Advanced Fibre Communications Inc. is a rare find in today's telecommunications industry. The company, which sells next-generation edge access equipment and multiservice broadband solutions, actually is growing despite this turbulent market that has seen nearly every service provider slashing capital expenditures.
AFC reported revenue for the second quarter of $86,286,000, compared with $78,609,000 for the second quarter of 2001, an increase of 10 percent. Revenue for the first six months was $166,550,000, compared with $160,820,000 for the first six months of 2001. The company saw a net loss for the second quarter of $2,378,000, or 3 cents loss per share, while on a pro forma basis, net income was $3,246,000, or 4 cents earnings per share diluted.
AFC's new vice president of marketing, Ali Kafel, recently spoke with xchange editor in chief Paula Bernier about the company and where it's going.
X: Tell me about AFC.
Kafel: AFC is a provider of next generation access network equipment. We define access as from the CO to subscriber. We try to be very focused; we're not in long haul. The company has been very successful. We have 800 customers, ranging from our original segment, which was independent telcos. We have 850 independents as customers, but AFC recently won deals with Verizon, SBC and Sprint.
Financially, AFC is one of the very, very few telecom companies that is growing revenue today and is profitable -- growth from last year to this year. We have a strong financial balance sheet -- $1 billion in cash and other securities.
X: What is the company's central product?
Kafel: AccessMAX was a traditional space for AFC. We started as a DLC provider. AccessMAX originally was a DLC, but now it's an integrated multiaccess platform for POTS and DSL. It lets service providers deploy AccessMAX as a remote terminal, so they can offer DSL to 100 percent of their subscribers. That product continues to evolve. We also will add voice packet capabilities at H.248 to be a mini VoIP gateway at the end of 2002.
X: But you've added some other products, one through the acquisition of AccessLan Communications Inc., which AFC bought in May for $82.4 million.
Kafel: Our other product segment, which is relatively new, is Telliant 5000, which allows us to do multiservice switching. This is the first time AFC has expanded into the CO. This product came to us after the acquisition of AccessLan. That product is a multiservice switch that gives providers a DSL solution end to end. It is an ATM switch and an aggregator, a sub management platform and a DSLAM. That also brings IP closer to subscribers, which reduces operational costs and capex. Telliant collapses those three elements into one.
We are trialing the 5000 with our IOC customers: Volcano Telephone Co. in Pine Grove, Calif., has purchased the product, our first carrier. They're our only announced commercial customer.
Telliant's differentiators include multiprotocol provisioning -- ATM today and IP in future; the fact that it's hardened; and the scalability -- today it's 15gig and will go to 25gig-plus in the future.
X: I understand you also have a new product to be announced this month at the NFOEC show.
Kafel: Our third product segment, also new at NFOEC, is the TransMAX product. It allows us to provide optical add/drop muxing. This is our move into the fiber space. We will officially launch that at NFOEC.
Now we do end to end from the sub to the CO.
THE FACTS ON AFCFounded: 1992 |
