Employment in Orange County’s telecommunications sector was buoyed by strong gains from the local operation of T-Mobile USA Inc. for the second consecutive year.
The 25 largest phone, internet, data and video service providers here added 800 jobs in the past year to 10,359 positions, up 8.4%, according to this week’s Business Journal list.
The sector boosted employment a year ago by about 4% after two straight years of sizable job cuts. The recent gains have helped offset deep job losses throughout the economic downturn, which was marked by a six-year run of declines fueled by consolidations, restructurings and an ever-growing list of competitors and “disruptors.”
The list, dominated by the country’s largest wireless carriers and cable providers, comprises a diverse group of companies that also includes traditional phone operators, high-speed internet and digital TV providers, telecommunications equipment makers, and network-service providers.
Eight companies added jobs, and five cut positions. Six were flat, and six firms didn’t provide enough information for comparison.
The list had no newcomers, a rarity in our annual industry employment tallies.
Seven companies, a rather high number, were removed from the list that appeared a year ago. Two of them, Associated Telecom Inc. in Orange and Minneapolis-based Avtex Solutions Inc., didn’t employ enough workers to make the list this year. We rank by local employment, with a cutoff of 10 employees.
Toshiba Telecommunication Systems Division, which was ranked No. 8 a year ago with 150 local employees, shuttered its entire operation in May. The telecom division of financially troubled Toshiba Corp. was established 30 years ago and provided IP, digital and cloud-based phone systems and services, and related support and maintenance. Toshiba is facing losses in excess of $6 billion on its nuclear business and fighting with San Jose-based Western Digital to sell its share of its memory chip business to raise cash.
The other companies removed from this year’s list were either acquired, changed names, or couldn’t be confirmed they were still in business after several inquiries.
Rankings
T-Mobile, which has a regional office in Irvine, accounted for the lion’s share of job gains on this year’s list, adding 692 positions to take it to 1,747 local workers, up nearly 66% from the same period last year. Strong customer demand for phones and phone plans led the company to boost local support services and add 13 retail stores throughout OC, including outlets in La Habra and Irvine.
“When you have that strong growth from a customer base perspective, we have to make sure we meet the continued demands of the customers,” said T-Mobile Senior Vice President Sam Sindha.
The Bellevue, Wash.-based company added 1.3 million customers in the second quarter, its 17th straight quarter surpassing the one million benchmark. T-Mobile recently introduced new programs that are seeing strong demand: an unlimited plan geared for Americans 55 years and older and a plan that allows consumers to purchase smartphones from top-tier brands for no money down.
T-Mobile’s U.S. network can now cover 314 million residents and aims to cover 321 million by year-end.
“As we expand our network, we expand our distribution,” Sindha said. “As a result, our customer growth is coming too.”
• Mobilitie LLC held its No. 7 ranking, while adding 50 jobs to end the period with 250, up 25% from a year ago.
The Newport Beach-based company, launched in 2005 by OC technology and real estate entrepreneur Gary Jabara, bills itself as the largest privately held telecom infrastructure company. It launched a venture last year with Sprint Corp. and majority owner SoftBank of Japan to install about 70,000 cellphone stations in the U.S. to handle the expansion of 5G networks operated by the Overland Park, Kan.-based company.
“Demand for wireless, and in particular wireless data, is driving the growth of our business,” Mobilitie President and Chief Executive Christos Karmis said. “As an example, in Orange County alone, we’re helping Irvine, Newport Beach and other municipalities add small-cell networks that are greatly improving the wireless user experience.”
Mobilitie also operates a growing business of upgrading wireless service to sports arenas, concert venues, casinos and other large venues.
• China-based TCL Communication moved up one spot to No. 9 after adding 25 jobs, ending with 125 positions. Its Irvine operation under president and general manager Steve Cistulli recently relaunched the BlackBerry brand in the U.S. and Canada, lining up wireless carriers, such as Sprint and Rogers Communications Inc., and online retailers for distribution.
TCL’s strategy, first reported by the Business Journal in January, is focused on winning back carriers and enterprise customers that have fled the once-influential smartphone brand over the past several years.
It signed a licensing deal late last year with BlackBerry Ltd. after the Waterloo, Canada-based company announced it would halt smartphone production and focus on software.
TCL operates the North American unit of Alcatel OneTouch, also based in Irvine.
• Foothill Ranch-based ARQ LLC moved down three spots to No. 14 after cutting 35 positions, nearly the same number of jobs it added during the same period a year ago.
The company, established in 2008, changed its game plan from designing and building cellular networks for outdoor venues to building for indoor venues.
• Anaheim-based AC&C Network Services moved up seven spots to No. 23 after adding nine jobs, ending with 20 positions. The company, which provides phone cabling and systems, networking connectivity and security services, acquired Torrance-based Lawrence Cabling Systems in February on undisclosed terms. The buy nearly doubled employment.
“Everybody needs data,” President Jeff Kane told the Business Journal at the time.
