Qwest Communications (Q) has announced third-quarter 2009 earnings with reported earnings per share (EPS) of 8 cents matching both the Zacks Consensus Estimate and the year-ago quarter EPS. Net income declined 6.2% year over year to $136 million on lower revenues as erosion in legacy landline business continues. Operating revenue declined 9.6% from the prior-year quarter to $3.05 billion, primarily due to lower voice service revenue as consumers continue to disconnect their landline services. Qwest reported healthy growth in Internet revenue in the quarter, driven by respectable broadband customer growth. However, voice service revenue declined due to access line erosion. Results by Segment Business Markets Revenue from the business market segment declined 1% year over year to $1 billion due to declines across legacy voice and data businesses. The segment contributed 33.8% of the group revenue for the quarter. Driven by growth in ...

The US telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (“FCC") has reportedly voted unanimously for the implementation of the so-called “Net Neutrality" regulation, which is aimed at preventing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and cable companies from blocking or restricting access to legal web site contents and applications. If enacted, the open Internet rule, which is presently applicable to wireline networks, will be extended to wireless.

All five FCC commissioners (including the FCC chairman Julius Genachowski), represented by three democrats and two republicans voted in favor of the proposed new rule, which will now invite public comments, a process which is expected to continue till Jan 14, 2010. This will be followed by the review of the public feedback by the FCC with a final rule is expected not before March 2010. However, the republicans remain skeptical about the proposed rule.

The net neutrality regulation, which consists of a set of proposals, represents the first

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Qwest Communications (Q) has released its capital expenditure (CapEx) guidance for 2010. The local and long-distance telephone service provider expects its CapEX to remain at par with the estimated 2009 level of $1.7 billion.      Qwest continues to invest in building necessary infrastructure to boost network capacity and availability. Historically, the company has allocated a major portion of the overall CapEx in deploying additional fiber-to-the-node (“FTTN") capacity to increase the performance of its broadband network. Moving forward, Qwest plans to increase spending on deployment of fiber optic cable to support wireless services.   The company recently introduced a new fiber-based Ethernet backhaul wholesale service for wireless operators. The service (called Qwest Mobile Ethernet Backhaul) leverages Qwest’s FTTN network to extend fiber connections to cellular sites. This will enable wireless operators to upgrade their existing copper-based wireless backhaul networks to faster fiber optic connections, which will expand capacity ...

Qwest Communications (Q) introduced a new fiber-based Ethernet backhaul wholesale service for wireless operators. The service is called Qwest Mobile Ethernet Backhaul, which leverages the company’s fiber-to-the-node (“FTTN") network (currently used for residential broadband service) to extend fiber connections to cellular sites. This will offer the wireless operators a major upgrade from their existing copper-based wireless backhaul networks.   Cellular operators across North America are aggressively investing to replace their copper connections to faster fiber optic connections. Approximately 75% of backhaul connections are on copper in North America, thereby creating a significant bottleneck in supporting increasing data traffic on next-generation wireless networks. Tier-1 carriers such as AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) have started to upgrade their cell sites to fiber as they prepare for 4G wireless service deployments.           Mobile Ethernet Backhaul service is tailor made to fit the requirements of the wireless service ...

Qwest Communications (Q) is reportedly accelerating its network throughput to offer top Internet speed of 100 gigabits per second (Gbps) for its premium enterprise and government customers. The third-largest US regional carrier has already started to upgrade its fiber-based long-haul network infrastructure, which is expected to continue through 2010. Existing long-haul networks deliver top speeds of approximately 40 Gbps. To implement this network enhancement, Qwest is leveraging the technology of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), which will provide the 100 Gbps Ethernet service routing capabilities. The company aims to be the first carrier to commercially launch 100 Gbps services in the US. However, Verizon (VZ) is also in the race with its 100 Gbps network deployment planned in 2010. Leading carriers across the globe are increasingly focused on accelerating Internet network speeds given rapidly growing demand for greater bandwidth capacity. Qwest has reported that total bandwidth consumption ...

DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Tuesday August 18, 2009

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Option trading was heavy on Microchip Technology (NASDAQ: MCHP) yesterday, as more than 144,500 contracts crossed the tape. This surge in volume was more than 36 times the equity’s average daily trading volume of 3,959 contracts, according to data from WhatsTrading.com. Furthermore, roughly 99% of the volume changed hands on the call side.

Today, Walmart (NYSE: WMT), TransFair USA, SEBRAE-Minas Gerais and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that a new Fair Trade Certified coffee from Brazil will be sold to Sam’s Club members across the country. The two new Fair Trade Certified(TM) Member’s Mark coffee options will be available

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Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) ended efforts to sell its long-distance network on Monday after an auction failed to get satisfactory bids for those assets.

The sale of its struggling wholesale business would have helped the Denver-based company to trim its debt load of $13.3 billion and ease investor concerns. Industry insiders were expecting Level 3 Communications Inc. (LVLT) to be a potential buyer.

However, in spite of drawing "significant interest" from prospective buyers, the bid could not find an offer in excess of the $2 billion that Qwest was expecting. In the end, Qwest concluded that the long-distance network assets held far more strategic value for shareholders and customers than it would be able to raise through a sale.

Shares of the company were down more than 5% to $3.93 at noon as investors were disappointed after Qwest missed this opportunity to alleviate its

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Key Points: Reported Q1 total net income down 32.4% from year ago, but up 103.1% from Q4 Ex-Financials total earnings down 36.6% from a year ago, and down 14.7% from Q4 Total net income down in all sectors but Financials and Health Care Health Care, Tech and Discretionary all showing lots of positive surprises Full S&P 500 (...

Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q) announced first-quarter earnings that eclipsed Wall-Street expectations, as cost-control initiatives more than offset sluggish revenues.

Earnings reached 12 cents per share, which topped the consensus by 4 cents. This marks the second straight quarter of better-than-expected earnings for the telecom.

Revenues declined 7% year over year to $3.2 billion. Total mass market connections decreased 5.5% year over year to 12 million as growth in broadband and video subscribers was more than offset by the decline in phone lines.

Meanwhile, Qwest reaffirmed full-year earnings guidance before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of between $4.2 billion and $4.4 billion.

The consensus estimate for the current year has remained steady at 33 cents over the past 2 months, despite 4 of 19 analysts pulling back on expectations in the past 30 days.

Q, a Zacks #3 Rank ("Hold") stock, is up almost 6% today on

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Trading on NASDAQ as part of the Internet Software and Services industry, iBasis Inc. is a leading wholesale carrier of international long-distance telephone calls and a provider of retail prepaid calling services. Founded in 1996, iBasis also provides enhanced services for mobile operators. With corporate headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, the company is one of the largest carriers of international voice traffic in the world today. This is due to their acquisition, last October, of KPN Global Carrier Services. KPN is now a majority stockholder of iBasis Inc.

With the acquisition of KPN, iBasis expanded their product portfolio to include guaranteed CLI and roaming capabilities and mobile data services. Over 1,000 fixed and mobile carriers worldwide use their scale and global network to further their international voice operations. The company’s client base includes KPN, KPN Mobile, E-Plus, BASE, Verizon, Vodafone, China Mobile, China Unicom, IDT, Qwest, Skype, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, and Yahoo.

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