The top five ISPs accounted for nearly 70 percent of all traffic in the large business segment in September 2011.
A
study from digital business analytics firm comScore showed AT&T leading the
U.S. business ISP market with 20 percent of all browser-based Internet page
views (i.e., traffic) in September 2011, followed by Verizon with a 12 percent
share of the market. CenturyLink, which merged with Qwest in April 2011, ranked
as the third largest business ISP at 7 percent share.
The
five largest business ISPs drove nearly 50 percent of business Internet traffic
across the United States the report found.
A
more detailed look into the business ISP market according to the size of
businesses being served revealed AT&T to be the leading business ISP in the
large, medium and small business segments.
In
addition, the top five ISPs accounted for nearly 70 percent of all traffic in
the large business segment in September 2011. In contrast, the share of traffic
driven by the top five ISPs was significantly lower within the medium (56
percent) and small business (40 percent) segments.
According
to the report, the small business segment is the most competitive for business
ISPs, with nearly 40 percent of traffic driven by ISPs that rank outside of the
top 10 carriers for this segment. While AT&T continues to lead all ISPs for
small businesses, its 13 percent market share is significantly lower than its
share in the large and medium business segments. Comcast (8 percent) and
Verizon (7 percent) rounded out the top three ISPs in the small business
segment.
"The
current state of the domestic business ISP market reveals a landscape led by a
couple of top providers. However, even with smaller carriers contributing only
a fraction of the traffic delivered by top carriers, the business ISP market is
still more competitive than the residential ISP market," said Greg Mishkin,
comScore vice president of telecom and wireless. "The small business segment is
even more competitive among ISPs, highlighting the need for providers to
develop strong marketing strategies to ensure they can retain and grow market
share."
The
company's analysis of the top 10 U.S. local markets shows AT&T holding the
top position in the majority of these markets in September 2011. Verizon led in
three of the top 10 markets, including New York, the country's largest local
market. Similar to what was observed at the national level, the competition for
business ISPs increases among smaller businesses. In the small business
segment, Comcast and AT&T each ranked as the top ISP in four of the top 10
local markets, while Verizon and Cablevision each led in one local market.
An
analysis of the business ISP leaders for different industries revealed AT&T
drove approximately 30 percent of traffic in the financial services and health
care and medical industries in September 2011, showing a notable lead over
other ISPs. In contrast, the telecommunications and software and technology
industries showed greater market fragmentation among business ISPs, with the
leading providers driving less than one-fifth of traffic in these markets,
followed closely by their competitors. Verizon and CenturyLink/Qwest ranked
among the top three business ISPs for several industries as well.
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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