NEW YORK-The major players’ rankings reflect the dynamic environment of telecommunications as some stalwarts held their ground, some newcomers joined the group, while still others showed substantial rises or falls in various categories.
AT&T Wireless Group, listed this year as an entity distinct from its parent, topped the profit growth chart. Last year, AT&T Corp., which comprises all of AT&T’s business units, ranked third.
Alltel Corp. moved up sharply into second place, from 12th, while BellSouth Corp. rose to sixth place from 11th. Vodafone Group plc traveled in the opposite direction, dropping to 12th place from its fifth-place spot a year earlier.
China Unicom Ltd. and WorldCom Inc., which did not make RCR Wireless News’ major players’ rankings for profit growth last year, moved into third and fourth place, respectively.
US Cellular Corp., which had been fourth, slid into 10th place, but it moved up to ninth from 12th among net income leaders. Verizon Communications, formerly Bell Atlantic Corp., rose two notches to fifth place in the profit growth category, while also maintaining its top position among net income leaders. Likewise, SBC Communications Inc. held onto second place in net income, while also rising one step to seventh place in profit growth.
Rising four rungs on the net income ladder, WorldCom moved into third place, a position held by AT&T Corp. last year. AT&T Wireless Group took seventh place in this category in 2000.
BellSouth rose to fourth from sixth, Alltel to fifth from 11th and CenturyTel Inc. to eighth from 14th, while British Telecommunications plc dropped a few notches into sixth place.
Sprint PCS Group affiliate Alamosa PCS Holdings made a dramatic debut among revenue growth leaders by grabbing the lead, nudging last year’s front-runner, Teligent Inc., into second place.
In contrast, Sprint PCS fell into ninth place, down from third. WorldCom, which has been second, declined to 31st. Rural Cellular Corp., which had been fifth, dropped to 12th.
Several other carrier affiliates, all new to revenue growth rankings for major players, made a splashy entry. AT&T Wireless partners Telecorp PCS Inc. and Triton PCS Holdings Inc. took third and sixth place, respectively. Nextel Partners Inc. grabbed fourth place, but Nextel Communications Inc. declined to 18th from seventh.
Verizon assumed the lead among revenue leaders, moving up two rungs from last year’s third-place showing. WorldCom dropped one notch into third, while SBC moved up two into second place.
British Telecom stepped with vigor into fourth place, up from 12th the prior year.
AT&T Corp. had been the leader among revenue leaders last year. This year, AT&T Wireless Group took seventh place.
RCR Wireless News’ major players-carriers listing is derived from the newspaper’s stock listings. The Major players-vendors listing is expected to run in the Dec. 4 issue. Although some companies listed in this chart are resellers, they were included in this category rather than the vendors category.
Information for the chart listings is provided from Standard & Poors.
