<Globalstar declined to comment on how many phones they've sold, though it said Elsacom's sales represent a small portion of the company's overall revenue. The New York-based company has said it expects to have 557,000 customers by the end of the year.
Elsacom's phone sales ``don't represent Globalstar as a whole,'' a Globalstar spokesman said. ``Our top markets are in large countries underserved by cellular, like Canada, Brazil and Russia.'' >
So, how come Globalstar is so tight-lipped? Nobody will believe them and the stock price shows it. Why don't they climb off the high horse and get down in the mud with the media, strip away the fog of ignorance and fear and say how many phones have been connected?
Okay, Elsacom is a small proportion of the total. That means Globalstar knows the total but it is a state secret. If they don't know the total, they wouldn't be able to say it's a small proportion.
A small proportion would be a fifth. Yes, a fifth is a small proportion. Well, a quarter is a small proportion. So that means that Globalstar worldwide has got, um, let's see, 4 x 2000 phones connected. Heck, that's 8,000 phones at 90 MOU per month = only 720,000 minutes per month. At 40c a minute that's only $300,000 a month. No wonder the share price is going down. $4m a year. Oh dear! I wonder if Globalstar could tell me [just an investor so I guess Investor Relations wouldn't be interested in providing information] if my figures are wrong somewhere.
Fire!! FIRE!!! There's a fire in the building!!!! Help! Help!! Help!!! HELP!!!!
The New York based company has also said it expects to have 1 million subscribers by end of Y2K. But nobody believes that anymore, not even the company.
So Globalstar, just exactly how many handsets in the BIG MARKETS are actually connected at present? If we had a graph on the screen we could watch with AWE [if that's not an unfortunate word] as the hockey stick formation takes shape. A moment by moment graph of handsets connected. A matching graph with MOUs. Some data software engineer could probably figure out how to get the information from where it is now to the Web page globalstar.com.
Elsacom seems to cover the great bulk of Europe so to have sold 2000 phones is pitiful. Truly absurd. Of course, the Service Providers are great marketers who really understand the market and price elasticity, so I guess the hockey stick will belt the puck for a home run any minute now.
It seems like it's nearly time for a takeover of Loral and Globalstar by Vodafone and QUALCOMM and then things will get moving. Maybe L M Ericsson and Elsacom have designs on the company too. A Service Provider's joint venture could snap it up for a bargain price, then slash their minute prices having hijacked our wonderful constellation. They could then undercut their competitor's terrestrial minute prices and sell big! That way they'd capture the wholesale AND retail margins.
It's now a book value job!
Maurice
PS: You know the worst thing of all this? There is a ghost gloating in cyberspace, whispering "Die Evil Scum" as we writhe our way ever down to the event horizon of black hole doom. |
