I talked to Shant Hovnanian today. Here are the excerpts:
Bruce Judson's departure:
-"Bright man, good credentials, but not an entrepreneur."
-"Time Warner was not an entpreneurial firm, so he wasn't quite the right type for CVUS. He left of his own free will."
Not participating in the auction:
-"I'm not disappointed at all. In fact, I'm quite excited to have the 'trophy property.' No one can do anything without agreement with us. I saw the Bellcore press release. Bellcore probably is going to every and all industry segments. But, they had to monitor our signals to get LMDS data. They have no knowledge of the inner workings of the system. We've been at this for 11 years. It just doesn't compare. No one can build out a national footprint without partnering with us."
Partnerships
-Apparently, it was difficult to negotiate terms of partnerships given the ambiguity of license values. But, he went on to emphasize that partnership discussions are still taking place.
-"There are plenty of discussion about post-auction and during-auction partnerships. They may be the most valuable partnerships. Whether as a service provider or a type of affiliate, these partnerships may have the most strategic value. We might take a branded approach with it, much like CellularOne and with service providers."
Financing
-"This is the most robust financial times. It is a tremendously good market for financing, so we are able to get highly favorable financing terms. The Fleet agreement is right on schedule. There was some original concern on their part about whether the auction was going to happen. But with the Telco announcement, there is less than a 1% chance that the auction will not happen, in fact, it's a virtual guarantee that the auction will happen, so Fleet is right on track."
Cash Position
-"I understand that investors concern about our cash position. If you're on the 'outside', I can see why you may have these concerns. And, the questions being raised are reasonable ones. I am not concerned. I've been at this for 11 years. I'm an entrepreneur. I know how to operate a lean ship. I'm comfortable in this context. I understand the concern, but I am not concernet at all."
Potential Acquisition
-"Way too premature. We're in the telco business and frankly, we have discussions along these lines every week. But, is it going to happen tomorrow? I wouldn't bet on that. Anything is possible though, at the right values. We definitely have a one of a kind property. It would take an inordinate amount of capital over the next 10 yeras to build out fiberoptic to every buiding in our region. I think this city is best served through wireless providers. I think we will become the model LMDS provider in years to come. Ultimately, this industry will consolidate. That's for sure. But, for the time being, we're focused on building out our region through alliances."
That's the jist of our conversation. Food for thought.
Larry Cheng |
