AT&T Revenue, Net Income up on Smartphone Sales
AT&T Revenue, Net Income up on Smartphone Sales
AT&T Revenue, Net Income up on Smartphone Sales
Gains in mobile services especially in Smartphones sales helped AT&T revenue up 1.8 percent which is an increase of 5.2 percent in revenue compared to the same quarter last year.
The company reported revenue of $31.8 billion for the quarter ending March 2012 up from $31.2 billion for the corresponding quarter in 2011. Net income increased from $3.4 billion to $3.6 billion.
AT&T pointed out that the main reason for the company’s growth is the growth in its mobile services. The company sold 5.5 million Smartphones in the first quarter of 2012. Seventy eight percent of the company’s sales were postpaid device sales. More than 59 percent AT&T subscribers now own Smartphones. IN the same quarter the company added 726,000 new mobile customers to bring its total mobile subscriber base to 103.9 million.
The company’s mobile revenue increased by 5.4 percent to $16.1 billion. Revenue from mobile data went up to $6.1 billion which is an increase of 19.9 percent.
Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO said that the company expects to leverage its momentum in mobile Internet. The earnings for each share stood at $0.60 beating expectations from analysts who predicted $0.57.
On the wire-line side, AT&T reported revenue of $14.9 billion which is down 0.8 percent from the previous year. Net income gained 2.4 percent and stood at $1.8 billion. In a press release, the company noted that the revenue from AT&T DSL business is $9.2 billion which is also down by 0.8 percent however this has been the slowest decline in past three years.
Growth in the broadband sector had offset declines in other areas. Domestic broadband revenue stood at $5.4 billion signifying an increase of 1 percent. The company added 200,000 customers to its U-Verse television service and 718,000 U-Verse broadband service in the last quarter.
AT&T Hikes U-verse TV To 4 Million Subscribers as DSL Woes Persist
AT&T U-verse TV Gains
AT&T Hikes U-verse TV To 4 Million Subscribers as DSL Woes Persist
The total subscriber base of AT&T U-Verse TV at the end of last quarter stood at 3.99 million users which represents a healthy gain of 200,000 new subscribers in the first quarter of 2012. The company also managed to enroll 718,000 new AT&T U-Verse Internet subscribers during the same period while the numbers in its AT&T DSL and voice customers continued to show a decline.
While the revenues and number of subscribers continued to climb, the company has completed a major portion of its fiber to the node U-Verse network by 2011 having a capacity to connect 30 million units which signals that the growth rate would be difficult to sustain. AT&T lost 615,000 DSL subscribers in the first quarter this year and its total wire-line broadband subscriber base stood at 16.53 million. The reports also show an increase in data usage trends amongst AT&T subscribers. Around 45% of its broadband customers have subscribed to plans delivering 6 Mbps or higher as compared to 35% in the first quarter of 2011. Meanwhile voice connections continued to show a decline and the company lost nearly 3.5 million voice connection subscribers representing a decline of 12.5% year on year standing at 20.5 million. AT&T still managed to recover some of the losses suffered in voice business by growth in the IP data services.
Sanford Bernstein a senior analyst from Craig Moffett noted that wire-line results were neither a cause for celebration nor a cause for concern.
Revenue from domestic customers in Q1 was $5.4 billion indicating an increase of 1% over Q1 of 2011. Over 55% of the company’s revenue is now associated with U-Verse broadband, voice over IP and video revenue. The corresponding figure was 47% in Q1 of 2011. The total Q1 wire-line revenue was $14.9 billion which is down 0.8% as compared to the same quarter in 2011.
Categories: At&t, DSL, Fiber Optic, Internet News, TV, U-Verse Tags: At&t, DSL, tv, u-verse
Verizon Stops Selling DSL in Fiber Markets, Eyes More FiOS Price Hikes
Verizon Stops Selling DSL in Fiber FiOS Markets
Verizon Stops Selling DSL in Fiber Markets, Eyes More FiOS Price Hikes
According to Verizon Communications CFO, Fran Shammo, Verizon will be aiming to improve its wire-line unit’s profitability by no longer selling Verizon DSL over copper in areas where FiOS is available and hiking the price of FiOS bundles in the next two quarters.
