Bad news from the investment community hasn’t stopped Northpoint
Communications Inc., from continued expansion of its digital subscriber
line deployment and marketing efforts.
In a research report released Monday from investment firm Stephens Inc.,
telecommunications analyst Charles Pluckhahn increased his estimate of
Northpoint’s share loss from $3.29 to $3.47.
“We have shortened our assumptions for the depreciable life of the
company’s fixed assets to better reflect the components of its network,”
Pluckhahn said. “We have also doubled our expectations for minority
interest from $3 million to $6 million per quarter to account for the rapid
growth in Canadian and European ventures.”
However, Pluckhahn did raise his expectations for third quarter revenues
from $26 million to $30 million and line deployment from 83,000 to 87,000,
as the Verizon strike didn’t have the effect on DSL deployment as
originally expected.
Pluckhahn added the caveat that Verizon’s buyout of Northpoint wasn’t
considered in his estimates for fiscal year 2001.
Hoping to offset Monday’s news, Northpoint quickly announced Tuesday
further DSL expansion on the East Coast to Albany, NY, Harrisburg, PA,
Richmond, VA and Sarasota, FL.
Shellye Archambeau, Northpoint chief marketing officer, said the
announcement is part of her company’s strategy to become the largest
provider of business and residential DSL services.
“Northpoint’s mission is to extend the benefits of broadband to more
American homes and businesses than any other service provider,” Archambeau
said. “We are pleased to offer high-sepeed Internet access to more
customers in the Eastern part of the United States as we continue to build
on the nation’s largest DSL-based broadband network.”
As part of its expansion strategy, Northpoint has made its mark by
partnering with carriers, as in the case with Call-Net in Canada and
Versatel in Europe.
In the partnering tradition, Northpoint also announced its partnership with
theglobe.com, one of Media Metrix Top 500 sites, to market its broadband
services on various locations throughout the site. Four of theglobe.com’s
more popular Web pages will sport links to sign up for Northpoint’s DSL
service; the registration page, uPublish Web publishing tool, small
business resource center and Happy Puppy.
A spokesperson with theglobe.com said the deal was likely struck on a
revenue-sharing basis, with the Web site getting a certain amount for every
referral to Northpoint.
“Northpoint’s services compliment theglobe.com’s community environment by
offering a faster way for our users to communicate and interact online,”
said Ira Silberstein, theglobe.com’s director of business development. “As
online usage continues to proliferate, accessibility and high-speed
Internet connections are becoming necessary tools for the mainstream user.
Northpoint’s efforts paid off as, after an initial drop, its stock rallied Tuesday to finish at 6.938, up 1/8 on the day.
