Comcast Business invests $10M in Denver fiber network

Comcast Business (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is looking to make a dent in the Colorado business services market that's been traditionally dominated by local telco CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) by investing more than $10 million to build a fiber-based Ethernet network in the Denver metro area.

Set to deliver speeds up to 10 Gbps, the network expansion will bring service to more businesses in various metro areas including downtown Denver, Aurora, Englewood, Castle Rock, Wheat Ridge and others.

Through this expansion effort, metro Denver area business will be able to access Comcast Business' growing set of Ethernet services, including Ethernet Dedicated Internet, Ethernet Private Line, Ethernet Virtual Private Line and Ethernet Network Services that provide Internet access, point-to-point, and point-to-multipoint connectivity at bandwidth that scales up to 10 Gbps.

Besides Ethernet, local companies that the network expansion will reach will be able to access Comcast Business' cloud-based voice and unified communications VoiceEdge service.  

The Denver metro area is just one of several areas in the United States where Comcast Business is establishing a larger presence for itself. Other recent network builds include California's East Bay region, New London County Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont.

Network expansion is just one part of Comcast Business' overall drive. The service provider also recently announced that its SIP trunking service is available across its entire service area, covering 39 states and 20 major U.S. markets.

Comcast Business' aggressive fiber expansion efforts illustrate how important the availability and reach of fiber is to becoming a bigger player in the business services space. 

According to a recent Vertical Systems Group report on fiber penetration into U.S. buildings, service provider survey respondents said the availability of fiber in more markets and buildings will enable them to more effectively deliver carrier Ethernet to businesses, while increasing access to high speed IP/MPLS VPN services, cloud and Internet connectivity. 

"When we did our end-of-year survey with service providers and asked what the competitive advantages were in delivering Ethernet, fiber footprint was number one," said Rosemary Cochran, principal of Vertical Systems Group, in a previous interview with FierceTelecom

For more:
- see the release

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