In the first quarter of 2012, Verizon added 193,000 FiOS Internet and 180,000 TV subscribers but it also lost 89,000 DSL subscribers and 440,000 voice connections. Shammo supported Verizon’s plans to migrate from copper to fiber in FiOS markets as a way of providing long term benefits in operating costs. He said that in the long term it is better to take most of these customers from Verizon’s copper network to FiOS network. The benefit would be a decrease in the repairs and maintenance over time and an increase in the upselling capacity as these customers are included in the FiOS network and then in the linear TV product offered by Verizon. In the trials conducted by Verizon last year where it had migrated customers from copper to fiber, the company is beginning to see a 30% sale upgrade on those customers.
Bill Kula, Verizon’s spokesman said that for customers who are price sensitive and want to manage their monthly broadband expenses in FiOS only areas, the company offers a 3 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up FiOS Internet for $39.99 per month on a one year contract standalone basis.
On the other hand Verizon is raising the lease fees for FiOS TV DVRs by 6% in the New York metro area from $15.99 to $16.99 per month and the set top box rates by 17% to $6.99 monthly.
Shammo added that during the next two quarters Verizon would hike prices of several FiOS packages and rebundle certain packages to make them more profitable depending on the tier consumers pick.
At&t recently also started switching all of their At&t DSL customers to their fiber optic U-Verse product. We wrote about this in a earlier ISP 1 blog post. At&t Forcing DSL Customers To U-Verse – http://isp1.us/blog/att-forcing-dsl-customers-to-u-verse/
The very active At&t post has dozens of comments from former At&t DSL customers.
Categories: At&t, DSL, Fiber Optic, FiOS, U-Verse, Verizon Tags: AT&T U-Verse, DSL, fiber optic Internet, Verizon FiOS
CenturyLink: A Compelling Buy Candidate For 2012
CenturyLink Aquired Quest DSL
CenturyLink: A Compelling Buy Candidate For 2012
With numerous acquisitions under its belt CenturyLink has become the third largest telecommunications company in the US. CenturyLink has a strong presence in the Southern, Mid Western and Western regions in the US. The future of the company depends on its ability to integrate acquisitions and creating cash flow to implement a successful broadband strategy.
CenturyLink purchased Qwest Communications, the parent company of Qwest DSL and Qwest Internet in April 2011. This almost doubled CenturyLink’s subscribers to 15.1 million. Similarly Embarq was bought in 2009 and the integration was completed in quarter 4 of 2011.
In July 2011, CenturyLink acquired Savvis which gave it an opportunity to enter the cloud based computing delivery options to its clients. Growth in this area could help CenturyLink compensate for the dwindling numbers in wireline subscriber base. There is rising demand from business customers for low cost cloud computing.
Integration of Savvis with CenturyLink at the management level is expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012. CenturyLink has already altered its operating structure to provide service to Savvis customers. With this acquisition CenturyLink is now competing with hosting services providers rather than basic telecommunication companies.
Integration of Savvis management into the CenturyLink channel is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2012. Moreover, CenturyLink has revised its operating structure to serve all Savvis customers along with large corporate and government entities by a single unit. With the addition of Savvis to its portfolio of services, CenturyLink is competing with a different industry comprised of many hosting and collocation service providers rather than merely basic telecommunication companies.
CenturyLink’s strategy of compensating for dwindling wireline business by acquiring other telecom businesses has been successful so far with the integration of its network traffic and billing. The scale of operations realized cost savings for the company.
Categories: CenturyLink, DSL, Embarq, Internet News, Qwest Tags: CenturyLink, DSL, Embarq, Qwest
New Jersey Presses Verizon About Wireline Voice Service Issues, Broadband Commitment
New Jersey Presses Verizon About Wireline Voice Service Issues
New Jersey Presses Verizon About Wireline Voice Service Issues, Broadband Commitment
Verizon like its counterpart DSL providers AT&T and CenturyLink continues to see the revenue from its core voice service decline but New Jersey’s board of Public Utilities are questioning the quality of their PSTN service provided by Verizon.
There is a spurt in complaints against the states PSTN service although there has been a decline in the number of subscribers from 6.7 million in 2000 to below 2.5 million in 2012. The board wants to know the reasons for high volume in complaints. Also the board wants to know why Verizon has not delivered its promise of providing Verizon DSL service to 50,000 residential Internet users in the state of New Jersey.
