manta8,
There are two things that should be weighed here:
1. A demo environment is very different from real life use.
2. What is BIFS business model? They claim to hold the patent on this technology, but they are also selling the service through beachaccess.net. This type of verticalization will kill a company with limited resources and is basically a bad business model to start with. The reason that I say this is that if they want to grow their wireless ISP business, they will start running into competitors that want to do the same thing. Those competitors will not want to use BIFS wireless product as that would fill BIFS pockets with money and they are the competitor. This is why LU was spun off from T and why CSCO isn't in the ISP business. Additionally, to be a player in this business takes focus of both resources and attention. From what I can see, BIFS has three directions that they are going. This dilutes both the resources and attention. And it looks like they are looking to go into the B2B business too. Assuming that BIFS is not a scam, these are big red flags from a business model standpoint that indicates that they are throwing darts to try and find a successful market. It also implies that they don't have expertise in these new areas. The thing is though, I doubt very seriously that they have any patent. If they are selling the product, any wireless company could buy the product and reverse engineer it if they wanted to, so there is no point in not disclosing the patent. In fact, it would be a disadvantage. As an investor, you shouldn't be taking their word about anything, you should demand to see the patent. If they are not willing to disclose material information to investors, they don't deserve one investor dollar. The fact that they are claiming to be keeping the patent a secret screams that they don't have one and that patent is the foundation that this house of cards is built on. Without it, the rest comes tumbling down.
If you have read this thread, you should have sussed out that there are at least 4 people that have real life experience with wireless technologies and business. I have a wireless LAN in my home so I am a believer in the technology. However, the assertions that they have made that this isn't a wireless LAN and that they don't need to have a T1/T3 link to an ISP is absurd and they haven't offerend any evidence to the contrary. Further, if they don't have some sort of connection to an ISP, exactly how are they providing internet access?
I read some stuff on the BIFS thread last night that was put up as DD, and there were some good nuggets of information. They actually make it pretty clear that they are looking to sell their stock to make money. They claim that they did a 100:1 split to provide more liquidity to sell to retail investors. Basically, they have flat out stated that they are going to be selling into your buying. Sounds to me like they don't have the cash flow to maintain their business and they are looking to you to line their pockets.
Skepticism is good, BIFS offers nothing that I can see that would quell any of my skepticism. Instead, every aspect tells me to be more skeptical. |
