Today's Top Stories Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU) has hatched a plan to raise $1.3 billion from its shareholders and $750 million from a high-yield bond that company CEO Michel Combes says will reduce debt and save the company, reports Reuters. Part of Combes' "Shift" plan that was announced in June includes laying off an additional 10,000 employees. These job cuts will be worldwide and will occur by the end of 2015. The Shift plan will focus on leveraging emerging technologies, including network functions virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN) technologies. A cost cutting effort made by Combes' predecessor Ben Verwaayen to cut 5,500 jobs last year wasn't enough to turn around the company, which has posted losses every year since it was formed in 2006. Alcatel-Lucent will sell the new shares at $2.83 apiece. Combes, according to the Reuters report, said raising new capital was part of his plans to revive the company. "In the past few months, we have gotten renewed confidence from customers and the market, and this allowed us to proceed immediately with these three financial operations today," he said on a conference call. "They will help the company manage its own destiny and restore competitiveness." Despite seeing ongoing losses, the vendor reported that in the third quarter its IP division revenues rose 7 percent year-over-year to $789.2 million, while the Fixed Networks division revenues were $735 million, up 0.7 percent year-over-year. For more:
- The New York Times via Reuters has this article Earnings summary: Wireline telecom earnings in the third quarter of 2013
Related articles:
Alcatel-Lucent's Q3 IP revenues jump 7 percent to $789.2M
Alcatel-Lucent's IP division revenues rise 25 percent to $824M
Alcatel-Lucent's Shift strategy centers on cloud, software
Alcatel-Lucent's new CEO faces cash flow challenge Read more about: third quarter earnings 2013, Alcatel-Lucent
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Shentel (Nasdaq: SHEN) reported that operating revenue for its wireline segment in the third quarter was flat at $3.3 million vs. $3.4 million a year ago. But broadband access and fiber leasing were two bright spots in the telco's wireline and cable segments. Adjusted OIBDA for the wireline segment rose 2 percent year-over-year to $5.9 million. The service provider said that service penetration in its wireline ILEC area was 56.3 percent with a total of 34,700 connections. However, access lines declined 1.3 percent year-over-year to 22,506 total lines. "We continue to have access line losses far below the industry average and consistent broadband penetrations," said Earle MacKenzie, EVP & COO for Shentel, during the earnings call. In the cable segment, Shentel added 2,066 broadband customers and 762 voice customers, and lost only 138 video customers.
Wireline and cable fiber leasing grew 13 percent sequentially to $5.5 million, up from $5.1 million in Q3 2012. Christopher French, president and CEO of Shentel, said during the earnings call that they "were focused on driving continued growth in this part of our business." The third quarter was a time of transition for the rural telco. It realigned its management team into three business lines--wireless, cable and wireline--as a way to sharpen its focus and meet customer needs.
