Cable Firms Eying Small-Business Phone Market

 

April 5, 2007 -- An expected move by Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and other major cable companies into the small-business phone market could cost traditional phone companies as mush as $4 billion, a new report shows.

Incumbent phone companies stand to loose up to 1.5 million small-business phone lines to cable competitors by the end of the year, and as many as 10 million lines within the next five years, according to a report released Thursday by Insight Research Corp.

On a per-customer basis, the small-business market can generate three to four times the revenue of the residential market, the report said.

"Recent announcements by Comcast and Time Warner Cable make it plain that the small enterprise is the next battleground in the cable versus phone company fight," Robert Rosenberg, President of Insight Research, said in a statement.

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