Stefanie brand, Director of Division of Rate Counsel said, “The reasons for a high number of complaints against Verizon’s copper network is because the carrier is distracted by its expanding FiOS network and wireless service and paying less attention to its other services. Keeping their copper network is an expense for Verizon as they now want to focus fully on their FiOS network and wireless systems,” she added.
Lowell McAdam, Chairman and CEO of Verizon and the former Verizon president said last week that the company would be launching a new streaming video service which can be used by its FiOS network, wireless systems and cable partner customers on their smart phones and tablets. However the launch of this new service depends on whether Verizon manages to get government approvals for its $3.6 million spectrum purchase and marketing deal with Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright Communications.
Verizon’s deal however has met with strong opposition from users, other service providers and community groups especially those from the northeast as they feel that if the deal goes through then they will never get the benefits of Verizon’s FiOS service.
Categories: DSL, FiOS, Internet Access Article, Internet News, New Jersey, Verizon Tags: DSL, fios, new jersey, Verizon
Verizon-Cable Deal Raises Major Concerns
Verizon-Cable Deal Raises Major Concerns
Verizon-Cable Deal Raises Major Concerns, According to Public Knowledge
The debate about Verizon’s bid to purchase spectrum from its competitors is still not over even after last week’s hearing which tried to throw some light on the issue. Verizon Wireless had announced in December 2011 a deal to buy unused spectrum from Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Comcast and Bright House Communications for over 3.6 billion dollars.
However public opposition to the deal seems to be growing. Numbers of public interest groups and other wireless carriers like T-Mobile and Sprint have been arguing their cases quite vocally. They even filed a petition in court to stall the deal. The groups argued in the petition that the proposed deal would change the fundamental nature of telecommunications in the US in a manner which contradicts the Telecommunications Act of 1996.
In the first place companies have agreed to sell more spectrum to the largest spectrum holder in the country further aggravating the anti-competitive spectrum problem and secondly these companies have critical side agreements which give rise to serious concerns when these companies actively collude with each other and further decline to compete.
During last week’s hearing the antitrust committee of the Senate Judiciary Committee tried to find out if the group of cable companies had tried to reach other companies before Verizon. But that question remained unanswered.
Senator Herb Kohl, chairman of the antitrust subcommittee questioned Verizon and other cable companies if they had called a truce and are standing down as rivals. He feared that the deal would undo all the hard work done in maintaining healthy competition over the years. He noted that Verizon has no incentive in the deal as its affiliates would be selling Time Warner or Bright House or Comcast. Verizon would not be able to build or improve its product. He also added that there would be a decrease in competition for FiOS and since most places do not have Verizon FiOS they would have to endure with slow DSL Internet or cable options.
Categories: Bright House, Cable Internet, Comcast, DSL, FiOS, Internet News, Time Warner Cable, Verizon Tags: bright house, cox, DSL, fios, Time Warner, Verizon
DSL Broadband Discussed – Functions and Switching
DSL Broadband Discussed
DSL Broadband Discussed
by ISP 1 Guest Blogger
For me, broadband DSL is a technology that lets us enjoy Internet surfing more. For some people, we do not know exactly its meaning and its function. So, I present here some details that will help you get pointers in understanding this added innovation in the technology.
Are you new to DSL broadband? Well if so, you have to look for a DSL provider that can configure your phone lines before you may get online. Usually, it takes weeks and must not affect the calls. You will get broadband DSL modem as well that lets your computer use the signals and couple of micro filters, which helps the modem get cleaner signals through the telephone lines. It makes a difference, you cannot get reliable access without it, and so it is vital to utilize them if possible. Certainly, all the equipment cost the service providers money, thus most would lock in minimum of a 12 month contract to recoup the cost.
Broadband DSL Function
Where is it available? Cheap broadband DSL now has replaced dial up Internet access. For you to catch it, the majority of people use a upgraded home phone line known as ADSL or Asymmetrical Digital Subscribers Line. Along with being several times faster as compared to dial up, a broadband connection offers a couple of key benefits too. It is always connected, thus you need not wait to get online every time, and DSL lets you make and receive calls on the same line while it is being used.
