Alltel gains ground in the Lighthouse Telecoms Index

Lighthouse Telecoms Index - December 2008Alltel has jumped up 10 positions this month to be ranked as the biggest mover in the Lighthouse Telecoms Index. The firm has added a million gross customers for the fourth consecutive quarter and is now ranked 27th. Deutsche Telekom has also gained 2 positions and has managed to enter into the top 25 this month. The firm has reported an increase in its 3rd quarter revenue compared with the same period last year and has improved its score as analysts cover its decision to reorganize its business channels.

Tele2 is the biggest loser in this month’s edition of the Lighthouse Telecoms Index. The firm has failed to get a single mention with the heavyweights in the analyst world (Gartner and IDC) and has dropped down 8 positions. ZTE which has won the North America’s 2008 3G CDMA industry achievement award has also dropped down 5 positions and is now ranked 30th. It is the only firm to drop out of the top 25 this month.

If you wish to be sent the top 25 firms in Telecoms Index each month, email us at analysts@lighthousear.com. You can also read how we do our Analyst Index rankings, subscribe to our Spotlight service for new and interesting analyst research, or register for our monthly Advisor Spotlight Webinars.

Duncan Chapple

There are 2 comments on this post
  1. Jan Dawson
    December 26, 2008, 4:03 pm

    Since this analysis apparently relies on mentions by analyst firms, wouldn’t the fact that Alltel has just been acquired by Verizon Wireless be a relevant factor to mention? Aren’t a lot of the mentions just driven by the acquisition news? And isn’t it ironic that the company jumps to the top of the list just as it ceases to exist?

    I’d recommend a little more background research into the factors driving coverage by major analyst firms to temper the fairly straightforward ranking approach used in your index to avoid this sort of situation occurring in future.

  2. December 26, 2008, 5:01 pm

    Hi Jan,

    Thanks for your keen eye! It it quite reasonable to feel that the acquistion might be responsible, and many Alltel competitors also felt the same way. However, what our research showed was that it was not the case.

    It would have been worth mentioning if it had been a major factor in the research that caused increasing number of mentions. However, if the increase had been caused maibnly by mentions of the Alltel-Verizon deal then both brands would have risen sharply in profile. In the period for our study, Alltel was mentioned in new research from Dataminotor, IDC, Jupiter, Worldwide Videotex and other firms – these additional reports were not focused on the purchase. Take a look at http://alltheanalysts.com/search.php?q=alltel&sa=Search&refine=&as_qdr=m2 to get a flavour (it is not a link to our Index, but it is a good illustration).

    I agree with you that background research should be done. Our background research suggests that, in this case, your fears are groundless.

    While we cannot claim that frequency of research coverage is a substitute for Analyst Attitude Surveys, which show why coverage is changing, there is a strong correlation between frequency and favourablity.

    Thanks,

    Duncan.