Some Interesting Comments
I spent some time going over the various TV interviews, Press Releases. news paper articles, and Online articles about Plaintree since the August 24,2000 press release announcing the 'Fiberless' initiative.
I have compiled some highlights from all of these that I have found rather interesting, particularly in light of the early announcement of the first 'fiberless' product on October 10, 2000.
There seems to be a general consensus that LAN has been in somewhat of an accumulation stage with decent support at the current price levels. As well, there seems to be an opinion that the next material announcement, such as contracts, joint ventures or acquisitions, may be enough to create a strong positive upward movement.
In light of this, these are the snippets that caught my attention. I am posting them in chronological order starting with the first PR after the August 24, 2000 announcement as I believe there is some relevance to the order in which information has been released.
CEO Watson's RobTV Interview - Aug.28, 2000
RobTV: Talk about new deals/contracts
Watson Commented that: There has been a lot of excitement and interest in the technology. They have had discussions with many customers. 5 of the biggest names in the GSM/ISP sector are flying in from all over the world to see Plaintree.
RobTV: What are your comments on future profitability
Watson Commented that: They have major new products coming out before X-Mas. Beta products will be shipped to customers for testing. This should help to address that issue. (Note: 1st product already announced)
Ottawa Business Journal Article - August 28, 2000
Plaintree's CEO David Watson said Monday a worldwide tour to find out what Plaintree customers wanted had resulted in a flood of tentative orders to the company and a positive market reaction.
Watson has visited customers in England, the Middle East, Asia and Africa since April. He will tour Europe and South America in the coming months.
"Just one customer alone said they might place an order for 700 links," Watson said.
Several other large customers have indicated they could place similar orders.
"I went specifically to discuss with clients what they want. We are designing our product to a niche market you find out what they really want then you go back to your engineers."
CANADA-iNVEST.com Article - Aug.28, 2000
Watson also sees a turning point once the company launches its products and advises that by the end of the calendar year, investors will see some announcements that are going to please them.
“There’s not much I could say right now that couldn’t get me in trouble. All I can say is when we do our initial product launch, people are going to see exciting news,” says Watson.
StockHouse Interview with CEO Watson - Sept. 11, 2000
StockHouse: Are you in joint venture talks with any companies?
Watson: We are definitely in discussions with numerous companies with regards to JV's or possible acquisitions. But nobody is specifically talking to us right now about acquiring us.
StockHouse: What percentage of the market would you say can be serviced by LED right now?
Watson: I would have to say probably 80% of the potential market right now is at speeds of 155 megabits per second or less.
StockHouse: Does that reduce drastically from year to year?
Watson: No, the customer that we have in here right now is a very large customer out of Europe, potentially. He's saying that he thinks that a year from now he will be hoping to move 10 to 12 gigabit lasers a year and his potential volume right now in 155 megabits is in the hundreds, if not the thousands per month. That will give you some kind of idea.
StockHouse: When will the new optical wireless product be released into the market?
Watson: We are hoping that the initial units will be ready for shipment to our customers by Christmas. I'm hoping early 2001, we should see the first real contract potential beginning to show.
StockHouse: Do you have potential customers who have already shown interest in this product?
Watson: Right now we have customers waving large potential orders under our nose saying, 'Get us the product, if we like it, this is yours.' They are very hot for the product right now. There is an immediate demand for it, and we are definitely one of the leading competitors for this business.
StockHouse: Any large contracts in the pipeline that we may see an announcement on in the next couple of months?
Watson: There is a lot of large contract potential and we can't really discuss it any further than that, until they receive our product.
StockHouse: Any significant announcements that may come out of the company in the next few months?
Watson: As I said before, at Christmas we will be making some product announcements and then after that we will be making announcements as far as interests from potential companies.
Report On Wireless Article - September 28, 2000
That’s why the GSM carriers in some parts of the world are taking a serious look at implementing infrastructure systems as an inexpensive last mile solution to connecting consumers to the wireless network, he says.
“The developing countries and Europe are putting in extensive work to upgrade their mobile phone capabilities and what they need is 2km to 4km links operating at E1/T1 speeds with reliability, low-cost and high volumes”, he says.
(Note: Sounds like the WaveBridge Multiplex (MT) Series)
WaveBridge Multiplex (MT) Series Press Release - October 10, 2000
The new WaveBridge MT series is specifically designed to meet the
requirements of the global system for mobile (GSM) communications and
Internet service provider (ISP) markets. These links enable ISP and GSM
customers to transmit data at high bandwidth speeds over Ethernet, while
continuing to offer E1/T1 speeds together or separately in the same unit.
