Comcast takes on CenturyLink in Albuquerque, Santa Fe with fiber network extension

Comcast Business (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is looking to give local businesses in Albuquerque and Santa Fe another option besides local telco CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL) for Ethernet services, with plans to deliver its entire suite of Ethernet services by extending its fiber network into both of these key New Mexico cities.

Set to deliver up to 10 Gbps, Comcast said the new services will be generally available in early 2015, with some services set to be delivered later this year.

Similar to the other markets where it provides Ethernet services, customers will be able to choose from four main service sets that offer a mix of point-to-point and point-to-multipoint capabilities: Ethernet Private Line, Ethernet Virtual Private Line, Ethernet Network Service and Ethernet Dedicated Internet.

Once Comcast Business has the fiber build completed, it's likely it will also extend services into local data center provider facilities in both markets. The service provider recently introduced a new program that it says can provide a more efficient means for businesses to access their cloud services.

While it did not specify what specific areas of these markets will get service, Comcast Business has been able to maintain higher speeds and necessary quality of service by establishing on-net fiber connections to the business buildings served.  

Being able to create a growing on-net fiber footprint combined with existing Ethernet over HFC facilities has enabled Comcast Business to rapidly grow its presence in the U.S. Ethernet services market. Outside of New Mexico, the service provider has been making inroads into other markets including new builds in California, New York and Washington State, threatening other telcos like Verizon and Frontier.

Comcast Business' aggressive buildout strategy has been noted by analyst firms like Vertical Systems Group, where it took a fifth ranking spot on the group's mid-year 2014 U.S. Carrier Ethernet Leaderboard. Similar to Level 3's acquisition of tw telecom, if Comcast is successful in its acquisition of Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWC), it will become an even bigger threat in the Ethernet market with an even broader fiber and HFC-based Ethernet footprint.

For more:
- see the release

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