Suddenlink Communications expects to make approximately $232 million in capital investments this year in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas.
The biggest investment out of the four states is the $140 million that is slated for Suddenlink’s east Texas operation. By the end of this year, Suddenlink will have invested approximately $840 million in Texas since 2006.
“Our 2014 investments in Texas will help us keep ahead of the demands of a growing number of customers who want faster Internet speeds, the ability to get our new Any-Room TV services on mobile devices, home security services and more,” said Todd Cruthird, Suddenlink senior vice president of operations for east Texas.
Suddenlink will invest $29 million in Arkansas this year, for a total of $200 million since 2006. Louisiana is slated for a $38 million investment, for a total to $240 since 2006, while North Carolina will get $25 million to bring it to $175 million over the same time frame.
A spokesman for Suddenlink said the company wasn’t providing any additional details on how the investments in the four states would be used.
Last year Suddenlink said it would adopt its own telephony platform, which would lead to an increase in capex. Suddenlink expects to finish up the phone platform migration this year. On its most recent earnings call, Suddenlink said its overall capital spending would be approximately $360 million to $370 million this year, which included the migration to the new internal telephone platform.
Over the past few years, Suddenlink has rolled out increasingly faster Internet services, with download speeds up to 107 Megabits per second (Mbps) in various communities, and increased the number of high-definition (HD) TV channels.
Suddenlink is the nation’s seventh-largest cable operator. It offers triple play services to 1.4 million residential and commercial customers mainly in Arkansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia.