Telecommunications giant Verizon (NYSE:VZ, news, filings) released earnings this morning, giving us another update on how the industry is weathering the economy. Revenues of $26.86B and earnings per share of $0.63 were inline with expectations. Wireless subscribers grew by a net 1.1M, wireline connections fell by another 880K, and FIOS subscribers grew another 300K, all of which sounded awfully familiar. Overall, I found very little to get excited about in either direction in this report. The 800lb gorilla managed to jump in the pool without making a discernible splash.
Enterprise demand was a bit weak – but I don’t see how anyone would be surprised by that given that it’s been a constant refrain by virtually the entire media for three quarters now. CFO John Killian managed to state the obvious when commenting “Clearly the broader economic issues are affecting the business.” The company also mentioned that they will be cutting their headcount by another 8000 and continue to look for other expenses they might reduce. 8000 is a big number, but Verizon is a big company with a shrinking wireline base. Nobody will be happy to see more jobs go, however given the economy and changes in the company’s wireline business I doubt anyone was surprised.
Verizon still giving 2010 as when their LTE network will be unveiled, though it remains unclear what devices will be ready when they are. It’s a rather wide target though, 5-17 months wide in fact. One wonders when these LTE schedules will get a bit more specificity.
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Categories: Financials · ILECs, PTTs
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Verizon, like AT&T, in some geographies is more than happy to see the land line base go away …
If I ran VZ, I would go ask the FCC/SEC or whomever to spin out the last mile copper centers to shareholders … they (VZ) cut costs and NEWCO gets to demonstrate all the money that can me made owning, operating and repairing copper facilities … I am sure VZ would even rent from NEWCO until their fiber is installed or LTE is implemented … maybe a few CLECs could get together and approach VZ and AT&T for such a great deal as a joint venture of sorts …
I believe this was once considered by congress to break the network out from the rest of the business and operate on a more neutral basis. Question was, would the newco favor it’s largest customer… the ILECs putting it back to square one.