How to Switch Broadband Providers?
It is simple to switch broadband providers. Recently, this was made harder by disobliging companies. Luckily it is slowly changing as federal regulations comes down tough on them. When you’re switching providers there are lots of checks you need to make.
It is Locked In?
Actually, you have to check if you’re permitted to switch broadband from your present provider. A lot of broadband provider’s contract lasts for 1 year or 8 months. Trying to leave when you are still in contract will cause you to be penalized. And even if you are not penalized, you will surely be liable to pay for equipment costs they offered you, as it is vitally rented from the providers.
Is there Migration Fee?
The majority of providers these days would transfer you to their service without any charges since they like the business. However, dwindling numbers of charge migration costs for switching.
It is vital as well to remember the technical reasons, new companies normally lets you switch to the service on similar speed as you have in your present provider, though after that you’ll be upgrading as well.
Make sure that you know the authorization code. One thing that I know, you need to keep in mind, call your present provider and asks for the migration authorization code. Do not worry since it is the standard procedure and you have to catch it hassle free.
If you’re satisfied with your present provider, you can try to add speed or drop the package price nicely. These are the only things that I can share to you based in my experience and research.
Find A Cheap DSL Deal
Categories: Broadband, DSL, Internet Providers Tags: Broadband, connection, DSL, Internet
How to Choose Your Internet Download Speed?
How to Choose Your Internet Download Speed?
How to Choose Your Internet Download Speed?
by Dan Karas
Surfing the Internet is a very enjoyable thing to do, but in order to be able to this you need to choose the proper Internet speed that will allow you to do what you want or need to accomplish. Many people choose a slow connection, or in other words the Internet speed doesn’t match their requirements, and lose their heads over their poor Internet experience. Not only can opting for a slow connection cost you a lot of nerves, but it can also prevent you from playing your favorite online games without lag and viewing a video or movie without excessive buffering. This being said, here will be discussed all Internet speeds along with the reason what each of them is used for.
Choose Your Download Speed According to What You Need
Before discussing the various download speeds available to users, it is important to note that you need to decide what you will be using the Internet for. If you want to save money on your Internet service plan, you will need to choose the minimum speed that will allow you perform the tasks that you wish to do with relative ease. In other words, you should opt for a super fast Internet connection only if you plan on using the Net on a daily basis and for demanding tasks. For instance, if you want to download movies and your favorite music, 56 Kbps wouldn’t help you much with that, as this is the lowest Internet speed available.
Different Types of Internet Connections
Dial Up Connection
A very inexpensive Dial-up connection is usually adequate for people who don’t use the Internet very often, or for long periods of time. Instead, this type of Internet connection enables their users to do some basic stuff online, and this may include sending and opening emails, and using search engines to find content. The maximum download speed for a dialup connection is 56 Kbps, the upload speed is around 6 Kbps, and the price of this package is the lowest available to allow you to access the Internet.
DSL Connection or Cable Internet Access
These two types of broadband Internet connections are very commonly used, and the difference between these two connections is that DSL service uses your standard copper phone lines to connect to the Internet, and the cable Internet, as it name suggests, uses a coaxial TV cable for its method of providing Internet access. Another thing is that the DSL connection is often more affordable than cable, but it generally has lower speeds. Namely, a DSL connection can provide users with the download speed of from about 768 Kbps up to 12 Mbps, whereas a common cable connection goes from 4 Mbps to 50 Mbps or higher. Some newer DOCSIS 3.0 cable Internet services boast ungodly fast Internet speeds in excess of 100 Mbps. Regardless of the fact that DSL is slower that the cable, a great many people manage to do everything they want with either of these types of connections. Downloading movies and music is only a small part of the activities that these two types of Internet connections can offer to their users.
Satellite Internet Connection
This type of connection has gotten faster in recent years, but it is not as popular as most think it should be. Namely, the download speed related to this type of Internet connection can go up to 5 Mbps. However, it is not very affordable and the majority of people using a satellite Internet connection do so because DSL or cable is not available in their area. Many satellite systems also have low usage limits on the amount of data that you can use. When you exceed these limits the satellite provider slows your connection speed. Satellite systems are furthermore plagued with high latency due to the distances that the signals must travel. This delay causes problems for online gamers. Some ordinary things such as bad weather can also influence satellite connections, so if you need full-time access to the Net, then you should better opt for cable or DSL Internet service if it’s available.
Fiber Optic Connection
To compete with the cable Internet speeds and cable offerings such as HD television most DSL providers have started upgrading their services to ADSL2+. By using fiber optic cables the download speeds have been increased to 50 Mbps or more. The increased bandwidth also permits high definition digital television to be transmitted on the same connection as the broadband ADSL2+ Internet. Fiber Optic Internet is relatively new and only offered in select limited markets.
At&t U-Verse Fiber Internet Availability
Verizon FiOS Fiber Internet Availability
Categories: Broadband, Cable Internet, Dial-Up, DSL, Fiber Optic, Satellite Internet, Speed Tags: Cable, Dial-Up, DSL, Fiber Optic, Internet Speed, Satellite
What is Broadband Internet?
What is Broadband?
What Is Broadband Internet?
by Dan Karas
Can you even imagine the world without the Internet? Can you imagine living without the ability to turn on your computer and use the World Wide Web as an omnipotent and omniscient tool that it is? Well, you will probably have a negative answer to the previous two questions. However, you will also have a negative answer to the following question: what exactly is broadband Internet? Sure, a lot of people will say that this is the type of Internet connection they have set up at their homes or offices, but this doesn’t really answer the question, does it?
So, What Is Broadband Internet?
Technically speaking the FCC currently defines broadband Internet as a connection that is faster than 4 Mbps. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadband_Internet_access However, the more common definition is anything that is faster than a traditional 56 K dial up Internet connection. In most cases, it is true to tell people that broadband, also commonly called high speed Internet is the type of Internet connection they are using, as this really is the most commonly used type of Internet connection throughout the USA and the entire world. In addition to this, it is also true to say that this is the form of Internet access that offers the highest Internet connection speeds at the moment, and when compared to dial-up connection, broadband Internet is the obvious choice.
Types of High Speed Internet
There are five types of broadband Internet, and below they are listed and explained:
- DSL – The Digital Subscriber Line Internet access is a type of Internet connection that comes to you through your telephone line. Contrary to what many people may think, you can use your Internet and your phone at the same time, as voice and Internet connection travel at different frequencies which are commonly separated by a device called a DSL splitter. DSL speeds range from 256 Kbps to over 6 Mbps, although the distance that you are located from the telephone companies CO will affect the speed that will be available.
- Cable – If you have Cable TV, you can probably ask your Cable TV provider for Cable Internet. Currently DOCSIS 3.0 cable connections can provide the fastest consumer Internet connections, with some cable companies such as Comcast offering speeds of over 100 Mbps in select areas. With Cable Internet, your connection speed will depend on how many users are using the same connection bandwidth at any specific moment. So, you will not have the same Internet connection speed in the mornings and in the evenings, as the evenings will be characterized by more active users, thus a somewhat slower connection.
- Satellite – Even though the satellite Internet connection is the slowest and the most expensive type of broadband Internet to set up, it is the only option for many who live in areas where other types of broadband Internet are not available. The connection speed will in this case may depend on weather conditions, and the speed will generally be lower than with the other three types of broadband Internet. Satellite Internet is also a poor choice for gaming due to the high latency (delay) of the signal. This is due to the extreme distance that the signal needs to travel from the earth to the satellite and back.
- Wireless – Wireless Internet is available from cellular providers such as Verizon, At&t, Sprint, etc. It currently comes in two flavors of 3G and 4G. 3G or third generation wireless is the most widespread and offers speeds comparable to low end DSL services. 4G or as you may have guessed fourth generation wireless is the new kid on the block and boasts much higher speeds. Even though the 4 G wireless network is expanding rapidly there are still relatively few locations providing widespread 4G coverage. Wireless broadband Internet is very convenient; however its Achilles heel is the low usage limits as compared to DSL and cable plans. Most wireless providers charge outrageous overage fees or throttle your connection to a crawl when you exceed these modest bandwidth limits.
- Fiber-optic – This is the least used, as well as the one of the fastest broadband Internet connections out of the four types mentioned here. The reason why it is the least used is the fact that not many areas have fiber-optic Internet connections available yet. However, where it is available, its cost is very competitive with standard DSL and Cable, but provides much higher connection speeds. There are a couple of types of fiber optic Internet connections. FTTH (Fiber To The Home) This is the type of connection used by Verizon FiOS which brings the fiber all the way to your house, if you get the At&t U-Verse version it is FTTK (Fiber To The Kerb/Curb) which uses copper from the curb to your house. Both Fiber connections provide ADSL2+ Internet speeds of up to 50 Mbps and can also provide on demand HD television and digital telephone service on the same line.
In order to choose one of these types of broadband Internet, you will first have to check and see which of them are available in your area. Some Internet services, particularly DSL, are very distance sensitive. For example you might qualify for a specific level of service while your next door neighbor doesn’t. Not all Internet service providers will offer the same conditions, so you will also have to shop around before you make the final decision. You’ll want to pick the fastest broadband plan that fits your budget. In some areas this can be 100 Mbps+. But these extremely high end broadband plans are also extremely expensive. You may find that a plan in the 5 to 25 Mbps range might satisfy your Internet service needs at a much lower cost that won’t break your monthly budget.
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Find Broadband Internet in Your Area
Categories: Broadband, Cable Internet, DSL, FiOS, Internet Access Article, Satellite Internet, Wireless Tags: Broadband, Cable, Dial-Up, DSL, fiber, Satellite, Wireless
What is DSL?
What is DSL?
What is DSL?
The advent of the world wide web has not only impacted the way in which people lead their lives but also it has been instrumental in the introduction of many related innovations and technologies like DSL. While today most people are content with the high speed browsing offered by their satellite and cable Internet connections, few can forget the noisy modems of yesteryear which were once the sole way to get onto the Internet bandwagon.
Even back then, an impressive technology known as DSL allowed people to rush through the information highway at breakneck speeds. If you have already heard about DSL but were not sure what it is and how it can enhance your browsing experience, here is a look at how the innovation works and its benefits.
What is DSL?
The Digital Subscriber Loop or Line (DSL) refers to a combination of technologies that enable data transfer over telephone networks. Information is typically transferred at speeds ranging from 128 Kbits/second to a whopping 24,000 Kbits/second. Originally a part of the Integrated Services Digital Network, DSL offers considerably faster speeds and quality than the outdated analog system.
The different forms of DSL technology
- HDSL: High Data Rate Digital Subscriber Line is characterized by the use of a distinctly higher frequency spectrum for the transmission of the data.
- ADSL: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line is a version of DSL which has a higher download speed and a slower upload speed.
- SDSL: This is a version of DSL with symmetric upload and download speed.
- RADSL: This is a variation of Asymmetrical DSL that changes the upstream speed to get specific downstream speeds.
- VDSL: Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber uses four different frequency bands and offers considerably higher speeds.
- VDSL2: Very-high-bit-rate Digital Subscriber Line 2 is the next generation version of VDSL.
The benefits of using DSL
Affordable: One of the reasons for the viability of DSL in this day and age of high speed browsing technologies is the affordability of the option. Most buyers of regular cable and satellite internet ignore the fact that the 1.5 Mbps speed offered by DSL is at par with the T1 top off which seldom exceeds 1.5 Mbps. Yet, DSL only costs $35 per month as opposed to the pricey $400 or $500 charged by leading T1 Internet companies.
Just right for small businesses: Many argue that the over-subscription of DSL has led to markedly slow browsing speeds. While the statement does hold some merit, the fact remains that the speeds of a DSL network flounders only at peak times while remaining fairly steady through the rest of the day. For most small and midsized businesses trying to cut costs the partial compromise on speed is certainly worth the savings that they can make with a DSL connection.
On all the time: Because with a DSL connection, you don’t have to worry about usage, you can keep the computer connected to the Internet 24/7. The feature can have a range of applications and will certainly benefit establishments that require real time information like firms that deal in the equities and foreign exchange markets.
Although DSL has its fair share of pros and cons, the merits of the technology far outweigh its drawbacks which make this a feasible solution for businesses that need to perpetually be connected to the Internet but cannot afford the high cost of cable and satellite networks.
Categories: DSL, Internet Access Article, Technology Tags: DSL
