Investors felt a little chill in the market last week as the S&P index surrendered almost 5%, but Alaska Communications
Revenue increased 9.6% to $93.2 million year over year, while net income was $7.1 million, down from the $13.5 million reported last year. When $8.7 million of one-time gains in 2006 are factored out, however, net income actually rose significantly on higher operating income of $14.4 million.
As with other integrated telecom carriers, wireless service is a key asset to Alaska Communication Systems (ACS). The company increased its subscriber base 3.2% to 142,000. Churn remained stable at 1.4%, while average revenue per user (ARPU) increased 9% to $61.62 as more customers made use of third-generation broadband wireless features. More than 20% of ACS' customers have data plans, and use of these features contributed to 5% of the total ARPU.
The improvements in wireless metrics from ACS compare favorably against those from other carriers in the U.S., such as Sprint Nextel
On the wireline side of ACS' business, the company grew revenue by 3% to $59.9 million. Even though the number of access lines dropped 2.7%, the loss was partly made up for by a 27% increase in Internet revenue, mostly coming from new enterprise customers. Upselling other wireline services also helped ACS limit the bleeding in traditional telephony services.
ACS will face a new challenge in the Alaskan market next year, however -- one that may provide formidable competition. If AT&T
Chill with more Foolishness here:
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- Foolish Forecast: Alaska Communications' Lasting Impression
- AT&T's Latest Prize: Dobson Communications
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Fool contributor Dave Mock is so cool he's hot, and so hot he's cool. He owns no shares of companies mentioned here. He is the author of The Qualcomm Equation. The Fool's disclosure policy is never lukewarm.