Anchorage Daily News

Anchorage telecom company GCI reported preliminary first-quarter profits of $2.7 million, up 48 percent from the same three months of last year.

The phone, Internet and cable TV company said its quarterly revenue reached $135 million, up 8 percent.

The profit figure is preliminary because "the company is determining the effect of an error in calculating depreciation in the initial year an asset is placed in service and for capitalizing interest on certain assets," GCI said. It thinks expenses were overstated in the past, meaning profit was understated, GCI said. The correction could lead to a higher profits figure.

Revenue increases from the company's cable TV, Internet and wireless services were partly offset by lower revenue from local and long-distance phone services, GCI said.

Cable TV revenue increased in part as consumers bought more expensive services such as high-definition programming and rented high-def digital video recorders, GCI said.

Internet revenue grew as more customers got cable-modem service or faster Internet connections.

During the quarter, GCI launched local phone service in Homer, the company said.

GCI provides long-distance phone, Internet and cable TV services throughout Alaska and wireless and local phone service in the more populated areas.

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