ATLANTIC-ACM Announces 2026 U.S. Business Connectivity Service Provider Excellence Awards

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading research consultancy and market diligence firm ATLANTIC-ACM announced its 2026 U.S. Business Connectivity Service Provider Excellence Awards. The awards are based on survey feedback from 1,091 business services buyers who provided over 3,050 carrier specific evaluations of service level and product quality for their current providers.

ATLANTIC-ACM introduced the Business Connectivity Report Card survey in 2006 to give service providers a truly impartial customer experience benchmarking data along with insights on shifting purchase dynamics and customer buying priorities.

The wireline business services landscape continues to evolve, driven by shifting customer expectations and rapid technological advancement. Across both enterprise and SMB segments, the core purchasing priorities remain unchanged: network performance, network security, price, and customer service. At the same time, spending is steadily migrating away from traditional services such as legacy voice and MPLS. Customers are increasingly prioritizing more scalable and cost-efficient alternatives, including Fixed Wireless, Wavelength services, DIA, Broadband, Ethernet, and expanding portfolio of Managed Services.

The security landscape remains anchored in traditional solutions like premises-based appliances and cloud security, but investment is increasingly shifting toward modern, cloud-native and zero-trust models such as ZTNA and SASE. While adoption is gradual, growing interest in managed and advanced security services reflects a clear trend toward more scalable, integrated, and outsourced security approaches rather than fully replacing existing infrastructure.

ATLANTIC-ACM gives awards across two carrier groups, Large Service Providers and Midsized Service Providers, which are segmented based on total estimated wireline revenue. ATLANTIC-ACM recognizes the top Large Service Providers and Midsized Providers in each major operational category, as well as the highest combined average for quality and price ratings (value) in data and voice.

The 2026 winners for Large Providers are:

• Comcast Business: Service Delivery, Customer Service, and Data Value
• Verizon: Brand, Sales Reps, Network Performance, Billing, and Voice Value

The 2026 winners for Mid-Sized Providers are:

• Cogent: Network Performance, Customer Service, and Data Value
• Crown Castle: Brand and Billing
• Lightpath: Sales Reps and Service Delivery
• RingCentral: Voice Value

About ATLANTIC-ACM

ATLANTIC-ACM is a leading strategic advisory and market diligence consulting firm to the telecom and technology sectors, helping operators and investors navigate changing market dynamics, economies, and technologies since 1991. For more information, visit ATLANTIC-ACM’s website at http://www.atlantic-acm.com