Top 7 Comcast Competitors in 2023

Comcast Corporation is an American multinational telecommunication organization that is also the biggest cable-TV and internet service provider in the country. It primarily serves the US and the UK, but its presence can also be felt in several other countries in the world. Did you know that it started off with the name, American Cable Systems, back in 1963? It changed the name once more (Comcast Holdings) to finally settle for Comcast Corporation. Owners of this telecommunications portal simply call it Comcast these days.

Today, Comcast is prominent in over 40 US states with its parent company being NBCUniversal since 2011. Apart from Cable TV, it also deals in home video, film/series production, pay TV, HDTV, direct broadcast, broadband, internet, digital phone, VoIP phone, etc. You can even find Comcast theme parks in the country, along with the company’s exclusive sports management organizations.

So does this vast conglomerate have any competitors? Is any other company even able to match the products offered by Comcast? Let’s find out!

Comcast similar companies:

AT&T, Dish Network, Charter Spectrum, Verizon, T-Mobile (US), EarthLink, Liberty Global.

Who is Comcast’s Biggest Competitor?

According to hard-boiled stats, the biggest competitor of Comcast has turned out to be AT&T. AT&T is similar to Comcast in many ways. Founded in 1983, it is primarily a telecommunications operator based in Dallas, TX. A major part of its profits are garnered from the US, with many of its customers living in the UK as well. Also, just like Comcast, AT&T has its presence all over the world. 

The other industries in which AT&T operates are tech, mass media, and entertainment. Its present CEO is John Stanley and executive chairman is William Kennard. The number of employees under its wing is a whopping 230,000!

How Comcast makes Money

Comcast is a telecommunications media company that makes money through various avenues. Its major mode of profits is the ultra-popular media brand, NBCUniversal, since over 33% of its profits arrive from there. However, Comcast’s main and the most well-known revenue stream is cable service. Right from video services like television cable to super-fast internet connections and Wi-Fi hotspots, Comcast has always been somewhere near the top since it started these services! Their other modes of profits include, but aren’t limited to:

VoIP Services: Their ‘Voice Over Internet Protocol’ services comprise voice mails, SMS, call waiting/forwarding, international calling, etc.

Sky: Sky is a primarily Europe-based telecommunications service. It offers everything from TV and broadband to mobile networks and wireless services. Nearly 16% of Comcast’s profits stem from Sky.

Theme Parks: Did you know that Comcast, through NBCUniversal, also owns some jaw-dropping theme parks? Universal’s Orlando Resort and Epic Universe are excellent examples! Every penny that the customer spends at those theme parks becomes a part of Comcast’s staggering $103 billion revenue!

Industry – Telecommunications

Telecommunications involves an array of sectors and is one of the most in-demand industries in the world today. Who doesn’t wish to communicate over enormous distances just to keep in touch with their loved ones! Comcast dabbles in almost every telecommunication service known to humankind. They provide internet and video services, along with voice services and media. They also own the wireless communication market in the US!

Industry – Movie Production

NBCUniversal is one of the best entertainment companies in the world, not just the US! Admittedly, the company was already pretty huge before Comcast gained it some time in 2011, but it has only kept growing since then. Thus, Comcast also deals in producing and featuring movies and TV shows over the air and on cable TV.

Competitor – AT&T

If you didn’t know already, AT&T is the largest broadcasting and cable TV network in the world! Comcast comes a close second in terms of overall revenue (AT&T’s revenue is somewhere around $170 billion compared to Comcast’s ever-growing $103 billion). It is also the second-biggest mobile network provider on the planet! 

Currently headquartered in Dallas, TX, AT&T has its hands immersed in almost every service that Comcast offers. Right from satellite TV and fixed-line phones to internet services and theme parks, AT&T has it all! You can also find the company’s home security gadgets and publishing platforms spread throughout the world.

But the best part of AT&T is its rich history. Did you know that one of the company’s founders was the famous inventor, Alexander Graham Bell? It initially began as the Bell Telephone Company way back in 1875. The American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) company was started in 1885 as a subsidiary of Bell Telephone. The name is a resounding success even today, just as it was back then!

Industry – Telecommunications

AT&T undoubtedly rules the telecommunications roost with its wide array of services like mobile and fixed telephones, broadband, IPTV, cable TV, movie and TV production, sports management, online streaming, etc. AT&T has also recently acquired the producer of timeless classics, WarnerMedia!

AT&T has an employee base of over 230,000, with most of them working in the telecommunications sector. There was a time when you could find an AT&T phone connection in almost every American household. It still remains the largest phone network provider in the country, but other companies (notably Comcast) are rapidly catching up to the telecommunications giant.

Competitor – Dish Network

Dish was founded as EchoStar over 41 years ago by Jim DeFranco, and Charlie and Cantey Ergen. The name was officially changed to Dish Network (DISH) sometime around 1996. Its headquarters lie in Englewood, CO, and it only serves the American continent. That is part of the reason Dish’s revenue is stable at around $12 billion, much less than both the telecommunications giants, Comcast and AT&T. However, Dish is still a formidable entity in the sector mostly thanks to its satellite TV services.

Industry – Satellite TV

A major part of Dish’s $12 billion revenue comprises profits from their satellite TV network. However, that doesn’t mean that the company is struggling in other telecommunication sectors. Did you know that Boost Mobile and Ting Mobile are owned by Dish? Both these mobile services are some of the largest providers on the American continent! 

