Today's Top Stories AT&T's (NYSE: T) U-verse business continues be a feather in the telecom operator's wireline cap. The company reported U-verse revenues were up 30.1 percent year-over-year, with the IP service now contributing more than half of the wireline consumer business revenues. In addition, U-verse total subscriber count topped 9.4 million in the quarter. U-verse revenues, including business, were $5.6 billion, up 2.4 percent from a year ago and up 1.8 percent from the first quarter 2013. U-Verse now represents 51 percent of consumer revenues, up from 41 percent in the same quarter last year. During the company's earnings conference call, AT&T CFO John Stephens said that U-Verse is now a $12 billion revenue stream for the company. "Not bad for a business that just started seven years ago," Stephens noted. "We know how to build and scale new businesses," he added. Interestingly, the company also reported that average revenue per user for U-Verse triple play customers is more than $170. And overall ARPU is up 9 percent year-over- year. Regarding Project VIP, the $14 billion initiative AT&T embarked upon late last year to upgrade its wireline network to an all IP-infrastructure, Stephens said that the company plans to boost U-Verse speeds to 45 Mbps in the coming months, and then progress to 75 Mbps and eventually up to 100 Mbps speeds. In addition, he said that the company will increase U-verse broadband locations by 1.3 million this year. Here's a rundown of other key metrics in the quarter: Financials: AT&T's wireline revenue was $14.8 billion, down 0.9 percent vs. the year-ago quarter and up 0.8 percent sequentially. Operating expenses were $13.1 billion, up 1.3 percent vs. the second quarter 2012. Broadband: U-Verse added 641,000 broadband subs in the quarter for a total reach of 9.1 million subs. The company had a net loss of 61,000 wireline broadband subscribers . U-Verse high-speed internet customers now represent 55 percent of all wireline broadband customers compared with 50 percent in the year-ago quarter. About 50 percent of U-Verse customers have plans with speeds delivering up to 10 Mbps or higher, up from 52 percent in the year-earlier quarter. More than 90 percent of new U-Verse TV customers also signed for high-speed Internet. Video: U-Verse video subs increased 233,000 in the quarter with total customers now at more than 5 million. In addition, U-Verse TV penetration is at 20.1 percent at the end of the quarter and is growing. Business services: AT&T's business services revenue was $8.9 billion, down 2.2 percent vs. the year-ago quarter but up slightly from the first quarter of 2013. Stephens noted that the economy continues to be challenging but AT&T saw some growth in advanced business solutions, which includes VPN, Ethernet and hosting services, whhic grew 15 percent vs. the year-earlier quarter, and those services represent a $8.4 billion revenue stream. For more:
- see this release Related articles:
AT&T forecasts strong U-verse adds in Q2 2013
AT&T Q1 consumer wireline revenues rise 2% to $5.5 billion on strong U-verse gains
Report: AT&T, Verizon retain dominant spots in cloud market
AT&T sees consumer services grow to $5.5 billion in Q4, driven by IP data Read more about: Earnings, AT&T
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Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) CEO Kevin Johnson announced he is retiring after five years heading up the telecom networking company. Johnson, age 52, told Bloomberg that he is retiring to focus on "personal priorities" and will remain in the job until his replacement is found.  | | Johnson (Image source: Juniper) | The news is unexpected as Johnson, who has been CEO since 2008, helped boost the company's visibility amid growing competition from large rivals such as Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO) and smaller firmer like Fortinet and Palo Alto Networks. According to Dell'Oro Group, Juniper and Cisco lead the router market, despite an industry-wide slowdown in the first quarter. Cisco and Juniper, along with Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) and Huawei Technologies, made up 94 percent of first quarter service provider revenue. Juniper also reported its second quarter earnings yesterday. The company said its second quarter net income was $98 million, up from $57.7 million in the same quarter last year. Sales increased 7.2 percent to $1.15 billion, which exceeded analysts' average estimate of $1.09 billion. Verizon (NYSE:VZ) and AT&T (NYSE: T) are two of Juniper's biggest customers and both are in the mist of upgrading their networks. For more:
- see this Bloomberg article
- and this ZDNet report Related articles:
Cisco, Juniper lead Q1 router market amidst slowdown, says Dell'Oro
Cisco shares jump 11.8 percent, reports "encouraging" net sales of $12.2 billion
Juniper Networks' service provider sales drive up Q1 revenue to $1.06 billion Read more about: Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems
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Telecom infrastructure heavyweight Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) has acquired Canada-based Telcocell, which specializes in system integration and business support systems. The company said it will add about 200 employees and consultants in Canada and the U.S. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ericsson said it will close the purchase in the third quarter. The deal will give Ericsson a stronger presence in software and services and will fit nicely with Ericsson's previous acquisitions in the OSS and BSS space. Just a few weeks ago Ericsson acquired Bangkok-based TeleOSS Consulting, which gives it OSS and systems integration capabilities in Asia. The deal also fits well with Ericsson's purchase of Telcordia, which it acquired in June 2011 for $1.15 billion. Clearly, Ericsson is moving beyond its core infrastructure products and strengthening its software business. Ericsson's strategy is quite different from competitor Nokia Siemens Networks, which sold its BSS unit to Toronto-based Redknee in March. For more:
- see this WSJ article (sub. req.)
