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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here

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To: MikeM54321 who wrote (8233)8/28/2000 1:38:05 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps  Read Replies (1) of 12823
 
Mike, Here is an article which agrees with your point of view about lack of money hurting chances of optical startups. Copied from Ciena thread.

thestreet.com

Cash Crunch Threatens to Slow Optical Network Buildout
By Scott Moritz
Staff Reporter
8/25/00 11:00 AM ET

A cash crunch threatens to chill the red-hot optical networking sector.

Williams Communications (WCG:NYSE - news), a leading builder of the next-generation telecom networks that
accommodate Internet growth, is about $1 billion short of funding for the next leg of its multibillion-dollar network
expansion. To cover that shortfall, Williams is taking the unusual step of selling most of its stakes in networking
start-ups that count on it as a big customer.

Blinded?
For networkers, a squeeze from two sides.
The squeeze isn't dire for Williams, as the company also could tap credit lines or return to the junk-bond market to
raise capital. But the Tulsa, Okla., company's shortfall marks the first sign that money is tightening for the
telecom-service providers that invest huge sums to build new networks. Network builders have depended on stock
appreciation to fund their past buildouts. But with their stocks well off their highs, a spending pullback looms. Given
the huge networking bets investors have made amid runaway demand for this gear, any cutbacks will surely sting
networkers' stock even further.

This will have investors closely watching the bandwidth brigade -- network operators such as 360Networks
(TSIX:Nasdaq - news), Global Crossing (GBLX:Nasdaq - news), Level 3 (LVLT:Nasdaq - news) and
Broadwing (BRW:NYSE - news) -- for any signs of shortfalls like Williams'.

The Missing Link
Talk to investors and you hear more than a little concern about the prospect of a weak link in this tight chain of
network builders and the companies that make networks run. With start-up networkers such as Sycamore
(SCMR:Nasdaq - news), ONI (ONIS:Nasdaq - news) and Corvis (CORV:Nasdaq - news) generating little
revenue yet valued in the tens of billions of dollars, investors could be expected to react sharply to any sense of a
slowdown.
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