08 Apr 2025 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD

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Comcast Business retains #1 rank on the 2025 U.S. SD-WAN LEADERBOARD; Rank positions shift for two of the six leading Managed SD-WAN providers

BOSTON, MA, April 8, 2026 – Vertical Systems Group announces that six companies qualify for a position on the 2025 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD as follows (in rank order based on site share): Comcast Business, AT&T, Verizon, Hughes, Lumen and Uniti (formerly Windstream). Each of these service providers has four percent (4%) or more of the billable Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites installed in the U.S. as of December 31, 2025.

“The U.S. SD-WAN market sustained healthy growth in 2025, attaining a 15% increase in new site installations,” said Erin Dunne, Director of Research Services at Vertical Systems Group. “We are seeing accelerated installation timelines with AI optimizing initial configurations, while advanced provider expertise streamlines deployments. As enterprise customers upgrade their networks, the conversion of legacy MPLS circuits to SD-WAN will be a dominant market driver.”

Seven companies attain a Challenge Tier citation for year-end 2025 as follows (in alphabetical order): Aryaka, Cox Business, Fusion Connect, MetTel, Spectrum Business, TPx, and Zayo. Providers in this tier have between one percent (1%) and four percent (4%) share of U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN sites.

2025 SD-WAN Research Highlights

  • Comcast Business ranks #1 on the U.S. SD-WAN LEADERBOARD for the second consecutive year based on 2025 site share.
  • LEADERBOARD positions shift for two of the top six U.S. Managed SD-WAN Service Providers.
  • Hughes advances to the #4 rank in 2025, moving up from the #5 position.
  • Lumen dips to rank #5, down from the #4 position in the prior year.
  • Seven companies retain their 2025 Challenge Tier citations (in alphabetical order): Aryaka, Cox Business, Fusion Connect, MetTel, Spectrum Business, TPx and Zayo.
  • Cogent drops from the Challenge Tier into the Market Players segment.
  • Market leading SD-WAN service providers cited several challenges during 2025. A key concern was that economic uncertainty hindered investments in SD-WAN and network transformation projects. As a result, customer decisions were protracted, budget estimates delayed and deployments postponed.
  • In 2026 new opportunities are rapidly evolving, with greater interest in SD-WAN solutions that incorporate SASE upgrades, SSE offerings and integrated security features. Additionally, the intensifying adoption of AI is expected to generate smarter, automated SD‑WAN services, while NaaS offerings focus on services that deliver scalable, secure connectivity to customers.
  • Four of the six 2025 U.S. LEADERBOARD companies have achieved Mplify 3.0 SD-WAN Service Certification: Comcast Business, AT&T, Verizon and Lumen. Spectrum Business is the only Challenge Tier provider with Mplify 3.0 SD-WAN Certification.

Market Players include all other providers selling Carrier Managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. with site share below one percent (1%), including global network providers that manage U.S. customer sites. For 2025, the Market Player tier includes the following companies (in alphabetical order): AireSpring, Alta Fiber, American Telesis, Astound Business, BT Global Services, C Spire Business, CentraCom, Colt, Cogent, Conterra, Crown Castle, DQE Communications, Everstream, Fidium, First Digital, FirstLight, Flo Networks, Frontier, GCX, Glo Fiber, Granite Telecom, Great Plains Communication, GTT, Hunter Communications, Lightpath, Logix Fiber Networks, Meriplex, Midco, Momentum Telecom, NTT, Orange Business, PCCW Global, PS Lightwave, Ritter Communications, SDN Communications, Segra, SES, Silver Star Telecom, SingTel, Sparklight Business, Syringa, T-Systems, Tata Communications, Telefonica, Telstra, Vodafone, WiLine, Ziply Fiber and others.

Carrier Managed SD-WAN Service Definition

Vertical Systems Group defines a Carrier Managed SD-WAN Service for segment analysis and share calculations as a carrier-grade offering for business customers that is managed by a network operator. Required components and functionality for these offerings include an SDN service architecture that provides dynamic optimization of traffic flows, a purpose-built SD-WAN appliance or CPE-hosted SD-WAN VNF at each customer edge site, support for multiple active underlay connectivity services, automated failover fast enough to maintain active sessions, and centralized network orchestration with traffic and application visibility end-to-end. Security is the most essential additional managed SD-WAN service capability that may be provided or integrated based on specific customer requirements.

@SD-WAN is available now exclusively by subscription to an ENS Research Program. Research data includes the market share detail that powers the U.S. and Global Provider Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD results. Contact us for more information and pricing.

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