Wednesday, March 28, 2007

VZ Spending Billions

VZW announced its deal with Alcatel-Lucent to spend $6B for Cellular Network Expansion. VZW is co-owned by Vodafone and VZ. It's numbers are slid into VZ's financials at about 50%, but it's debt is not brokn out. But VZW is huge - number 2 behind Cingular/at&t. (For a funny comparison between VZW & T-Mobile look here at Size Matters by seekingalpha.com). VZW annual revenue "grew to just over $38 billion, an impressive 17.8% growth."

Annual operating revenues of $88.1 billion (for all operations), up 26.8 percent from 2005; $23.0 billion in 2006 net cash from continuing operations; $17.1 billion in 2006 capital investments. CapEx to revenue ratio for 2006 was 19.4%.

"Verizon’s total debt at the end of 2006 was $36.4 billion, compared with $38.3 billion at the end of 2005, excluding debt from discontinued operations" ...."Debt was $36.4 billion at the end of the year, and while this is down almost $2 billion from last year, keep in mind that the debt assumed in the MCI acquisition was not part of the 2005 year-end number. At the end of January after the MCI transaction, we had $41.9 billion of net debt. So in effect, we reduced net debt by almost $9 billion since the MCI transaction." [source: seeking alpha] But to repeat that: $36B of debt on $88B in revenue, while spending $17B on buildout.

Meanwhile, "The telecom giant is in the midst of spending $23 billion to lay down a fiber-optic network capable of delivering high-speed data, voice and television service.... Once fully deployed by 2010, FiOS will enable Verizon to offer its own "triple play" packages to consumers that include high-speed Internet, TV and phone services across its nationwide network .....It requires a massive overhaul of Verizon's network that entails replacing its copper phone lines with fiber optics and gaining permission from municipalities to dig up the streets to lay the fiber. Verizon also needs to secure approvals to offer television services in each neighborhood. Installation of FiOS in customers' homes has proven time consuming and costly as well, and the company will need to spend a healthy chunk of change on marketing to get the word out to consumers." [source: smart money] All for a whopping 200,000 constumers at the end of 2006.

No comments: