Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Avago Technologies Completes IPO

Avago Technologies, a leading designer, developer and global supplier of analog semiconductor devices, completed an initial public offering of 43,200,000 ordinary shares at a price to the public of $15.00 per share. The stock trades on Nasdaq under AVGO.


Avago Technologies, which is co-headquartered in San Jose, California, began operations in December 2005 after being divested by Agilent Technologies to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR) and Silver Lake Partners in a deal valued at $2.66 billion. The group previously was Agilent's Semiconductor Products business.

http://www.avagotech.com

Ixia's Q2 Revenue Falls to $38.4 Million

Ixia posted Q2 revenue of $38.4 million compared to $45.9 million in Q2 2008. Revenues for Q2 2009 include $2.8 million recorded by Catapult Communications. There was a net loss (GAAP) of $2.7 million, or $0.04 per share, compared to net income of $1.8 million, or $0.03 per diluted share, a year ago.


"While the economic climate continues to be challenging, we believe that with the acquisition of Catapult and the cost reduction initiatives launched in Q2, we are well positioned going forward," commented Atul Bhatnagar, Ixia's president and chief executive officer. "The acquisition of Catapult puts Ixia in a leadership position in converged IP testing, and establishes Ixia as a competitive player in 4G wireless testing. During the second quarter, we commenced a restructuring plan related to our core Ixia business that should ultimately reduce expenses by approximately $6 million on an annual basis. And in the third and fourth quarters, we expect to realize cost synergies related to the Catapult business that should make the acquisition accretive by the end of the year. We are already integrating our sales teams and product development plans into a single unified effort. While economic uncertainties remain, we believe that the steps we have taken position the Company to develop innovative products, meet our customers' needs, and deliver improved operating results to enhance shareholder value."http://www.ixiacom.com

Deutsche Telekom On-Target with Q2, Stable Trends

Deutsche Telekom reported Q2 revenue of EUR 16.2 billion, up 7.4 percent, and EBITDA adjusted for special factors by up 8.4 percent to EUR 5.3 billion. Adjusted net profit grew by 19.4 percent year-on-year in Q2 to EUR 0.8 billion. The Greek company OTE contributed EUR 1.5 billion to net revenue and EUR 0.5 billion to adjusted EBITDA of the Group in the second quarter of 2009.


The company cited its cost cutting measures for the stable performance in difficult economic conditions. As of June 30, the cost basis fell by EUR 4.9 billion compared with 2005.


"We took resolute action at the right time in a difficult environment. The figures for the second quarter make us confident for the full year. Hence, we confirm our forecast for 2009," said Chairman of the Board of Management René Obermann.


As of June 30, 2009, Deutsche Telekom served some 150 million mobile customers worldwide, up by 8 million on a like-for-like basis compared to a year earlier. In the fixed network, the number of retail broadband customers in Germany and abroad grew by 16.7 percent in the same period from 12.4 million to 14.5 million.


Some highlights for the quarter:


Mobile Communications

  • Driven by the inclusion of OTE's mobile subsidiary COSMOTE, the European mobile communications companies recorded year-on-year revenue growth of 6.0 percent. Adjusted EBITDA rose by 5.3 percent. Compared with the first half of 2008, revenue increased by 3.9 percent and EBITDA fell by 1.4 percent.


  • Measured in euros, T-Mobile USA recorded a revenue rise of 15.7 percent and an increase in EBITDA of 12.1 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year. However, these increases are primarily attributable to exchange rate effects. In US dollar terms, revenue increased by 0.8 percent and EBITDA declined by 2.3 percent.


  • Revenue at T-Mobile Deutschland was down 2.2 percent on the prior-year period in the first six months of the year and stood at EUR 3.8 billion.


  • Data revenues at the Western and Central European mobile communications companies increased by 30 percent year-on-year in the second quarter to EUR 455 million. Growth in the United States was even more pronounced, with data revenues increasing by 42 percent year-on-year to USD 526 million


  • T-Mobile USA added 325,000 net new customers in Q2, down from 415,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and 668,000 in the second quarter of 2008. Contract customer churn of 2.2% in the second quarter, down from 2.3% in Q12009, but up from 1.9% in Q2 2008. Data ARPU growth accelerated to 15% year-on-year from 11% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2009. Blended Average Revenue Per User was $48 in Q2 2009, in line with Q1 2009 but down from $52 in Q2 2008. Contract ARPU was $52 in Q2 2009, in line with Q1 2009, but down from $55 in the second quarter of 2008.


Broadband/Fixed Network

  • In Germany, revenue decreased by 5.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 to EUR 9.6 billion. This decline is again primarily attributable to the continuing line losses resulting from increased competition driven by regulation, the popularity of complete packages with a flat-rate component, and falling usage-related charges. In the second quarter of 2009, revenue decreased 5.1 percent to EUR 4.7 billion compared with the same period in 2008.


  • T-Home Deutschland recorded adjusted EBITDA of EUR 3.2 billion in the first six months of 2009 and improved the EBITDA margin compared with the prior-year period to 33.4 percent.


  • T-Home posted a market share of 59 percent of new DSL customers in the second quarter. For the third quarter, Deutsche Telekom anticipates a much smaller share of the new DSL customer market in light of the expiration of a large number of agreements for the highly successful complete packages sold in 2007 and the resulting increase in cancellation figures. The target for the full year 2009 remains unchanged at a market share of more than 45 percent of new additions.


  • As of the end of the first half of 2009, 721,000 Entertain (IPTV) lines had been sold. This represents a year-on-year increase of 188 percent and an important step on the road to establishing Entertain, the television service of the future, as a mass market product.


  • The number of fixed-network lines in Germany and abroad decreased by 7.4 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2009 to 39.6 million. Line losses in the German fixed network stood at 473,000 in the second quarter of 2009, some 175,000 down from the prior-year quarter. This is the lowest level since the end of 2005. Around 40 percent of the line losses resulted not from competition, but rather from a purely technical switch of DSL resale customers to the all-IP platform.


  • Figures for international business were substantially influenced in the first half of the year by the first-time inclusion of OTE in February 2009. Compared with the prior year, international revenue in the fixed-network business increased by EUR 1.3 billion to EUR 2.4 billion in the first half of the year. In Eastern Europe, revenue fell by 8.7 percent compared with the first half of 2008 to EUR 1.0 billion. This was due to exchange rate effects primarily in Hungary, as well as to competition in the traditional fixed network, and fixed-mobile substitution.


  • Internationally, too, the broadband market grew considerably in the first half of the year. With a total of 3.6 million broadband lines as of June 30, 2009, a year-on-year increase of 637,000 lines was achieved.


Systems Solutions

  • T-Systems reduced its costs substantially and increased efficiency in the first half of 2009. Adjusted for the one-time effect of the disposal of Media&Broadcast in the prior year, profit from operations (EBIT) increased to EUR 92 million. Thus, this figure for the first half of 2009 already exceeds the figure for the full 2008 financial year. The EBIT margin improved by around 2 percentage points compared with the prior-year period. EBITDA also benefited from measures to improve efficiency. Adjusted EBITDA recorded growth of 12.8 percent to EUR 442 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin rose from 8.8 percent in the first half of 2008 to 10.3 percent.
http://www.telekom.de

AT&T Extends Managed Security Services to India

AT&T is now offering its Managed Security Services to multinational corporations in India. These managed solutions help customers assess vulnerabilities, protect infrastructure, detect attacks and respond to suspicious activities and events. AT&T security solutions start within the AT&T Global Network, and extend to customers and their applications. AT&T provides both network-based and premises-based security solutions.
http://www.att.com

Japan's EMOBILE Launches 21 Mbps HSPA+ with Huawei

MOBILE has launched Japan' s first commercial HSPA+ mobile broadband network, delivering downlink speeds of up to 21.6 Mbps. The new 3G network covers cities such as Hokkaido, Sendai, Niigata, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Nagasaki.


Huawei provided EMOBILE with its end-to-end solution including the advanced distributed base station (DBS), as well as its HSPA+ data card (D31HW). Financial terms were not disclosed.


EMOBILE, which was established in January 2005, is a subsidiary of eAccess Ltd., an ADSL provider in Japan. As of June 30, 2009, EMOBILE had 1.67 million subscribers.
http://www.huawei.com
http://emobile.jp/

Comcast Revenues Up 4.5%, All-Digital Initiative Advances

Comcast's revenue increased 4.5% in the second quarter of 2009 to $8.9 billion, while operating cash flow increased 5.5% to $3.5 billion and operating Income increased 7.1% to $1.9 billion. Earnings per Share (EPS) for the quarter ended June 30, 2009 was $0.33, an increase of 57.1% compared to the $0.21 reported in the second quarter of 2008. This quarter's results include favorable settlements related to federal and state taxes.