Essentially, this means that a user can access its telephone lines and
Ethernet data transmission over the same link.
"This is just the first of a number of product releases that Plaintree will
be announcing over the next two quarters," said David Watson, president and
chief executive officer of Plaintree Systems. "The ISP market has strongly
requested this Multiplex product which offers unique capabilities. We have
completed the design work on this product substantially ahead of schedule."
Mr. Watson continued, "and we are also on track for our dedicated
WaveBridge Telco series and our WaveBridge ATM series, which will meet the
higher-capacity requirements in the marketplace. Plaintree has listened to
its target customers and is working very hard to meet their requirements
and frankly, the response has been beyond our original expectations."
ISP Planet Article - October 13, 2000
Freedom is light
David Kahn, Plaintree's Vice President of Product Development, explained the technology to ISP-Planet:
Plaintree's OW systems use Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which are safer and more reliable than lasers. The company's ATM series is still in the lab but this product achieves data rates up to that of Fast Ethernet (100 Mbps). It is currently shipping models that combine a telecom T1 channel with an Ethernet channel.
OW systems work on a line-of-sight, point-to-point basis and have ranges extending up to and beyond 2 km (1.25 miles).
Actual sales
We spoke to Bill White, Director of Sales and Marketing, who told us that many clients have been large institutions with specific point-to-point needs, such as a university that needed to cross a government-owned highway that cut through the campus, and could not get permission to dig. The university used an OW connection between two science buildings to complete its network.
Ottawa Citizen Article - October 18, 2000
In one form or another, "wireless is definitely where we really want to be," Mr. Watson says. He's just spent the last several months talking to equipment distributors in England, the Middle East, Asia and South America, a journey that gave him two reasons to smile. First of all, most of those distributors complain that their own suppliers are chronically late with product, often up to 20 weeks. "They're looking for more reliable firms, and we think that gives us a clear opportunity," Mr. Watson says.
Secondly, the manufacturers of optical wireless products, once seen on the ground, just don't shake up as the formidable opponents one might fear from a distance. "We actually went to overseas optical manufacturing sites, and what we saw was as sad as it was reassuring for our own prospects," Mr. Watson says. "These people are really operating in shoeboxes. They have very little R & D capability. And marketing? They don't have a clue, in many cases.
"With a market as big as wireless, you should be able to grasp a huge amount of it if your product's good and you can get it out the door quickly," he says. "On both counts, we're going to fit the bill. The industry's growth will be exponential -- and I'm betting we'll follow that curve upward."
CEO Watson Canada Business Report - October 18, 2000
Canada Business Report: In August you said that Plaintree would be ready for the explosion in the Fiberless Optical market and you followed it up earlier this month by just announcing a new product line, the WaveBridge Multiplex Series of Fiberless products. How does it work and how fast is it?
Watson: It is just the first product release and it is the product that the ISP's have come to us and said they needed, that's 10 megabits per second multiplexed with a T1 or E1 link, so speed isn't that high but is quite fast for the ISP's with regards to the existing technologies they are using.
Next will be a dedicated E1/T1 link, which is exactly what GSM market is looking for, and shortly after that we will be following it up with ATM speeds, 155 mbps over 1 and 2 kilometers and that is something for which there is an extremely high demand for also.
Canada Business Report: Who would your customers be for that, would they be cable co.'s in addition to ISP's?
Watson: We are talking to a number of cable companies that are looking at it as a last mile solution, all of this stuff is primarily aimed at the last mile solution. When they run their main trunk they now need to be able to now hit a number of different subscribers and users in any particular neighborhood and this is one of the fastest ways to do it without the problems of interference and overlap that you get with RF technologies and the fact that you get much higher bandwidth speeds.
Canada Business Report: You are certainly not limiting your efforts to the domestic market, you have talked about customers flying in from all over the world to take a look at your operations. Have you signed any significant deals or are you on the verge of making some big announcements?
Watson: I think we're definitely on the verge of making some big announcements and you are absolutely right, a lot of people are concentrating on the North American Market and we have an excellent presence in the N.A. market but I would have to say that the rest of the world right now, the Middle East, Mexico, South America, Africa, Europe, they are far bigger than the N.A. market and the response has been absolutely incredible in these particular areas also.
Receives Funds From Taurus Press Release - October 26, 2000
Internet service providers and cellular operators are some of the
potential markets for Plaintree's systems. Another high-potential niche market
is the avionics industry, where radio frequencies are tightly regulated. |
