Covad Cutting 8% of Workforce'Efficiency' ahoy, says CEO ( old news - 01:12PM Thursday Jun 28 2007) tags: dsl · competition · business · clecCovad is cutting 8% of their staff in an effort to reduce costs, the company announced today in a press release. "We continue to pursue opportunities to manage our business more efficiently," says CEO Charles Hoffman. "Our focus continues to be on achieving profitable growth and delivering shareholder value," he says. The company currently has roughly 967 employees, according to the AP. Covad and Earthlink have been offering 8Mbps ADSL2+ to in-range (closer than 5,000 feet to the CO) customers in a number of markets. They've also been offering line-powered voice technology, which offers powered VoIP service without a TA, with traffic routed over Covad's nationwide UNE-L network to avoid bell infrastructure. Many of the technology's early kinks were worked out between Covad technicians and our forum regulars. Last month, the company began offering business class 8Mbps/1Mbps, 10Mbps/1Mbps and 15Mbps/1Mbps (highest speed needs 4,000 foot pre-qual distance) ADSL2+ service at $149.95, $174.95 and $194.95, respectively.
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burgermeister
All Computers Are Junk
join:2000-10-23
Utica, MI
| There is another option.... Maybe they should try to expand their business instead of downsizing the company? Perhaps more competitive pricing would help?
Who knows. I don't think it's the last downsizing for Covad.
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
|  | soccerguy
join:2004-06-28
Seattle, WA | Re: There is another option.... I agree. The high pricing is a problem. | |
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burgermeister
All Computers Are Junk
join:2000-10-23
Utica, MI
| Re: There is another option.... The problem is (in my case, anyway) is that I used to have Covad because of the 'business' level support. Granted, it was still DSL, but it was SOHO service and there was a price premium that allowed me to run servers, etc.
Within the last year, something happened to customer service. I don't know what, but my last problem went unresolved for WEEKS! That was a serious turn-off.
That, coupled with the fact that I ended up getting residential cable service that's 6x faster *and* I added a hosting account on a different provider for less per month than the Covad SOHO service.
I used to really like Covad. Now I just don't know how they justify the cost.
And as for the $329.00 T1: Had one priced out. That $329.00 per month turned into $900.00 per month. You pay for distance with the T1.
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
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LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
edit:
June 28th, @01:22PM
| Re: There is another option.... said by burgermeister  :You pay for distance with the T1. That depends on the carrier, and the type of T1, Some are loop/mileage based, some are not. Covad does not base price on the loop distance. If you are wired to a CO Covad is in, you can get a T1 for the advertised flat rate, no matter if you are 1 mile, or 10 miles from the CO.
And most providers who do charge based on distance, is based on the distance to the PoP, not the CO. I have quoted T1's with 200+ mile loops before.
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Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
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burgermeister
All Computers Are Junk
join:2000-10-23
Utica, MI
| Re: There is another option.... I don't know -- all I know is the quote was from Covad.
It was for service in the Imlay city area. I don't know if the fact that it's Verizon up there matters?
All I can tell you is that is was WAY more than the price on the site.
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
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LBDSL
Lightning Bolt
VIP
join:2002-01-07
Auburn Hills, MI
| Re: There is another option.... Covad isn't in Imlay City, so they must have quoted you a T1 from one of thier partners. so it wasn't out of a Covad CO 
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Lightning Bolt Technologies | |
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burgermeister
All Computers Are Junk
join:2000-10-23
Utica, MI
| Re: There is another option.... Could be. All I know is the low price wasn't so low! 
I don't care how ya get me the packets, just get me the packets!  I'll try to dig up the quote and see what it says. It's been a while.
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"I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." | |
| | tpac_man
join:2007-02-27
Riverbank, CA | yep high prices........yep | |
| ackman
join:2000-10-04
Acworth, GA | translation "We continue to pursue opportunities to manage our business more efficiently,"
translation: "We're going to India" | |
| | | | Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
 ·Speakeasy
 ·Comcast
edit:
June 28th, @04:01PM
| said by ackman :"We continue to pursue opportunities to manage our business more efficiently," translation: "We're going to India" No, it's more like 'translation: "We're out of business"'
Covad is the one and only surviving back-office DSL provider that I know of. It's the only one in my area--even AT&T provides its DSL service through Covad. It was hard enough to compete back when potential customers couldn't fathom paying more than $20/mo. for "the Internet". (The same people thought nothing of paying ten times that for Cable TV, and thousands for the latest big screen TV / a TV in every room of the house.) Since SBC was granted the privilege to charge potential competitors near-retail prices to use their lines wholesale, it's been mighty hard for Covad to turn a profit, even without any DSL competitors.
If we lose Covad, we lose all of the competitive DSL ISPs. With AT&T being at both ends of Covad's revenue stream, and their DSLAMs colocated in AT&T's COs, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if Covad goes into receivership, AT&T (and Verizon and Qwest) will be the receivers. If that happens, the new Ma Bell (think "Mom" from "Futurama") will gain ownership of the equipment, in situ, no less. And without any other DSL work to be had in the US, they can name their price (think "minimum wage & salary") for out-of-work DSL techs.
