Altice USA announced the consolidation of its acquired business services divisions into one unit called Altice Business.
The new group will include the assets of the erstwhile Cablevision’s Lightpath and Optimum Business units, as well as Suddenlink Business. It will serve more than 375,000 business across 21 states.
Altice said the newly consolidated group will span its focus across small, mid-sized, enterprise, carrier and international businesses. The unit will be placed under the watch of Kevin Stephens, executive VP of Altice Business. Altice said the leadership team will include top executives from Lightpath, Optimum Business and Suddenlink Business.
RELATED: Altice USA drops 37K pay TV users in Q2, grows residential HSI by only 18K users
Altice USA reported a 6% year-over-year uptick in business services revenue in the second quarter to nearly $324 million. That is nice growth, but Altice is hoping to expand the business into something resembling Comcast’s business services operation, which grew 12.6% in the second quarter and brought in $1.36 billion in revenue. Comcast Business added 37,000 customer relationships during the quarter.
Altice will attempt to standardize its pricing and packaging within the consolidated group, offering both DOCSIS and optical data products to customers. For example, managed Wi-Fi and cloud backup services, previously offered to only a portion of Altice’s footprint, will now be offered across the company’s 21-state footprint.
RELATED: Comcast, Charter add 81K new business customers in Q2, ramp Ethernet reach
“As we introduce new products and services, Altice Business will create more value for our Lightpath, Optimum Business and Suddenlink Business customers,” Stephens said, in a statement (PDF). “Looking ahead, our customers can expect increased availability of emerging managed services and robust connectivity offerings, as well as the continued enablement of new network security solutions. Further, we are committed to leveraging Altice’s global scale to enable agile product innovation that will help customers drive their businesses forward.”
Added Altice USA Co-President and COO Hakim Boubazine: “Creating a national Altice Business organization with unified leadership sets the foundation for the delivery of unique and flexible business telecom offerings, leading to an exceptional customer experience. We have served business customers for several decades through our Optimum, Suddenlink and Lightpath business brands, and this approach enables us to provide a higher level of service, offer a broader product array, and customize ideal technology solutions for Altice Business customers.”