The continued growth of T-Mobile USA Inc. and Mobilitie LLC’s local operations boosted the employment of the largest telecommunications companies in Orange County over the year ended July 31.
The 32 biggest providers of phone, internet and data services, and related equipment here added 419 workers, up about 4% to 9,856, based on this week’s Business Journal list.
The job gains helped offset two straight years of sizeable job cuts that followed two years of growth. The local industry posted a six-year run of declines before and through the economic downturn marked by consolidations and restructurings.
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.
Ten companies added jobs, and no company on the list reported cutting jobs, a rarity in our annual industry employment tallies. Five companies were flat, and 17 were Business Journal estimates or the companies didn’t provide enough information for comparison.
The list has three newcomers, and the top two companies remain unchanged from a year ago.
• No. 2, New York-based Verizon Communications Inc., which provides local phone service primarily to coastal OC and also sells wireless and digital TV services, had 1,500 local workers, flat from a year ago.
The company could add as many as 150 local employees after its deal to acquire Aliso Viejo-based logistics software maker Telogis Inc. closes by the end of the year.
The strategic buy, which industry sources valued at an estimated $1 billion, adds logistics software that relies on GPS technology and analytics to improve fuel use, driver and vehicle performance, shipments and deliveries, and routes, among other features.
Telogis clients have included Ford, General Motors and Manitowoc Cranes, and it’s done truck-based work for Isuzu and Volvo.
Big Growth
• T-Mobile moved up one spot to No. 3 after adding 175 workers for a total of 1,055 OC employees, marking the fourth straight year the telecom posted the most job gains of any company on the list.
“Orange County continues to be a priority area for T-Mobile, both in terms of our network offerings and from a retail perspective,” said T-Mobile Senior Vice President Sam Sindha.
• Mobilitie LLC, which debuted last year at No. 9, moved up two spots after adding 138 employees, for a total of 255 local workers. The nearly 118% jump is the highest percentage increase of any company on the list.
The Newport Beach-based company, launched in 2005 by OC technology and real estate entrepreneur Gary Jabara, has grown into one of the largest owners of cellphone towers in the U.S.
It plans to add several hundred jobs as it implements a massive network deployment of small cellphone tower technology for Overland Park, Kan.-based Sprint Corp. Installation of some of the 70,000 small cell stations has faced delays in obtaining transmitter permits in certain parts of the country, according to recent news reports.
“In the past year, we’ve seen tremendous growth in our small cell business,” President Christos Karmis said. “Our goal is to help bring greater wireless connectivity to cities in order to deliver a better mobile experience, help communities bridge the digital divide and enable technology-driven economic growth opportunities.”
Ones to Watch
• No. 10, Alcatel Onetouch, the Irvine-based unit of TCL Communication in China, is a newcomer to the list with 100 local employees, up from 65 a year ago.
“Alcatel’s team growth in Orange Country and throughout North America is directly linked to our business growth,” said Steve Cistulli, president and general manager of Alcatel’s North America unit. “We continue to exceed our benchmarks in terms of both sales and market share, so adding new talent ensures we’re able to continue being competitive as a top-five smartphone manufacturer in this competitive market with the likes of Apple, Samsung and LG.”
• Foothill Ranch-based ARQ LLC moved up seven spots to No. 11 with 85 OC workers.
The company, established in 2008, has fared well since changing its game plan from designing and building cellular networks for outdoor venues to those for indoor venues, such as office buildings, hospitals and casinos.
• Anaheim-based AC&C Network Services debuts at No. 30 after adding two workers for a total of 11. The company specializes in custom network design for copper and fiber-optic cabling systems.