"We delivered solid results in the second quarter, highlighting the strength of our subscription businesses and our continued focus on expense and capital management. At the same time, we are innovating and investing in our products and services and executing on our strategic initiatives, including going "All-Digital", deploying wideband, and launching a wireless service and On Demand Online," stated Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO.


Some highlights for the quarter:

  • As of June 30, 2009, Comcast's video, high-speed Internet and voice customers totaled 46.2 million, an increase of 3.7% compared to the second quarter of 2008.


  • Capital Expenditures in the second quarter decreased 13.7% from the prior year to $1.1 billion, or 12.5% of total revenue, reflecting a decreased level of capital intensity at our Cable segment. For the six months ended June 30, 2009, capital expenditures decreased 16.5% to $2.3 billion, or 12.8% of total revenue.


  • Cable segment increased 4.6% to $8.5 billion for the second quarter of 2009 as compared to $8.1 billion in the second quarter of 2008. This increase reflects continued, organic growth in all residential and commercial subscription businesses, partially offset by lower advertising revenue.


  • The monthly average total revenue per video customer increased 7.4% from $109.61 in the second quarter of 2008 to $117.74, reflecting an increasing number of customers taking multiple products and a higher contribution from Comcast Business Services.


  • Significant progress in its all-Digital transition. Currently, 10% of systems have converted to all digital, while 30% are in transition. Portland went all digital in June. By the end of the year, one third of systems will complete the conversion. Costs have been below expectations.




  • <4G wireless service was launched in Portland and Atlanta.

  • Launched an "On Demand Online" market trial allowing authenticated customers to access content via the Web. The service currently offers 4,000 titles. Comcast expects a wider launch this Fall.
http://www.comcast.com

Canada's House of Commons Committee to Review Nortel Sale

On Friday, Canada's House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology is planning to hold emergency hearings on issues related to the proposed sale of certain Nortel Networks Corporation assets. It is expected that witnesses appear on behalf of Nortel, Ericsson, Research in Motion and the Department of Industry Canada.
http://www2.parl.gc.ca/CommitteeBusiness/CommitteeHome.aspx?Cmte=INDU&La...

Bell Canada Raises Dividend and Financial Outlook as Revenue Declines Slightly

Bell Canada's Q2 service revenues decreased slightly to $3,385 million (Canadian), or by 0.6%, as growth in video and data revenues was offset by declines in wireless, local and access and long distance revenues. Bell's product revenues declined by 12.0% to $243 million due to a decrease in lower margin product sales. Overall, Bell's operating revenues decreased by 1.5% to $3,628 million this quarter.


"Bell continued to make clear progress in executing our strategic imperatives this quarter, with particular success in affirming the culture of cost management and operational efficiency that allowed the Bell team to deliver improved EBITDA performance," said George Cope, President and CEO of BCE and Bell Canada.


Some highlights for Q2:

  • Bell's operating income was $628 million, or 8.5% lower than the same period last year due to higher restructuring and other costs.


  • Bell's EBITDA grew by 3.0% , to $1,450 million as cost reductions more than offset the impact of lower revenues and higher pension expenses which negatively impacted EBITDA by $20 million. Bell's EBITDA margin grew by 1.8 percentage points this quarter to 40.0%.


  • The Bell Wireless segment had 404,000 gross activations this quarter, or 3.3% more than last year. Postpaid net activations were 64,000 this quarter compared to 111,000 last year. The prepaid client base decreased by 19,000 this quarter compared to a decrease of 28,000 last year.


  • Bell Wireless service revenues declined slightly by 0.3% and Bell Wireless product revenues declined by 11.1%. Total Bell Wireless operating revenues decreased by 1.4%. Bell Wireless operating income and EBITDA grew by 7.0% and 5.9% respectively. EBITDA margin on wireless service revenues increased 2.8 percentage points to 46.6%. Blended ARPU decreased by $2.22 to $52.05 as the impact of economic pressures on customer usage and lower roaming revenues more than offset data revenue growth of 28%.


  • The Bell Wireline segment had its seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year improvement in residential local line (NAS) losses, which declined by 100,000 this quarter, or 20.0% fewer than the decline of 125,000 in Q2 2008. Business NAS declined by 32,000 this quarter compared to a decline of 7,000 last year, reflecting the continued softening of the SMB market. Bell Wireline operating revenues decreased by 2.0% as more cautious business investment adversely affected revenue performance. Bell Wireline operating income decreased by 21.6% and Bell Wireline EBITDA increased by 1.7%.


