aspects of their work to cloud and hosted services, the need for more bandwidth is exploding. For example, more and more school districts are adopting "Bring Your Own Technology" (BYOT) policies that enable students to use tablets, laptops, netbooks and cell phones to work in the classroom. This saves school districts money since they don’t have to purchase so much equipment and also ensures students are on the cutting edge of education. The challenge is that school districts then need the right technology and infrastructure to support BYOT and deliver all that digital content to student devices. Comcast’s advanced fiber network provides the "Ethernet super highway" needed to let schools embrace this trend securely and reliably. It’s a really great solution we can provide to such a forward-thinking educational initiative. And over the next few years, we plan to expand our network to bring these kinds of solutions to many, many more customers.