The largest telecommunications companies with operations in Orange County added jobs for the first time in six years.
Local employment at the 30 biggest providers of phone, Internet, data services and related equipment rose almost 4% during the last 12 months to 10,823 people, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The addition of 367 jobs through July snapped a long drought of yearly job losses, as the industry battled a deep recession, consolidations and restructurings. The last job gains were in 2006, when the sector grew 4%.
The list is made up of a broad group of companies, including traditional phone companies, wireless carriers, high-speed Internet and digital TV providers, telecommunications equipment makers and network-service providers.
Seven companies on the list added jobs while six saw employment declines. Ten were flat, and seven companies did not provide enough information for comparison.
Top Telecom
AT&T Inc. again topped the rankings with 3,500 employees, flat from a year ago.
The Dallas-based company—which has its regional management team in Cerritos and operations in Anaheim and elsewhere in the county—provides commercial and residential phone services and also sells wireless and digital TV services.
In January it launched the highly touted 4G network, which promises to boost download speeds and allow users to do more with their smart phones.
“We spent a lot of time in Orange County and improving the network there,” said Jace Barbin, AT&T’s vice president and general manager of the Southern California region.
AT&T has some 2,000 projects in the works this year for OC, which include adding new cell sites to increase coverage areas and adding more spectrum for its LTE, or long-term evolution, and 3G networks, Barbin said.
This month it rolled out a shared data program, where families can pool data usage on specific devices for a fixed fee.
AT&T is seeing increased demand for its LTE products sold at retail and online outlets, as well as the company’s U-verse offering, which allows users to access phone calls, the Internet and digital cable through their TV or other devices.
16% Rise
New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., which provides phone service primarily to coastal OC and also sells wireless and digital TV services, was again No. 2 on the list, adding 465 people to 3,265 local workers for a 16% rise from a year ago. Verizon, which employs more than 200,000 people companywide, has been cutting thousands of jobs nationwide during the past few years.
The company’s local workers are spread among wireless stores, a customer-service center and a phone service hub in Huntington Beach.
Verizon is seen as the early leader in the 4G race here and continues to upgrade its 3G network as well. It launched its 4G network in late 2010 in an effort to boost download speeds, reduce dropped calls and improve overall service as demand for streaming data, video and gaming emerged.
No. 4 Time Warner Cable Inc., a unit of New York-based Time Warner Inc., added 13 employees to 800. The company plans to reopen a Garden Grove office in September after an upgrade and is adding employees and transferring other workers there.
Up 3 Spots
Englewood, Colo.-based Latisys moved up three spots to No. 15 after adding 12 employees to its Irvine operation.
The company—which has more local space than any other data center operator here—added network and systems engineers, and security and operations personnel, said Tom Panarisi, Western regional vice president.
Latisys will begin construction on the second stage of its multiyear expansion project in late September. The company plans to add another 14,000 square feet of sellable space by mid-2013. An earlier expansion phase added 17,000 square feet and the space is now 65% occupied.
“That’s why we are moving forward on phase two,” Panarisi said.
Latisys will spend upward of $60 million when it completes its three-phase project to gut and upgrade the data center near John Wayne Airport, adding some 50,000 square feet of storage space for OC-based and other regional companies.
No. 19 Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3 Communications, which has a Tustin office, and No. 30 Associated Telecom Inc. in Orange are list newcomers.
Level 3 employs 47 people locally, down 67% from a year earlier. That was the largest percentage drop on the list and came after the data, voice and video services provider acquired Florham Park, N.J.-based Global Crossing in an all-stock deal for about $1.9 billion in January.
Associated Telecom employs eight people.
Download the 2012 OC’s LARGEST TELECOMMUNICATION COs list (pdf)
