Portland Center Stage Shines Spotlight on Improved Efficiency and Managed Costs with Comcast Ethernet and Trunk Services

PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 9, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Corporation, one of the nation's leading providers of information and communications products and services, today announced that Portland Center Stage, a nonprofit, regional theater company located in Portland, Oregon is using Comcast Business Class Ethernet services for fast, reliable Internet access for its staff, visiting artists and audience members. The theater is also utilizing Comcast Business Class Trunks to provide voice service between their existing phone system and Comcast's advanced IP network.

Kicking off its 25^th season this year, Portland Center Stage is among the top 15 professional regional theaters in America with nearly 140,000 tickets sales last year and is the largest producing theater in Portland. From online ticket sales to posting internally-produced videos of show previews and behind-the-scenes clips as well as sales and sponsorship calls, the theater relies heavily on its Internet and voice services to support its business so a fast, scalable and reliable connection is critical.

"As a nonprofit theater company, we rely heavily on maximizing ticket sales in addition to donor contributions to fund our programs. Budgets are inherently tight because at the end of the day, our mission is to put as much money as possible into producing great performances on the stage" said Boann Petersen, IT/IS administrator at Portland Center Stage. "Half of our single ticket sales come through our recently redesigned website, so the peace of mind that comes with having a reliable connection is priceless. In addition to ticket sales, just under half of our income comes through phone outreach to the community offering season subscriptions and soliciting donations, so our ability to connect and communicate with the community is crucial."

To address the growing bandwidth requirements of Portland Center Stage's business, Comcast installed a 20 Mbps Ethernet Dedicated Internet connection to replace the three T1 lines that previously provided the theater with only 4.5Mbps. Comcast also provides Business Class Trunks for Portland Center Stage to leverage their existing PBX equipment while scaling their voice in single channel increments based on the number of concurrent calls the business needs and backed by the reliability of Comcast's network.

"Nonprofit organizations of all kinds are especially reliant on their abilities to communicate externally because they must depend on the patronage and support of the broader community to succeed," said David Brown, regional vice president at Comcast Business Services. "The services we provide not only allow Portland Center Stage to focus on their mission by equipping them with highly reliable Internet and phone service, but also to manage their costs and reinvest money into the performances they produce for their audiences each year."

About Portland Center Stage
Portland Center Stage is the largest producing theater in Portland, Oregon and is among the top 15 professional regional theaters in America. Established in 1988 as an offshoot of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCS became an independent theater in 1994. An affiliate of the League of Regional Theatres, Actor's Equity Association and Theatre Communications Group, PCS produces a blend of classical, contemporary and premiere works in addition to its annual summer playwrights festival, JAW. In its home at the Portland Armory, PCS has over 10,000 subscribers and attracts an annual audience of nearly 150,000 theater-goers of all ages. PCS also offers a variety of education and outreach programs for curious minds from six to 106, including discussions, classes, workshops and partnerships with organizations throughout the Portland metro area.

About Comcast Business Services
Comcast Business Services, a unit of Comcast Cable, provides advanced communication solutions to help organizations of all sizes meet their business objectives. Through a modern, advanced network that is backed by 24/7 technical support, Comcast delivers Business Class Internet, TV and Voice services for cost-effective, simplified communications management.

Launched in 2011, the Comcast Business Class Ethernet suite offers high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Metro Ethernet services with the capacity to deliver cloud computing, software-as-a-service, business continuity/disaster recovery and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Comcast Metro Ethernet services are significantly faster than standard T1 lines and other legacy technologies, providing scalable bandwidth from 1 Mbps up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) in more than 20 major US markets.

For more information, call 866-429-3085 or visit http://business.comcast.com/enterprise.  

About Comcast Cable
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

SOURCE Comcast Corporation