For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 29, 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: Qwest Communications (Q), Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), AT&T (T), Verizon (VZ) and Sprint Nextel (S).

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Here are highlights from Wednesday’s AnalystBlog:

Qwest Meets, Boosts Outlook

Qwest Communications (Q) continues to invest in building necessary infrastructure to boost network capacity and availability. The company is devoting a major portion of the overall CapEx in expanding its fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) network capacity to increase broadband network performance. FTTN deployments reached over 3 million homes with

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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 ...

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 ...

Single Touch Systems, Inc. provides wireless operators, consumer brands, and retailers with innovative mobile commerce delivery solutions. The company enables consumers to engage their mobile phones as proxy wallets or brand/retail environments by simply dialing a short branded phone number, or Abbreviated Dial Code (ADC).

Single Touch System’s ADC platform has been designed to be customizable to the needs of brands and retailers. Abbreviated Dial Codes, Mobile Coupon Platform, Listen Live Now, Mobile Microphone and other programs make Single Touch Systems a leading mobile commerce company to link wireless with on-line and brick and mortar business.

SITO remains focused on adding new ADC clients and believes that their campaigns will continue to evolve beyond ringtone and other media content downloads. SITO intends to use profits from operations to maintain and grow each product category, while raising additional capital to maintain existing and generate expanded operations.

Let us hear your thoughts:

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Omnicity Corp. provides broadband access, including advanced services of voice, video and data, in un-served and underserved small and rural markets. The company aims to be the premier consolidator of rural market broadband nationwide. Leveraging management expertise, Omnicity’s strategy is to provide a total broadband solution and continue rapid growth through acquisitions, organic growth and partnerships with Rural Electric Municipal Cooperatives and Rural Telephone Companies.

The company’s target markets are locations better suited to wireless transmissions than traditional hard-wire operators. It has been estimated that at least 40 million rural and small market homes, businesses, government agencies and schools have inadequate high-speed Internet service, representing a large growth opportunity.

Building a nationwide wireless network, Omnicity will be able to deliver high-speed Internet access to rural subscrib¬ers more cost-effectively than traditional cable or fiber optic models since hard-wire systems are gener¬ally much more expensive to build than wireless networks. Reduced network

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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 ...

NTT DoCoMo (DCM), the largest wireless operator in Japan, together with its five vendors has developed major new specifications for a mechanism that delivers network-based value added services for IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS).

Other members in this collaboration are Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), LM Ericsson AB (ERIC), Fujitsu Ltd., NEC Corp., and Nokia-Siemens Network; a joint venture of Nokia Corp. (NOK) and Siemens AG (SI). This mechanism includes a service composition component that coordinates various applications using IMS session management service.

IMS is a set of specifications that describes the next-generation networking architecture for implementing IP-based telephony and multimedia services. It defines a complete architecture and framework that enables the convergence of voice, video, data and mobile network technology over an IP-based infrastructure.

IMS uses Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) for easy integration with the Internet. This architecture was originally formulated to deliver Internet services over GPRS.

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will hold a meeting on Aug 27 to assess business practices in the U.S. wireless market. The telecom regulator will review various key aspects of the wireless industry including the competitive scenario, factors that stimulate innovation and investment and means to protect consumers from unfair practices.     A major issue that will draw attention is the exclusive handset agreements between the Tier-1 US wireless operators and manufacturers. The US antitrust regulators have reportedly initiated legal proceedings to examine whether large national carriers are involved in anticompetitive practices and abusing their market power by unduly restricting services through exclusive distribution agreements with handset vendors.    Exclusive handset agreements, which allow carriers to sell popular handsets at subsidized prices to attract customers is a common practice in the wireless industry. Most of the leading U.S. carriers are currently selling high-end smartphones through long-term distribution arrangements

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LAS VEGAS, Aug. 11, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A profile examining one company’s efforts in the intriguing realm of Abbreviated Dial Codes (ADC’s) and the monetization of this technology has been made available to investors of wireless communication companies Single Touch Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:SITO), AT&T (NYSE:T), Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S), and Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT).

http://www.otcjournal.com/Single-Touch-Systems-Inc/SITO/af/profile/

From the report: "Imagine if you had the opportunity to invest in a small cap growth company that owned every 1-800 number back when toll free numbers appeared in 1967. Then, imagine your small cap company earned a fee every time a 1-800 number was dialed. You’d have made a fortune on that investment. Entire companies have been built around toll free numbers- 1-800 Flowers is one example. Today’s small cap growth company, Single Touch Systems, has a toll booth for the next generation of 800

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Sierra Wireless Inc. provides wireless wide area modem solutions for the mobile computing, rugged mobile, and machine-to-machine (M2M) markets. They offer innovative wireless solutions that meet customer’s needs.

Sierra Wireless has shown itself to be a leader in the wireless market by delivering a range of solutions for mobile application. Being cost effective, innovative and responsive to the needs of its customers has set the company apart from their competitors.

The trend for remote connectivity and data access is fueled by demand for real-time access to information, including the Internet, corporate intranets, and e-mail. Sierra Wireless, along with its partners, have developed a complete wireless solution in sales force automation, public safety, transportation, e-commerce, health care and utilities.

Their products and solutions are able to connect people, their mobile computers, and fixed terminals to wireless voice and mobile broadband networks. These products are confidently used by businesses, consumers,

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