Comcast retains command over the SD-WAN market
Comcast Business continues to be the SD-WAN provider to beat as the service provider has once again been named the top provider on Vertical Systems Group’s SD-WAN LEADERBOARD for the second consecutive year based on 2025 site share.
VSG noted that Comcast Business has “steadily ascended in the SD-WAN market segment from the #8 position in 2018.”
These elements will continue to make Comcast Business a strong case for larger businesses seeking a provider that can deliver solutions to accommodate a diverse set of business sites.
The cable MSO’s dominant position in the SD-WAN market reflects its growing presence in the multi-site enterprise services market. While it faces challenges in the small-business segment, the provider continues to gain share in the enterprise segment, a factor that was on display in its fourth-quarter 2025 earnings.
Within the Comcast Business unit, enterprise customers drove fourth-quarter revenue growth.
Driven by an increase in revenue from enterprise solutions offerings, including the results from a recent acquisition, Comcast Business's revenues rose 5.8% year-over-year and 3% quarterly to $2.59 billion.
Last April, Comcast Business completed its acquisition of Nitel, a network-as-a-service (NaaS) provider, deepening its cloud-based network capabilities. Nitel specializes in delivering advanced managed services and connectivity solutions to enterprise customers across the U.S.
Comcast is expanding its DIA services to 1 million locations as part of an $80 billion investment in its network.
“Enterprise Solutions continues to gain traction as we expand our customer base and deepen our relationships,” said Jason Armstrong, CFO of Comcast, during its fourth quarter earnings call. “This remains an area of investment and an important growth driver going forward.”
SD-WAN market shifts
Joining Comcast on the 2025 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD were AT&T, Verizon, Hughes, Lumen, and Uniti (formerly Windstream).
Each of these service providers has four percent (4%) or more of the billable Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites installed in the U.S. as of December 31, 2025.
As in earlier periods, VSG’s LEADERBOARD saw shifts among the top-ranked SD-WAN providers.
The research firm noted that the LEADERBOARD positions shift for two of the top six U.S. Managed SD-WAN service providers. Hughes advanced to the #4 rank in 2025, up from #5, while Lumen dipped to rank #5, down from the #4 position in the prior year.
Seven companies retained their 2025 Challenge Tier citations: Aryaka, Cox Business, Fusion Connect, MetTel, Spectrum Business, TPx and Zayo. Meanwhile, Cogent dropped from the Challenge Tier into the Market Players segment.
Challenges and opportunities
SD-WAN may be finding utility for large-scale multi-site businesses, but the top providers faced several challenges throughout 2025.
One of the key issues was economic uncertainty, which held up investments in SD-WAN and network transformation projects. As a result, customer decisions were delayed, budget estimates were delayed, and deployments were postponed.
Despite these issues, Vertical Systems Group notes that this year will see new opportunities emerge, with greater interest in SD-WAN solutions that incorporate SASE upgrades, SSE offerings and integrated security features.
Another factor will be the enterprise markets' growing embrace of AI, which is expected to drive the development of smarter, automated SD-WAN services. At the same time, NaaS offerings focus on delivering scalable, secure connectivity to customers.
“The U.S. SD-WAN market sustained healthy growth in 2025, attaining a 15% increase in new site installations,” said Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services at Vertical Systems Group. “We are seeing accelerated installation timelines with AI optimizing initial configurations, while advanced provider expertise streamlines deployments."
Looking forward, Dunne expects that deployments will pick up as "enterprise customers upgrade their networks, the conversion of legacy MPLS circuits to SD-WAN will be a dominant market driver.”
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