I was trying to determine which major cell phone company Statmon is in final beta testing with. You have to guess that US Cell could be a prime candidate. They are located in Chicago as is Statmon. I lifted this from one of US Cell's quarterly filings in the last year. It says US Cell has about 6700 sites and may be growing. A nice amount for Statmon. Statmon's product AXESS identifies problems at cell sites and notifies technicians when problems occur. In some cases, the problems can be fixed remotely saving money and increasing performance compared to sending a technician out to a site multiple times to diagnose and fix the problem. That is why the ROI is fairly high on AXESS. They even discuss implementing technology to reduce their maintenance costs. If it is US Cell, a project of this size could be worth tens of millions over a few years.
1. maintenance, utility and cell site expenses increased $20.9 million, or 10%, in 2008, primarily driven by increases in the number of cell sites within U.S. Cellular’s network, rent expense per cell site, and software maintenance costs to support rapidly growing data needs. The number of cell sites totaled 6,716 in 2008 and 6,255 in 2007, as U.S. Cellular continued to grow by expanding and enhancing coverage in its existing markets and also through acquisitions of existing wireless operations; and
2. U.S. Cellular makes substantial investments each year to construct and upgrade modern high quality wireless communications networks and facilities as a basis for creating long term value for shareholders. In recent years, rapid changes in technology and new opportunities have required substantial investments in revenue-enhancing and cost-reducing upgrades of U.S. Cellular’s networks. Cash flows used for investing activities also represent cash required for the acquisition of wireless properties or licenses. Proceeds from exchanges and divestiture transactions have provided funds in recent years which have partially offset the cash requirements for investing activities; however, such sources cannot be relied upon to provide continuing or regular sources of financing.
The primary purpose of U.S. Cellular’s construction and expansion expenditures is to provide for customer and usage growth, to upgrade service and to take advantage of service-enhancing and cost-reducing technological developments in order to maintain competitive services.
3. U.S. Cellular expects total system operations expenses to increase in the foreseeable future, driven by the following factors:
· increases in the number of cell sites and other network facilities within U.S. Cellular’s systems as it continues to add capacity and enhance quality;