Driven by growth in its wireless and cable segments, Shentel's Q3 net revenues were $77.5 million, up 6 percent compared to $72.9 million for the same period a year ago. Growth in cable segment revenues resulted from an increase in RGU (revenue generating unit) counts, and higher monthly revenue per customer. Shares of Shentel closed at $23.61, down $4.12, or 14.86 percent at the end of Friday trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange. For more:
- see the release
- and the earnings transcript (reg. req.) Earnings summary: Wireline telecom earnings in the third quarter of 2013 Related articles:
Shentel realigns management team around key operational segments
Shentel gets into the 100G network game
Shentel's wireline fiber sales rise 7.4 percent to $5.6 million
Shentel revenue up 10.4 percent to $76 million on stable wireline, cable results Read more about: third quarter earnings 2013
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AT&T (NYSE: T) has turned its hiring drive to Wisconsin where it is looking hire 90 people, including 80 technicians, to support the growth of its U-verse TV and broadband services in the state. Fifty of the jobs are available in the Milwaukee area. During the first half of this year, AT&T invested nearly $140 million in its wireless and wired networks in Wisconsin. These initiatives are driven by its larger $14 billion Project VIP program. The service provider announced similar hiring drives in six other states, including Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. U-verse has become the most dominant piece of AT&T's revenue mix. In Q3 2013, it represented 54 percent of the telco's wireline consumer revenues, up from 43 percent in Q2 2012. The service had an effect on the third quarter's consumer and business wireline revenues, particularly SMBs. Consumer U-verse revenues grew 27.2 percent year over year and were up 4.7 percent vs. the second quarter of 2013. In the business market, AT&T added a "record" 97,000 business U-verse high speed broadband subscribers. For more:
- see the release
Related articles:
AT&T continues hiring spree in N. Carolina with call for 100 employees
AT&T extends fiber reach into 50 Louisiana office buildings
AT&T U-verse revenues rise 28 percent to $3.1B, subscribers top 10 million Read more about: Wisconsin, hiring
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TDS Telecom (NYSE: TDS) has wrapped up one American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) broadband stimulus project in Wisconsin and has nearly completed another project in New Hampshire. Targeting Beetown and Potosi, the project in Wisconsin will extend broadband data service to over 500 households. During this buildout, the telco installed nearly eight and a half miles of fiber optics cabling and nine new cabinets to house associated broadband loop carrier (BLC) equipment to deliver services throughout its Farmers Telephone Company exchange. The service provider said the project in Southwest Wisconsin cost a total of $1.9 million. A Rural Utilities Service grant covered 75 percent of the cost, while TDS invested the remaining 25 percent, or $500,000. In New Hampshire, TDS Telecom's Merrimack County Telephone Company subsidiary has partially completed a project around Bagley and Bradford. Expected to be completed by the end of this year, the buildout, which includes the installation of 14 miles of fiber and 11 new remote terminal cabinets, will provide about 800 area households with access to a broadband data connection. TDS has been making continual progress with the 44 broadband stimulus projects for which it has secured ARRA funding. Since July, the telco has completed projects in five states, including Indiana, New York, Georgia, Wisconsin and Missouri. For more:
- see the release
Related articles:
TDS Telecom's Q3 revenues rise to $234.5M on gains in IPTV, managed services
TDS Telecom extends broadband to 600 more homes in Indiana
TDS Telecom wraps sixth broadband stimulus project in Georgia
TDS completes part of 900-home Minnesota broadband stimulus build
TDS Telecom completes 3 broadband stimulus projects to bring 1,100 households into service range Read more about: New Hampshire, ARRA
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Pacnet is looking to appeal to carriers and enterprises trying to get a piece of the cloud services market with the launch of its Pacnet Enabled Network (PEN) platform that uses software-defined networking (SDN) to adapt to bandwidth needs as they arise. The service provider said that with its Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) model, PEN enables carrier and enterprise customers to dynamically provision bandwidth based on their particular needs in "minutes." Through its foundation of data centers and submarine cable systems, PEN users can create what Pacnet calls a "virtualized cross-connected environment." By using OpenFlow, an open-source technology, PEN allows customers to get "seamless connectivity" to a hybrid cloud service environment and the ability to pick the cloud vendor of their choice.
With a full launch expected in the first quarter of 2014, PEN will be able to address customers that have needs in the Asia Pacific market. They will be able to provision a network from its Hong Kong data center to their on-premises facilities in Australia. PEN is just one of several new initiatives that Pacnet has taken on recently to differentiate itself in the lucrative high speed wholesale and multi-national corporation (MNC) market segments. The service provider recently debuted a 100G wavelength service between the Asia Pacific region and the United States and established an External-Network to Network (E-NNI) agreement with tw telecom (Nasdaq: TWTC). For more:
- see the release Special report: The Contenders: Submarine cable equipment suppliers bide their time as market begins to shift Related articles:
Pacnet serves up 100G wavelength services between Asia Pacific, United States
Pacnet penetrates U.S. market with tw telecom E-NNI agreement Read more about: PacNet, SDN
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