Suddenlink said it will expand its offerings to business users with Arris' Service Provider Wi-Fi solution. Suddenlink said it will sell the product throughout its 17-state area.
Suddenlink said Arris' Wi-Fi solution will allow it to "provide its commercial customers with a simple Wi-Fi experience that offers seamless hand-offs between Wi-Fi zones." Arris' Wi-Fi offering combines Aptilo's Service Management Platform, Benu Networks' Networks Mobile Edge Gateway and Ruckus' ZoneFlex access points and virtual SmartZone controller.
"Arris Global Services has the proven expertise and leadership in carrier-grade Wi-Fi to deliver the quality and scale of deployment that our customers expect from Suddenlink," said Ivan Lamoureux, Suddenlink's VP of DOCSIS and network engineering, in a release. Suddenlink representatives weren't immediately available to provide details on the company's new teaming with Arris, the world's leading provider of cable equipment for operator networks and customers' homes.
Suddenlink provides Internet, phone and TV services to a total of 1.5 million residential and business customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and elsewhere.
For businesses specifically, Suddenlink offers a range of services including dedicated Internet, Ethernet and Web hosting. Interestingly, the company already offers a managed Wi-Fi service that is a "complete, hassle-free solution that includes all equipment, monitoring and management." The company's "Enhanced WiFi@Work" product uses the wireless Hitron CGNM-2252 cable modem gateway and offers firewall and port forwarding.
In the second quarter, Suddenlink counted a total of 93,800 "commercial" customers (meaning business customers), a number up from 91,700 in the previous quarter and 86,800 in the year-ago quarter. The company said revenue from "commercial" users totaled $91.3 million in the second quarter -- or 15 percent of Suddenlink's total revenue during the period -- "representing growth of 11.5 percent versus the second quarter 2014. Our commercial high-speed data, telephone and on-net carrier revenue grew 16.2 percent on a combined basis," the company said.
Thus, Suddenlink's new Wi-Fi product from Arris is an attempt by Suddenlink to boost its offerings to business customers.
The company's announcement comes as French telecom group Altice SA works to acquire Suddenlink for $9.1 billion; that deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year.
Of course, Suddenlink isn't the only cable operator to expand its business offerings. Just last month, Comcast Business announced a new unit specifically targeting Fortune 1000 companies. The company's new unit, Managed Enterprise Solutions, will offer services to business customers including broadband, Ethernet, voice, router, security business continuity and Wi-Fi.
For more:
- see this release
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