July 8, 1998
Dear Shareholder or Franklin Visitor:
The "FNet Rollout Summer" is officially underway.
As promised, here is your personal update on our developments and
progress.
Since my last message, Peter Buswell has joined us as Franklin Telecom's
new President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). I have known and
worked with Peter for 18 years and it is an honor to have him return to
Franklin at this pivotal time in our development. Peter is an outstanding
strategic thinker, an astute businessman, and is extremely knowledgeable in
all aspects of the telecommunications industry. His presence on Franklin's
Board of Directors for the last several years has meant that he has already
had an on-going part in shaping and refining our vision. His value to our
company cannot be overstated.
On the FNet side, the impact of our new leadership team has been all we
hoped, and more. They are dedicated, focused and highly effective. During
the past three months, they have literally logged tens of thousands of miles
in the pursuit of the FNet global expansion. The fruits of their efforts,
namely contracts and joint ventures, will continue to become obvious over
the course of the next few weeks.
Last month, I informed you of the universal progress here at Franklin.
Expansion is everywhere. Personnel, facilities, capital equipment are
certainly evident any direction that you look. But most noteworthy is in the
fact that we are underway in the deployment and installation of the FNet
network.
Even though sales of DVG's have not yet reached the levels we anticipate,
during June we did see our first high volume domestic shipments.
Feedback from companies that beta tested our units has been invaluable in
mapping out the specific feature sets our customers want and need. We
are now addressing these issues; some we have already added to the
Tempest 2.12; others are in still in the development process. We expect to
begin substantial international shipments in another 6-8 weeks.
This week, we will take delivery of a class IV Harris 20-20 switch here in
Westlake Village. This vital piece of equipment will enable FNet global
access.
Speaking of which, FNet assumes control of the Bosnia NATO network
next week on July 15th. As promised, this will deliver a solid revenue
stream, beginning this month. This network establishes our physical
presence in Europe, while delivering substantial revenues. Better yet, we
will achieve pay back on our investment in less than six months. This is not
a "dream" or an optimistic projection: this is real, productive, and fully
operational.
Stay tuned -
-- Frank W. Peters |
