Comcast beefs up business with Cimco acquisition - Top Telecom M&As for 2009

Comcast may have built a comfortable business serving mainly SMBs with 1-20 employees with its HFC-based DOCSIS data and voice services--a market segment it began serving in 2006--but its ambitions are far bigger than serving Mom and Pops and the local small office. 

Overall, Comcast's business services efforts are paying off. As of the end of the second-quarter, Comcast reported that its business unit reported $198 million in revenues, a 51 percent year-over-year increase. To expand its business services warchest, Comcast has made a bid to acquire [1] Chicago-based CLEC Cimco.

While Comcast has been tight lipped about the financial details, the privately-held Cimco does come with a number of benefits. For one, it could provide Comcast with a 2,300-strong customer base right in Chicago--a market where Comcast has a dominant position as a cable operator. What's more, Cimco has a business service presence in a number of Midwest states not to mention long distance capabilities in 40 other states and local voice service business customers in 298 service areas. But perhaps Comcast's biggest challenge is yet to come: convincing [2] the FCC and other state regulators that the merger is not anti-competitive.