[Paul Motter]
<<<NEW YORK, NY (May 8, 1997) -- You heard it here first, folks. It seems there are questions about whether the rumored deal for AMATI (Nasdaq: AMTX) (N) (S) with GTE (NYSE: GTE) (N) (S) will actually materialize. Dow Jones reported that the expected deal that was widely rumored last week, including in the Wall Street Journal, has not come about. According to Dow Jones... "'Although Amati Tuesday announced that GTE is expanding the trials, the announcement wasn't as big as speculated,' said James Kedersha, analyst at Cowen & Co. Amati and Westell shares have been buffeted by rumor and hype as speculation about upcoming commitments by major phone companies has come and gone, analysts said.">>>
With all due respect, Paul Motter is quoting a Dow Jones story saying a rumor regarding additional GTE trials hasn't materialized. The only credence the Dow story has is a quote from an analyst at Cowen, the company who put out the Westell rumors to pump the stock in a down market. So basically we have a Motley Fool journalist quoting a Dow Jones rumor based on a Cowen rumor. Mr. Motter is knowledgeable regarding ADSL, but in this instance how has he enlightened us? I'm lost here.
As you can see, I'm not at all happy about the skewed news that came out as a result of unprofessional reporting leading up to and following the GTE press conference. Is it too much to ask the press to rise above the level of gossip? And if they must print rumors, is it too much to expect the next journalist to at least be original and not print rumors based on rumors?
On April 30 I posted the following and I don't know how I could have been more clear:
<<<I just talked to Bill Kula at GTE and they've just announced that they'll host a press conference at InterOp, Tuesday at 2:00 p.m., local time, in Room N238.
1) They will NOT be announcing definite vendors for their rollout.
2) They WILL be talking about Amati and Westell in relation to the trials.
3) They will also announce "significant enhancements to the trials."
4) And they'll talk about new initiatives throughout the country that will have an impact on their plans. >>>>
Whether Dow Jones journalists took their cues from the SI board or talked to Mr. Kula directly, I can't say, but either way I don't know how they could write the following:
<<<The "Investors seemed to speculate that GTE Corp. is ready to use Amati technology that GTE has been testing in Washington and Texas, analysts said. GTE has scheduled an announcement for Tuesday that analysts said could include plans to take the asymetric digital subscriber line, or ADSL, technology beyond the test stage. >>>
Never did Mr. Kula indicate they'd talk about plans "beyond the test stage," yet the journalists set up expectations that they would. Then after the fact they screamed how disappointed they were.
The real news regarding GTE's spending billions to create a high-speed network was lost. Perhaps because it wasn't what anyone expected, but talk about taking the technology "beyond the test phase!" Jeeez, I wish they'd asked me to do a story. I might have led off by saying:
"Today GTE stunned investors and analysts alike when they announced plans to enter the fastest growing segment of the telecommunications industry: datacommunications. In a press conference at InterOp, the networking trade show in Las Vegas, many attendees were expecting details of ADSL contracts signalling GTE's committment to the high-speed bandwidth market. Instead they were given a multi-billion dollar plan whereby GTE will build a fiber-based network forming the foundation for datacommunications services. A move that one industry insider was quoted as saying, "Will reduce the high upfront cost of today's private data networks and make advanced data communications more affordable for a greater segment of the population."
Expecting a starting gun, investors got an atomic blast. . . ."
Okay, no one asked me to write it, but, do yourself a favor and read the announcements carefully. Among all the other news, GTE makes it clear they've laid down the gauntlet regarding private networks. If they're not going to protect their cash cows, how long do you think the RBOCs will?
gte.com
Stepping off soapbox. . .
Cheers!
Pat
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