Is Windstream Cresting?

Since it was created in 2006, Windstream has grown. At the time, it competed only in 16 states; today it is in 48 states. It has 22 data centers and a long-haul fiber network across 115,000 miles. Today this is a strong company with good people in charge. But they need to think outside the box for solutions, and create the straightway wave to grow on.

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Example: That's what happened to local phone companies Verizon and AT&T. They were companies that were riding the local phone Wave up through the 1990s. At the time in the 2000s that wave crested and started falling.

Their local phone business, as a matter of fact, is for all that shrinking as competitors in the wireless, cable television and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) industries continue to take business away from them.

Fortunately, both Verizon and AT&T saw this eventuality coming and created their straightway Wave. They are now on the growth side of new waves in wireless, Internet and IPTV -- AT&T uVerse and Verizon FiOS. That's why they continue to grow and be strong. They are thinking in advance.

Other local phone companies, like Qwest, didn't follow this path, and they struggled. Qwest was in the long run acquired by CenturyLink and was a much weaker company. This is a fundamental difference.

Jeff Gardner, CEO of Windstream, said a during back that the company had no wireless plans. It is after all focused on the enterprise and broadband, during continuing to generate industry-leading cash flows.

They are pushing television with IPTV instead of just reselling satellite television. They are offering security systems for consumers and businesses. There are plenty of opportunities for the then and there growth wave that other phone companies are successfully moving into.

If it had not acquired other companies in recent years, its local phone business would have been shrinking -- the same as AT&T and Verizon were. This is no one's fault -- it's happening to the entire local phone market.

However, this loss was masked by growth through acquisitions. I said when the acquisitions slowed or stopped, Windstream's shrinking local phone business would start to poke its head above the water line.

Its wholesale revenue has declined by 6.3 percent, or $15 million, compared to a year ago. Its consumer lines decreased by 82,000, or 4.1 percent, while the last year.

Apple and Google have completely reinvented the wireless space with the iPhone and the Android OS. That right away put companies like Nokia and RIM on a downward trajectory, and they are finding it impossible to turn around. Five years ago, they both led -- something to keep in mind.

Broadband earnings for consumers and businesses have risen from 60-68 percent of total earnings over the last year. Good start, however not but enough.

Since it was created in 2006, Windstream has grown. At the time, it competed only in 16 states; today it is in 48 states. It has 22 data centers and a long-haul fiber network across 115,000 miles.