Comcast Business today announced a two-year, $26 million investment in a major expansion of its advanced network throughout Greater Philadelphia and New Jersey, reaching nearly 4,000 businesses directly and benefiting thousands more by making the network more accessible and affordable. The two-year build-out includes $10.3 million invested in 2020 and an additional $15.7 million in projects underway or planned for 2021. Upon completion, Comcast Business will have invested a total of nearly $100 million in area network expansions since 2015, to the benefit of nearly 24,000 businesses.
Capable of delivering up to 1 Gigabit of network capacity for small and medium-sized businesses, or up to 100 Gigabits-per-second for larger enterprises, the network expansion will support advanced services and the ability to bring new customers online quickly. While the Comcast network already serves thousands of the region’s largest companies and businesses, this expansion delivers high-performance Ethernet, Internet and advanced voice solutions to more businesses and organizations.
The 2020 expansion deploys new fiber optic cable across areas such as Center City Philadelphia; Avenue of the States in the City of Chester, PA; business districts in New Brunswick and Lakewood, NJ; and 270 NJ Transit sites and neighboring businesses; among others. Significant work over the past several months has already begun, and additional network expansions will continue into 2021. Planned investments in 2021 include service expansions to the University of Pennsylvania and the Food District in Philadelphia; the redevelopment of the old Bristol Myers Squibb campus in Pennington, NJ; a network build in Springfield, NJ; and a major densification of fiber services in Cherry Hill, Mount Laurel and Marlton, NJ.
“Access to technology is critical to the success of our local businesses, whether it’s a regional business closing more deals digitally, a hospital transferring large imaging files or a retailer looking to connect multiple locations,” said Dean Miller, President & CEO of the Philadelphia Alliance for Capital and Technologies. “Comcast’s investment in the region will strengthen our business community and create new opportunities by supporting workforce development and benefiting overall economic expansion.”
This expansion will provide businesses of all sizes with access to a comprehensive portfolio of products and services to help meet the day-to-day demands of organizations requiring large amounts of
bandwidth, looking to link multiple sites or branch locations, or planning to connect their offices to a third-party data center. This includes fast business WiFi for employees and guests, cybersecurity solutions, 4G LTE backup, business TV and more.
“Capacity and performance are increasingly becoming the two main engines driving all businesses, and that became even more important over the past year,” said Michael Louden, regional vice president for Comcast Business. “Our fiber expansions in Greater Philadelphia and New Jersey are the latest example of the significant investments we’ve made to increase the availability of our multi-Gigabit Ethernet services to help foster economic development and meet the next-generation capacity needs of customers across the region. In addition to these tech investments, we’re also proud of the support we’re providing to local businesses owned by people of color disproportionately affected by COVID through complimentary services and grants provided by the Comcast RISE program. As technology becomes a basic need for business success, these investments will continue to drive growth for local businesses and our communities.”