Citizens Communications

Frontier keeps broadband growth coming

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 08:33:15 -0400

While broadband subscriber growth is slowing for many telcos, that does not appear to be the case for now for Frontier Communications (formerly Citizens Communications). The Stamford, Conn.-based independent telco added 16,300 DSL broadband customers in the quarter, about 17 percent more than the same quarter year. The company now has broadband penetration of 36 percent.

While the major telcos like AT&T and Verizon reported growth in TV customers and broadband Internet customers as part of their second quarter earnings, broadband growth rates have been slowing. In particular, DSL numbers have been dropping off considerably, and telcos also have started to see economically-burdened customers disconnect their broadband services.

For more:
- read this report at Telephony

Related articles:
Frontier, then Citizens, posted a first quarter profit drop. Frontier report
DSL losses marred second quarter telco earnings. DSL report

California Dem wants USF accounting from telcos

Jim O'Neill — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:00:04 -0400

With AT&T and Verizon delivering strong second quarters and Embarq poised to release its results after market close today, you knew there had to be some bad news for telcos on the horizon.

It arrived in the form of a demand from Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He wants an accounting from 24 telcos on how they’re using the billions in Universal Service Fund subsidies. His Top 10 list: AT&T ($1.3 billion in subsidies), Alltel ($967 million), Verizon ($915 million), CenturyTel ($870 million), Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. ($558 million), Embarq ($310 million), Citizens Communications Company ($300 million), Sprint Nextel ($282 million), Windstream ($250 million), Qwest ($233 million), and America Movil ($140 million).

The USF monies are supposed to help telcos recover loses they sustain in providing telephone service in underserved communities.

Although small rural carriers insist that Universal Service provides a lifeline to places where it is simply too expensive for the private sector to go, many in Congress and at the Federal Communications Commission warn that the current program is not sustainable.

According to FCC data provided to the House committee, Beaver Creek Telephone Co., which serves parts of the Pacific Northwest, received a per-line subsidy of $13,660 last year, while Sandwich Isles Communications Inc. in Hawaii received $13,535 per line. Waxman also sent letters to those companies.

For more:
- See the AP story at CNNMoney

Related articles:
FCC caps USF--for the moment. FCC report
FCC recommends USF cap. USF cap report

Will Windstream enter M&A fray?

Dan O'Shea — Wed, 28 May 2008 19:04:33 -0400

During the first-quarter earnings call for Windstream Communications earlier this month, CEO Jeff Gardner suggested that Windstream was open to buying other companies if the deals allowed the telco to achieve better market scale and positioning. Since then, Windstream has not tipped its hand regarding the potential deals, but the rumor mill has been churning out possible targets, including Citizens Communications, Iowa Telecom and Consolidated Holdings--all suggested by Credit Suisse analysts.

At one point last year just after acquiring CT Communications, it seemed like Windstream was well-positioned for an acquisition binge. But, company officials at that time said difficult market conditions were likely to slow rural telco consolidation across the market and push possible deals into this year. Part of what might make deals more attractive right now for Windstream is the fact that a restriction on the number of shares Windstream can issue is set to expire on July 18. Should be an interesting summer in rural telco land.

For more:
- read this report at The Morning News of Arkansas

Related articles:
- Windstream profits up Windstream report
- Iowa Telecom acquired Bishop Communications earlier this year. Iowa Telecom report

Citizens Communications posts 33% Q1 profit drop

Mon, 05 May 2008 06:59:54 -0400

First quarter net income for Connecticut-based independent telco Citizens Communications slid about 33 percent from the first quarter last year to $45.6 million this year. However, last year's first quarter results were enhanced by the $38.7 million settlement of a switched access dispute. Still, revenue for the first quarter of 2008 grew only 2 percent from $556.1 million in Q1 2007 to $569.2 million for the same period this year. The telco also saw landline numbers decline sharply, by about 43,100, during the most recent quarter.

For more:
- see this Associated Press story

Related articles:
- Citizens Communications recently announced a stock buy-back program. Citizens Communications report
- Citizens: No consumer market slowdown Citizens report

Citizens to buy back $200 million in stock

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 06:59:53 -0500

Independent telco Citizens Communications is re-purchasing about $200 million in stock, the company announced after reporting fourth-quarter 2007 earnings this week. Citizens saw revenue climb about 14% during the quarter, boosted in part by the recent acquisition of Commonwealth Telephone, but overall earnings for the quarter declined about 8%.