The end result will be less than a serious effort to provide service to users, and all about stealing away as many customers from cable companies as they can, the goal being to put the cable companies in financial jeopardy as well. In this deregulated country, if the cable industry went bust, the FCC, FTC and SEC would have little choice but to allow the Mega-Bells to re-acquire the cable franchises that they had divested themselves of previously, for pennies on the dollar. And that would give "the phone company" a synthetic, unholy, but technically natural monopoly on all local wireline traffic in the US.
By the end of the decade, we could be right back to a single AT&T, after SBC, Verizon and Qwest agree to merge, and put the same squeeze play on the remaining long distance providers and cellular companies. If that's allowed to happen, I predict that "the phone company" will suddenly lose interest in offering non-telephony services like cable TV and Internet, and price them out of the reach of the average consumer.
Don't think it could happen? When the old AT&T was broken up, did you think that the Baby Bells would be allowed to merge, get back into the long distance business, own cable franchises etc? | |
| 
CovadsDone
@rcn.com
thumbs down from:
DSLdewd
| Covad is done for Covad is in its final stages of life now. We are moving to fiber optics platforms and higher speed cablemodem plants.
Covad's 15000/1000 only fits a niche in the urban cities for instance on a temporary basis till Fiber optics is brought closer in buildings/homes which arent lucky enough to have alternative providers.
We need Fiber optics based plants. The quicker those accelerate the quicker Covad will be pushed out. The question is if the other carriers are committed to a fiber optics based future. | |
| | | | | TheOtherPete
join:2001-06-28
Boyds, MD
| Re: Covad is done for said by kapil :If prophecies like yours are to be believed, Covad should have died 7 years ago. They didn't. And they won't. Their business customers are very profitable. They are sitting on a goldmine of a network footprint...a facilities-based one at that. Ummm, I'm a former Covad customer and (still) a long-term shareholder and I don't see this profitability that you speak of.
If their network is such a goldmine I wish some other company would realize the value and buy them out at a substantial premium to the sub $1 price the stock currently trades at. | |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL | Re: Covad is done for Read the annual report. I am also a shareholder, and a customer. While they are not yet making a net profit, there is a high profit margin in the business circuits. | |
| | | | | TheOtherPete
join:2001-06-28
Boyds, MD
| Re: Covad is done for said by kapil :Read the annual report. I am also a shareholder, and a customer. While they are not yet making a net profit, there is a high profit margin in the business circuits. Actually I have read it - I guess I have a different definition of "profitability" then you do. | |
| | | | | Time4aNAP
Premium
join:2007-04-09
Des Plaines, IL
·Speakeasy
·Comcast
| said by kapil :...there is a high profit margin in the business circuits. Yes there is. Just not for Covad. | |
| | | | | bbtech6650
Premium
join:2004-10-28
Pittsburgh, PA
| [rant]
They can start making their service better by offering T-1's without their PPPoA crap! I hate that my Covad T-1 is always going down, and that they assign me a RFC1918 address when I authenticate. It seems to be the cheap way out of providing network access. THey should be making tons of money with the money they save on address space from ARIN.
Also, if their service had better uptime, maybe they would not have to hand so much money back. I pay about $100 more a month for a CC T-1 with a local ISP, and have not seen a day of downtime in 3 years. Plus, I have no problem getting additional ip addresses from said local provider.
[/rant] | |
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Netcong, NJ
| said by TheOtherPete :Ummm, I'm a former Covad customer and (still) a long-term shareholder and I don't see this profitability that you speak of. Recently I gave up on them and sold the stock when it neared a dollar. I put it into AAPL at $117 or so.
I can't see this company surviving or making a profit without Earthlink bailing them out over and over again. With few exceptions, the place is full of morons. I've never seen such a small operation so wrapped up in red tape. They can't even offer bonding at the DSLAM yet because their OSS is such a piece of trash that is now maintained in India.
967 people? Ouch, more than half of those must me managers. Or maybe they are counting India (which for a company their size probably is costing them more in lost revenue than it saves). | |
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ftthz
If love can kill hate can also save
join:2005-10-17 | cost seems a little high but the speed packages look alrite might need a bit more upload | |
| | 
GoD of KaOs
HEAD DICK
join:2001-01-29
North Hills, CA | Re: cost seems a little high I wondering if that 8% is being cut from their workforce in India...
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The Capital of Jabuti is Jabuti.... | |
| | 
retrogame
join:2003-04-14
Auburn, MA | 1.0Mb/s appears to be the max for ADSL2+ but ADSL2+M and ADSL2 J have a max of 3.5Mb/s. That would be the reasoning for the 1Mb upload speed on all of the tiers. | |
| tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Floral Park, NY
| Buggy and Horse DSL/T1 provider? Well, what was that old saying.. when the Horse and Buggy gave way to the horseless carriage (car).. you can bet that last company standing made the best damned horse and buggy whip that you ever saw.. (and as the saying goes.. "and that was that"). As the customer base gets eaten away by business grade service on cable and telco FIBER footprints.. what room is left for the old DSL (and ISDN T"x" circuits)? Just because AT&T is still backing DSL doesn't mean that the model won't be made MOOT in the decade to come.. your chasing fewer and fewer customers who are willing to pay such premiums when residential and non-QOS based business rates are DIRT CHEAP, there can only be SO MUCH of a premium for QOS. I'm not surprised.. didn't NetZero dialup recently cut some staff too?
Now if Covad can BAG some real deals for wireless backbone support they might be able to save their company. | |
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Show Me the Fiber