Also, the competitors need to watch out for their OnTech Smart services. Their services involve almost everything related to SMART home technology, right from simple thermostat installation to modernized SMART security products.

Competitor – Charter Spectrum

Charter Communications as it was originally called was founded in 1980 by Charles Leonard in Barry County, MI. It was later merged with Spectrum Communications to finally Charter Spectrum, or as it is simply known as, Spectrum. The company only serves the US (41 states) unlike Comcast. But keeping its audience confined to one country has helped it garner brilliant success. Did you know Spectrum is second only to Comcast in providing cable TV services? Also, it is the third largest pay-TV organization in the country, just behind AT&T and Comcast!

Industry – Telecommunications

Spectrum is chiefly into telecommunications, because most of its $43 billion revenue comes from digital and VoIP phone services. The company’s other products like broadband, digital cable, HDTV and internet/Wi-Fi are also popular among customers. You can even find Spectrum’s home and internet security software or two at many houses in the US. Quite a few well-known television broadcasting networks like Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks fall under Spectrum’s business.

However did you know that despite Spectrum’s humongous success over the years, it had filed for bankruptcy in the year 2009? The company paid off all its debts within a year with the aid of its foolproof bankruptcy plan, and it had already started making considerable profits by 2010!

Competitor – Verizon

Verizon Communications with the trademark logo a red “tick” was initially a part of AT&T, back when it was called the Bell Atlantic Corporation in 1984. Sometime in 1996, it became an independent company after its merger with NYNEX. Finally, after another major merger with GTE, Bell Atlantic officially changed its name to Verizon in the year 2000. 

And then, there was no stopping its rapid expansion in the US, for it eventually became the biggest telephone company in the country, even overtaking the likes of Comcast and AT&T (its home company). Today, Verizon operates worldwide, but a major part of its business still lies in the US.

Industry – Telecommunications

Verizon overtakes Comcast in terms of revenue with its whopping $128 billion, nearly $25 billion more than that of the latter! However, where Verizon makes most of its profits from telephone connections (both mobile and landlines), Comcast has its hands dipped in several other sectors which gives it a major edge.

Apart from telecommunications, Verizon also has a healthy presence in digital media. Its division, Verizon Media, owns Oath Inc., a combination of internet giants AOL and Yahoo! This division has over 10,000 employees under its wing, typically bringing up the total number of Verizon employees to 132,000.

Competitor – T-Mobile (US)

The US branch of T-Mobile was acquired by Deutsche Telekom (DT), a German telecommunications giant, in 2002. The original company was named VoiceStream Wireless PCS, a subsidiary of Western Wireless Corporation. It is currently DT’s biggest shareholder in the world, mostly thanks to its recent acquisition of the Sprint Corporation which was once the 4th best telecommunications provider in the US.

Industry – Telecommunications

The US branch of T-Mobile’s parent company, Deutsche Telekom, has a worldwide presence, but T-Mobile (US) remains its largest contributor. With its revenue touching $70 billion mark, T-Mobile (US) mostly deals in mobile phone SIMs and wireless broadband connections. It is widely trusted by the US residents, not just because of its affordable, user-friendly plans, but also because of its rich, international history.

Competitor – EarthLink

EarthLink was founded during the wee years of the internet, way back in 1994, by Sky Dayton, Reed Slatkin, and Kevin O’Donnell. Dayton was on the quest to provide a user-friendly dial-up connection when EarthLink was born. Did you know that thanks to Dayton’s affordable business model, EarthLink was one of the country’s first ISPs to provide unlimited internet services at a preconceived price? No wonder it was a tremendous success since its inception back then!

Industry – Internet Service Provider

While EarthLink doesn’t exactly link with Comcast’s main offering, telecommunications, it still makes the cut in this list because of the former’s secondary offering, internet service. Despite having just over a hundred employees, EarthLink has gathered nearly a billion dollar revenue every year for the past few years! This company is indeed the dark horse in the list of Comcast’s competitors.

Competitor – Liberty Global

Liberty Global was the product of the merger between two major telecommunications companies of the early 2000s, Liberty Media International (LMI) and UnitedGlobalCom (UGC). After several more acquisitions post 2005, Liberty Global’s major turning point arrived in 2016 when it gained Vodafone’s operations in the Netherlands.

Liberty Global has been amassing a revenue of around $11 billion for the past few years. It operates in six different countries, with a major of its profits obviously coming from the US. Its product offerings include a direct broadcast satellite, broadband, telephony, cable TV, and mobile network services.

Conclusion

The Top 7 Comcast’s Competitors: AT&T, Dish, Charter Spectrum, Verizon, T-Mobile (US), EarthLink, Liberty Global. Including Comcast, they contribute a grand total of close to $538 billion. Their cumulative employee number ranges in the 742,000 figure mark.

Competitor Stats

Name	Founded	Headquarters	Employees
AT&T	1983 (originally 1875)	Dallas, TX, US	230,000
Dish	1996	Englewood, CO, US	16,000
Charter Spectrum	1980	Stamford, CT, US	98,000
Verizon	1984	New York, NY, US	132,000
T-Mobile (US)	2002	Bellevue, WA, US	53,000
EarthLink	1994	Atlanta, GA, US	100
Liberty Global	2005	Denver, CO, US	23,000