Despite a 2.6 percent decline in revenues for the third quarter, officials at a Fairport, N.Y.-based company that provides data, voice and Internet solutions to business-class customers assured listeners during a Webcast this morning that they’ve weathered this recession well and plan to accelerate out of it.

 

Officials at PAETEC (News - Alert) Holding Corp. say that though revenues of $396.7 million for the quarter are down from one year ago, that they’re positioning themselves in terms of personnel, partnerships and products to emerge strong from the down economy.

 

Arunas A. Chesonis, chairman and CEO of the company, told listeners that the company’s revenue, adjusted EBITDA, and free cash flow increased on a sequential basis for the third quarter, that PAETEC reduced debt under credit facilities by $10.6 million and that its cash position remains strong at $141.5 million.

 

“PAETEC’s value proposition is truly starting to resonate throughout our nationwide footprint,” Chesonis told listeners.

 

During his talk, Chesonis also told listeners that the company’s enterprise business is growing steadily and that multi-site data center networks have become PAETEC’s more typical customer over the past few years.

 

“We are enthusiastic about the depth of our sales funnel,” Chesonis told listeners.

 

The company appears to be pushing the right buttons to expand that funnel.

 

As TMCnet reported, just days after deploying a new Web-based pricing tool to help sales agents, PAETEC announced that it’s now offering three dozen more cities to its so-called “Ethernet Local Loop” product.

 

That offering is designed help the “on-net” cities by meeting business customers’ complex data needs. PAETEC now serves a total of 36 on-net markets with Ethernet access and plans to reach an additional six markets by year-end, serving over half of its 83 core markets nationwide with direct Ethernet access. PAETEC can also reach 100 percent of its MSA coverage area via Ethernet utilizing existing partnership agreements.

 

PAETEC is a company that’s cultivated a strong reputation for meeting the needs of its partners and customers.

Chesonis made mention during his address this morning that PAETEC continues to receive awards for its innovations. The company received a pair of awards for fixed wireless offerings and recently launched the “Agent Online Quoting Tool” to help agents qualify selling opportunities, create pricing quotes and product service agreements for much of the company’s product portfolio.

 

The company is maintaining its financial guidance, according to Chesonis – revenues of about $1.58 billion and adjusted EBITDA of about $245 million to $255 million.

 

PAETEC’s new strategic plan calls for revenue growth over the next five years, through bolstering its staff, product offerings and market reach, he said.