SBC Communications is looking for growth in long distance, DSL, wireless and the large-business market in 2004, said SBC Chairman and CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr., speaking at Smith Barney Citigroup's Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference in Phoenix. He believes SBC is better positioned than it was a year ago and that the outlook for 2004 is positive. Whitacre expects to see tangible benefits at from the nation's overall economic growth. He also hailed a decision earlier this week by the state of Indiana to raise UNE-p rates by 30%, saying this trend would bode well for SBC. The company's first priority is to stabilize its wireline business. To this end, Whitacre said service bundling remains the cornerstone of SBC's consumer marketing strategy. Some highlights of the presentation:
- At the beginning of 2003, 19% of SBC's consumer retail lines had a bundle with one of its key services - long distance, DSL or wireless. By the end of the year, that penetration had more than doubled.
- Within the next month, SBC is expected to add video to its consumer bundles.
- SBC expects its retail consumer access line losses to decline about 30 percent from third-quarter levels, reflecting the launch of SBC long distance services in the Midwest.
- In DSL, SBC added 378,000 net lines in Q4 - its eighth straight quarter of increasing net adds in broadband. Whitacre claimed that SBC has now reached parity with cable modem competitors across its network footprint.
- In long distance, SBC added 1.7 million net new lines in Q3 and it expects to exceed that figure by at least 1 million in Q4.
- SBC expects 2004 capital expenditures, excluding Cingular Wireless, will total $5 billion to $5.5 billion.
- Full financial results will be reported on 27-January-2004.
