GigaOM

Comcast, the cable godzilla had only 7000 VoIP/Phone service subscribers at the end of the first quarter, but the company expects to end 2005 with nearly 250,000 subscribers. Clearly cable guys are taking a lead in the VoIP space, leaving behind the independents. In addition, the company added 414,000 broadband subscribers, bringing its total to 7.4 million. In other words, it put more distance between itself and its rivals, especially the bells. When it acquired Adelphia, it will have nearly 10 million broadband subscribers. That’s pretty huge, and for that reason alone, one needs to track their movements closely. I think, their recent DNS screw-up, and falling customer service standards are a sign that the company is not geared for broadband growth in scaling sense.

“You’re continuing to see high-speed Internet drive growth,” Tim Gilbert of Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Global Investors, which manages $125 billion in assets, and owns 4.8 million Comcast shares told Bloomberg.com. Still 21.5 million cable subscribers, $5.6 billion in sales (up 9.4% from same quarter 2004) and tripling of profits to $313 million makes an impressive quarter. Tip of the hat to Brian “Da Broadfather” Roberts.

PS: Da Broadfather is not the number one Brian Roberts on the planet. That is Baltimore Orioles second baseman. You may own this big a slice of the Internet, but you can’t own your Google rank.