- see this FierceBroadbandWireless article Related articles:
Ericsson posts weak Q2 results, but looks to China and Europe for growth
Ericsson touts 1B subscribers covered by managed services deals
Ericsson shines in North America, but restructuring nails earnings
Nokia Siemens: Business as usual for now
Ericsson CEO: 90% of network traffic will be video
Ericsson's Q4 turnaround driven by booming N. American sales
Redknee strikes deal to acquire Nokia Siemens Networks' BSS unit
Ericsson scoops up OSS/BSS vendor Telcordia for $1.15B Read more about: Acquisition, OSS
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North Carolina-based fiber provider DukeNet Communications is the latest service provider to be awarded the Metro Ethernet Forum's rigorous Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification. CE 2.0 provides additional capability to match the performance needs of enterprise customers with specific service level agreements. It's an important factor in business-class Ethernet services, a fast-growing market segment in which many Tier 2 and 3 CLECs and cable operators like Comcast Business (Nasdaq: CMCSA) and Cox have found a profitable foothold. DukeNet is joining a comparatively small group: so far, only 11 service providers and 25 equipment vendors have achieved CE 2.0 certification since the standard was implemented in April 2012. Other certification holders include Comcast Business, Lumos Networks (Nasdaq: LMOS), Alaska Communications, tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC), Fibernoire, Rogers (NYSE: RCI) and XO. "CE 2.0 certification requires months of collaboration, network setup and testing," said David Herran, DukeNet's vice president of network architecture and technology planning. "It provides the building blocks for establishing network-to-network interfaces (NNIs) with our Ethernet service provider partners. DukeNet continues to expand Ethernet services to more locations, and our partners enable us to connect to locations outside of our own footprint. CE 2.0 certification gives us the ability to confidently tell our customers that we can interconnect without issue." For more:
- see the release Special Report: The 10 hottest wireline technologies in 2013 Related articles:
Comcast Business gets MEF Carrier Ethernet 2.0 certification
Verizon's Ihab Tarazi on the potential of Carrier Ethernet 2.0
tw telecom's Ethernet portfolio gets MEF CE 2.0 certification Read more about: Mef, certification
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The Fiber to the Home Council Americas wants the Federal Communications Commission to launch a "Gigabit Communities Race to the Top" program and jumpstart the development of ultra-high speed applications for gigabit connections. The FTTH Council modeled the program after the Obama Administration's Race to the Top education initiative and calls for matching grants of up to $10 million for projects in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets. According to the FTTH Council, the Race to the Top program will complement the FCC's E-rate program. Last week the commission called for a modernization of the E-rate program. Specifically, the FCC said it wanted increased broadband capacity, cost-effective purchasing, and streamlined program administration. Launched in 1997, E-rate has connected 97 percent of U.S. libraries and schools to the Internet, the FCC reports. But many need to update those connections to meet 2013 demands. The FTTH Council said its Race to the Top program will provide competitive grants to support deployment and innovation in areas of the country left behind. In addition, it will advance the goals of the National Broadband Plan as determined by former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. Here are the specifics of the program: The FCC would select the most meritorious proposals and provide winners with up to $10 million in funds, to be matched by state and private sources. The program would be funded by unused support in the Connect America Fund programs targeting areas serviced by price cap local exchange carriers and would be distributed each year for five years beginning in 2014. Applications would have to provide symmetric gigabit service to anchor community institutions and neighboring areas in a given area. Projects will be favored if they serve a broad range of anchor community institutions and provide interactivity between the institutions as well as surrounding neighborhoods. For more:
- see this press release Related articles:
FCC approves move to revamp E-rate funding program
5 wireline issues Wheeler will face if he becomes FCC chairman
Fatbeam's EMAN acquisition ups Washington State fiber presence
Verizon renews MSA contract with MiCTA
Windstream lights up 1G fiber network for Richmond, Va. school district
FCC considers revamp of E-rate funding program Read more about: FCC, E-Rate
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U.S. broadband speeds increase 27 percent, but EU countries lead growth
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