Citizens CEO Maggie Wilderotter said the outlook for 2008 includes cash flow of between $450 million and $475 million.

For more:
- see this perspective at The Motley Fool

Related articles:
- Citizens said last month that it did not see a consumer market slowdown

Verizon's Strigl counters AT&T's 'softness'

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 06:59:57 -0500

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson sent telecom stocks tumbling earlier this week when he told attendees of CitiGroup's Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference that AT&T was beginning to see some "softness" in consumer market segments, and other telecom executives have used their face time at the conference to counter his statements. Verizon chief operating officer Denny Strigl took the stand yesterday and said Verizon wasn't seeing any economic softness in its markets.

Will Stephenson's comments, which seemed to blind-side the industry even though the entire country is smelling a recession, continue to be a PR field day for fellow telco executives?

For more:
- read this story at Telephony

Related articles:
- Citizens Communications CEO Maggie Wilderotter didn't speak softly either

Citizens disputes consumer market doldrums

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Citizens Communications CEO Maggie Wilderotter spoke at the same CitiGroup conference as Crowe, which was also the same venue in which AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson made comments about the softness AT&T was seeing in the consumer market. Stephenson's comments drove down AT&T's stock price, and the stock price of pretty much every other telecom firm, and may be blamed for global warming, as well.

Wilderotter said she sees no such softness among consumer segments in the rural markets served by Citizens. Stephenson had said some of AT&T's market sluggishness was from customers being disconnected for not paying their bills during increasingly difficult economic times, but Wilderotter argued telecom bundles should be especially resilient to economic downturn because consumers spend more time at home and want to keep their essential services up and running.

For more:
- see this story at Telephony

Related articles:
- Citizens Communications was in our very first Service Provider Spotlight

Comporium to acquire Citizens Telephone

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

In a nod toward small-scale rural telco consolidation, Rock Hill, N.C.-based Comporium Communications is acquiring fellow North Carolina company Citizens Telephone Co. (not to be confused with the larger, different firm Citizens Communications). Citizens Telephone serves about 20,500 customers in a single county, and also offers cable TV services.

For more:
- check out this article in The Charlotte Business Journal

TDS profit triples, Citizens' down

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 06:59:53 -0500

TDS Telecom, the Chicago-based independent telco that also owns U.S. Cellular, reported quarterly net income of about $231.7 million, more than triple last year's third quarter figure of around $75 million. With operating revenue in its wireline unit declining about 2.6%, most of that growth came from wireless. No surprise there, but TDS did add about 1700 wireline access lines during the quarter as it continues to roll out DSL.

Meanwhile, another independent telco, Citizens Communications, of Stamford, Conn., reported third quarter net income that was down to $47.4 million from about $128.5 million for the same quarter last year. Revenue was up 14% to almost $576 million, but the quarter also included a roughly $12 million charge for severance and early retirement costs.

For more:
- Here's the press release from TDS Telecom at CNN Money
- CNN Money also has the Associated Press report on Citizens

Citizens to cut 120 jobs

Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:59:53 -0400

Citizens Communications, based in Stamford, Conn., is the latest independent telco to show that it's not immune to the cost cuts and job reductions that larger telcos often face. The company said it is cutting 120 jobs, and that another 80 people will be leaving the company, about 50 of them via acceptance of early retirement offers.

The carrier, which acquired Commonwealth Telephone earlier this year, pinned the job cuts to its effort to consolidate call centers.

For more:
- Here's an Associated Press report at CNN Money

Related articles:
- Fellow indie telco Windstream recently announced job cuts

SPOTLIGHT: Citizens Communications

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 06:59:52 -0400

SERVICE PROVIDER SPOTLIGHT... Citizens Communications
Former Microsoft executive Maggie Wilderotter, who also had stints in cable, wireless and interactive TV ventures, has been heading up this Connecticut-based rural telco for the past two years. And when we say rural, we mean rural--the company has more than 2 million access lines in 23 states, but only an average of about 16 access lines per square mile. It has more than 350,000 high-speed Internet customers and about 5400 employees. Telephony article