Cicero, FTEL's competitive standing is a personal judgement call. Everyone has different feelings as to how much of the potential marketshare, FTEL can capture. I feel, as I'm sure you know, that FTEL stands a better than average chance of capturing a large part of the future marketshare for Internet Telephony gateways and equipment. They have a great chance against the big boys, many of whom have announced the development of their products, not the availability for sale. FTEL has a product ready to sell that is independently verified by three+ sources as the Quality and Price leader, a combination that certainly gives FTEL the chance to establish an early position in this Marketplace. No one is currently 'winning the battle' for gateway sales, as no single company selling gateways has announced a major sale of gateways yet, and no company evaluating or comtemplating purchasing DVGs has made an annnouncement of selecting a vendor. This IMO shows that this is a Completely Open area for any company with a competitive product to make a significant impact.
As for the Big Boys, they do not bother me half as much as the little guys, such as Array, Clarent and Vienna Sys, these guys are doing innovative work, like FTEL, not playing catch up like LU.
I think we can expect a buyout the day it is announced, before then I would not invest in this company solely for the possibility of a buyout. Now as to can they compete against the big Telco's or not, that is even more interesting.
On the surface an immediate reaction would be, no, how could they, but dig a little deeper. IT is expected to take over $650 million dolars from ATT's long distance according to the article I posted earlier, thats a lot of money the big boys are losing. IDTC has been very successful taking marketshare from all the Trad Telco's, it can be done, without a doubt. Will FNET succeed? Thats the magic question.
That is why such things as the WorldCom co-location and any further alliances are crucial. With having access to all of the POPs in the WorldCom family, we instantly have access to the backbone of one the leaders in this industry. We will compete against T and the other carriers on Equal terms, regarding availibility and covered service areas. Not bad for a stock at this price.
Hope that helps. |
