For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 11, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: AT&T Inc (T), Centennial Communications Corp (CYCL), Verizon (VZ), JA Solar Holdings Co. Ltd. (JASO) and AutoNation (AN).

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Here are highlights from Tuesday’s Analyst Blog:

AT&T Completes CYCL Acquisition

AT&T Inc (T) has reportedly completed its much anticipated acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp (CYCL), the eighth largest US wireless carrier by subscribers. This follows the recent approvals of the transaction by the US Department of Justice and US

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Telus Corporation (TU) reported results for third-quarter 2009 with adjusted (excluding favorable tax related adjustments) earnings per ADS of 76 US cents (83 Canadian cents per share), missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 79 US cents. Adjusted earnings also declined from 86 US cents per ADS (89 Canadian cents per share) reported in the year-ago quarter.  Reported net income for the quarter registered C$280 million (US$209 million) or 87 Canadian cents a share (79 US cents per ADS), declining 2.1% year over year. Excluding the impact of tax-related adjustment of $14 million, net income declined 7% year over year. Telus remains challenged by the weakening Canadian economy, which is mostly affecting its wireline business.  The second largest Canadian telecom carrier reported revenues of C$2.4 billion (US$2.2 billion), down 1.6% year over year due to persistent decline in voice revenues. Consolidated EBITDA decreased 5.3% year over year ...

AT&T Inc (T) has reportedly completed its much anticipated acquisition of Centennial Communications Corp (CYCL), the eighth largest US wireless carrier by subscribers. This follows the recent approvals of the transaction by the US Department of Justice and US telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (“FCC"). The transaction, which was originally set to complete in second-quarter 2009, is now officially closed.  As per the agreement terms, shareholders of Centennial will receive $8.50 in cash for every share they own, equating to approximately $944 million. Including net debt, the aggregate value of the deal is $2.7 billion. AT&T will take appropriate steps to redeem all of Centennial’s outstanding debts. AT&T expects minimal dilution to earnings and cash flow in 2009 given the upfront integration costs.  The acquisition has expanded AT&T’s wireless coverage to include the rural areas of the Midwest and Southeast regions of the US as ...

3Com Corp. (COMS) is in the news for winning new business deals across geographies. The first one of them is the “Brazil's Airport Administration" deal, where 3Com and its H3C enterprise networking solutions will provide the network infrastructure for the network upgrade project of 11 main airports in Brazil. Under this project, 3Com will be upgrading the wired and wireless network of the Airport, in order to support the increasing traffic of passengers and employees.  This upgrade of Brazil Airports is expected to improve the performance on data, voice and video applications used for flight information systems, air traffic control, surveillance and IP telephony systems substantially, while reducing the total networking cost considerably.

3Com had another win at the South African government’s Social Security Agency (SASSA), wherein SASSA has opted for a distributed network of H3C and 3Com-branded solutions to run its vast social security grant system across the

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Telephone and Data Systems (TDS) announced third-quarter 2009 earnings per share of 33 cents, which fell behind the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 47 cents and the year-ago quarter EPS of 87 cents. Net income (attributable to TDS) tumbled 65% year over year to $35.6 million as profit dipped at the company's wireless subsidiary U.S. Cellular (USM).

The Chicago-based company reported operating revenue of $1,258.7 million, reflecting a 4% year over year drop as a result of declines across its wireless and wireline businesses.

U.S. Cellular (Wireless)

Net income sank 60% year over year to $35.6 million, due to lower revenue and increased operating expenses. Operating revenue declined 3% over the prior-year quarter to $1,058 million as a result of a 3% year over year decline in service revenues that registered $984.9 million in the quarter. The unit continues to experience lower roaming revenue, offset by healthy data revenue growth (up

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Newport Digital Technologies, Inc., a technology solutions driven company organized to focus on serving the fastest-emerging businesses in the technology space, announced today after the closing bell that it has implemented the licensing agreement with Microsoft Corp. to develop applications for its Windows Mobile platform. The Company has also progressed with their distribution agreement previously announced with Ingram Micro, Inc. (NYSE: IM), which will serve as its initial primary sales channel partner.

Newport Digital Technologies, Inc. (NPDT), in conjunction with leading Taiwan-based R&D technology incubators, the Institute for Information Industry (III) and the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), is commercializing a number of leading-edge Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies. The first product is the N37B Ruggedized Handheld RFID reader and computing device that was unveiled this week at the Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Solutions Association (VICS) conference hosted by the University of Arkansas

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Telus Corp (TU), Canada’s second largest telecom carrier, has officially announced the launch date and pricing of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone (3G and 3GS). The company will commence selling the highly popular device on Nov 5, 2009. Moreover, Telus will also unveil its new HSPA (high speed packet access) based 3G wireless networks on the same day to support the iPhone launch.  Telus will sell iPhone 3G (8GB) for $99.99 with a 3-year contract and for $599.99 without any contract. The company has priced iPhone 3GS (16 GB) at $199.99 with a 3-year contract and $699.99 without contract. The 32 GB version of iPhone 3GS will be sold for $299.99 (with contract) and $799.99 (without contract).  Canada’s largest wireless carrier Rogers Communication (RCI) has been the sole distributor of iPhone in the country since July 2008, leveraging its GSM and HSPA wireless networks. However, the ...

AT&T Inc. (T) announced third-quarter 2009 results, with reported earnings per share of 54 cents beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 50 cents while declining from 55 cents reported a year ago. Net income fell 1.2% year over year to $3.2 billion on account of lower revenue. The results were highlighted by growth across wireless and U-verse video businesses. The second largest wireless carrier reported consolidated revenue of $30.9 billion for the quarter, down 1.6% year over year, largely due to lower wireline voice, legacy data and print advertising revenue, which offset growth in wireless and wireline data services. AT&T registered a net gain of 2 million wireless subscribers in the third quarter to reach 81.6 million total subscribers in service, up 9% year over year, driven by strong iPhone activations. This represents the largest third quarter addition in the company’s history. Retail postpaid additions for ...

Omnicity Corp. hopes to do with the Internet what was done with electricity in the 1930s. Specifically, they hope to bring all of the benefits and capabilities of the Web to rural areas not currently served with broadband access. The goal is to build a nationwide wireless network that is able to deliver high-speed Internet access to rural subscribers in a more cost-effective way than traditional cable or fiber optic models.

Currently, only 38% of rural households have broadband connections, versus 57% of urban homes and 60% of suburban homes. Most homes in rural areas cannot receive cable television or broadband. Even DSL rarely extends beyond the city limits. And traditional dial-up service is simply to slow to run many of the Web’s newest programs.

All of this greatly limits the ability of this segment of the population to participate in

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AT&T Inc. (T), the second largest US wireless carrier, announced the availability of netbooks and laptops from Dell Inc. (DELL) for small businesses.

Customers from small businesses across the US now have access to these premium devices that exclusively use AT&T's 3G wireless technology. The devices include Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook and Dell Vostro 1520 laptop.

AT&T is increasingly focusing on extending its 3G wireless capabilities from smartphones to a wide range of emerging devices in order to expand the market penetration of its 3G data services. In July 2009, the company launched several embedded netbooks and laptops from industry-leading manufacturers, such as Hewlett Packard (HPQ), Acer and Panasonic, targeted exclusively to increase connectivity for small businesses.

Carriers across the globe are aggressively selling netbooks and associated data plans in order to boost data usage and revenue. Industry estimates reveal that worldwide shipment of netbooks reached 11.6 million

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