Comcast Business’ security services boosted Q4 results

Comcast Business’ ongoing efforts to beef up its security services for small and medium-sized businesses are paying off, which drove up its fourth-quarter revenues.

Business services connectivity revenue grew 6% to $2.4 billion.

New products like SecurityEdge are resonating with small and medium-sized businesses. The product protects the network and the devices connected to it against several existing and emerging Internet-related threats, including malware, ransomware, phishing, and botnet infections, without requiring additional hardware or software beyond the Comcast Business Internet modem.

Jason Armstrong, CFO of Comcast, told investors that the increase in Business Services Connectivity revenue was “driven by consistent growth in our small business category as we grew ARPU through rate and higher penetration of additional products like SecurityEdge and from strong growth in mid-market and enterprise.”

Adjusted EBITDA for Business Services Connectivity increased 2.1%, including $42 million of severance in the quarter and $7 million of severance in the prior year period. “We also performed well in our business services segment, which grew full-year revenue and EBITDA by nearly 5% with margins approaching 60%,” said Michael Cavanagh, president of Comcast.

Scaling up

Comcast enhances its fiber and HFC footprint, benefiting its residential and business customer base.

In 2023, Comcast surpassed its goal of adding over 1 million new homes and businesses with its network facilities. Cavanagh said Comcast expects “to do at or above this level in 2024.”

“Our fiber-deep and capital-efficient network is ready to meet this demand with 100,000 miles of fiber and a clear path to offering multi-gigabit symmetrical speeds ubiquitously across our entire footprint with DOCSIS 4.0,” Cavanagh said.

Focus on fiber

Fiber, of course, is a big focus of Comcast Business’ playbook.

Comcast Business' footprint spans 29 regional networks in 39 states. This footprint includes a fiber network with over 150,000 miles of fiber.

As it has built out its fiber network, Comcast Business has established itself as one of the top providers of fiber-lit buildings.

The cable MSO ranks fifth on Vertical Systems Group’s 2022 U.S. Fiber Lit Buildings LEADERBOARD.

It joins various players, including incumbent telcos, cable operators and competitive providers: AT&T, Verizon, Spectrum Enterprise, Lumen, Cox Business, Zayo, Crown Castle, Frontier, Brightspeed, Breezeline and Optimum.

According to Vertical Systems Group, “Twelve retail and wholesale fiber providers qualify for this benchmark with 15,000 or more on-net U.S. fiber-lit commercial buildings as of year-end 2022.”

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SMBs face a growing array of security threats
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are facing a growing surge in security threats. Comcast Business found in its 2023 Comcast Business l Small Business Cybersecurity Report that the widespread use of internet-connected devices has given rise to a substantial surge in threat actors targeting SMBs, with malware, phishing, and botnets being the most common threats. Also, the provider found a concerning need for more security measures for mobile devices. Comcast Business found that, on average, nearly 1 in 10 devices attempted to connect to domains associated with malware, phishing, or malicious bot activity.

The report found that cyber-attacks frequently threatened small businesses from July 2022 to June 2023, with daily malware activity roughly doubling year-over-year and peaks in both holiday seasons. The second annual Comcast Business Small Business Cybersecurity Report is based on anonymous threat data collected from wireline and wireless devices using Comcast Business’ SecurityEdge™ service from July 2022 to June 2023. The report also features security insights from Akamai Technologies.