  • Bell invested $679 million of capital this quarter, an increase of 16.5% compared to the same period last year. Capital expenditures supported Bell's strategic imperatives with focused investment on enhancing its wireless networks, including the deployment of an HSPA 3G network expected to be in service nationally by early 2010, and the continuing expansion of the wireline broadband network, including the Fiber-to-the-node (FTTN) program and Fiber to multiple dwelling units (MDUs).


  • BCE's annual common share dividend will increase by 5% to $1.62 per share.
http://www.bce.ca

Motorola Demos 70 Mbps Downlinks in TD-LTE Trial in China

Motorola completed an Over-the-Air (OTA) trial of Time Division Duplex Long-Term Evolution (TD-LTE) technology in collaboration with leading mobile operators in China. Key trial achievements include:

  • Download throughput up to 70 Mbps in a 20 megahertz (MHz) bandwidth channel


  • Mobility and hand-over with live applications


  • Multi-User Equipment (UE) testing under one sector


  • All trial results have been submitted to the LTE/System Architecture Evolution (SAE) Trial Initiative (LSTI).


In addition to the collaborative trials with operators, Motorola said it is actively engaged with the TD-LTE trials initiated by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as part of its efforts to develop a globally competitive TD-LTE industry.


"Motorola is committed to broadband and 4G developments, and supports both TD-LTE and Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) LTE. We've made significant progress in TD-LTE commercialization as demonstrated by these trials," said Dr. Mohammad Akhtar, vice president and general manager, Home and Networks Mobility, Motorola China. "The development milestone we're announcing today shows that Motorola remains on track to come to market early with field-proven, end-to-end LTE solutions to support TDD and FDD deployments. It represents our latest efforts to fulfill Motorola's commitment to support operators around the world in delivering true media mobility experiences to consumers at home and on the go."


Motorola also noted that these TD-LTE trials are been built upon its commercialized Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) solutions and a number of LTE successes. Equipment involved in these trials is based on Motorola's second-generation OFDM products including Motorola's Base Band Unit (BBU) that supports TD-LTE, FDD-LTE and WiMAX, and features a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) that supports 2x2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO).

http://www.motorola.com
  • Earlier this year, Motorola deployed a live 700MHz LTE demonstration network in Las Vegas, replicating itsl 2.6GHz live LTE experience in Barcelona.

Verizon Business Enhances its Cisco Unified Communications Offering

Verizon Business is adding management of several applications to its Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 portfolio. The new applications, which include presence, contact center and messaging, are available immediately to customers in the U.S. and many European countries, and will be available early next year in the Asia-Pacific region.


The new Cisco Unified Communications System Release 7.0 applications now being managed by Verizon Business are:

  • Cisco Unity Connection - A reliable, highly secure, scalable and full-featured voice and unified messaging platform that enables access to e-mail, voice and fax messages from a single inbox.


  • Cisco Unified Presence - A standards-based platform that collects information about a user's availability and communications capabilities to unify voice, video, data and mobile applications on fixed and mobile networks, enabling easy collaboration.


  • Cisco Emergency Responder - A software appliance that enhances emergency calling and sends up-to-date caller location information to public safety and security personnel.


  • Cisco Unified Contact Center Express - A single-server, "contact-center-in-a-box" platform that supports up to 300 agents with a fully integrated approach for handling customer interactions via inbound/outbound voice, interactive voice response, e-mail and instant messaging.
http://www.verizonbusiness.com

GSA and DISA Form Satellite Communications Partnership

The U.S. General Services Administration and the Defense Information Systems Agency are creating a common marketplace for commercial satellite communication services with a goal of providing significant savings to defense and civilian agencies, as well as state, local and tribal governments. GSA provides a centralized delivery system of products and services to the federal government.


GSA's multiple award schedules and indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts will be used and the value is expected to exceed $5 billion over 10 years.


"Why manage separate contract vehicles that offer essentially the same services when we can combine forces?" said Tony Montemarano, DISA's Component Acquisition Executive.
http://www.gsa.govhttp://www.disa.mil/

Infinera Names Ron Martin Vice President, Worldwide Sales

Infinera has appointed Ron Martin Vice President for Worldwide Sales. Martin most recently served as Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer and president of Adva's North American subsidiary. From 2001 to 2007, Mr. Martin was at Cisco Systems, where he served as Vice-President and General Manager of Cisco's optical business. Before that, Martin worked at Fujitsu Network Communications, based in Richardson, Texas, where he played a key role in Fujitsu's growth to become one of the largest suppliers of optical systems to leading US telecom companies.
http://www.infinera.com