Two of my favorites jump in bed together. Too bad everything is getting hammered today, it seems (except IMCL, IFSX and a few others).
10:10 ET******
METROMEDIA FIBER NETWORK (MFNX) 41 7/16 -11/16 The dark fiber network company signs an alliance with Williams Communications (WB) which will benefit both companies. Williams is a utility company that decided to become a telecommunications company when the Telecom Act of 1996 was passed. They already had extensive distribution of cables and poles, etc., it was a jumping off point for becoming a telecom company. Metromedia Fiber Network, founded by billionaire John Kluge, is building dark fiber networks in the major cities of the US. Dark fiber networks are networks whose protocols can be established by the customer. The space is leased on multi-year basis, making MFNX's revenue stream very predictable over time. Unlike some leased networks, the user leases space from Metromedia on a physical basis, not a traffic basis. This means the customer gets basically unlimited bandwidth on their own private network. The concept is very powerful, and the market is growing rapidly. The alliance with Williams make Metromedia a telephone service company as well, and it makes Williams a network leasing company. Both companies get increased sales capabilities and increased distribution, without overlapping services. It's the kind of win-win situation that new markets allow. The Telcom Act of 1996 never gets the kind of attention that the internet revolution gets, but in ten years, it will probably have created companies as large as the internet revolution survivors. The main difference is that starting a telecom company requires a tremendous amount of capital, while starting an internet company is relatively cheap. Nevertheless, the future of telecom companies is huge. Metromedia Fiber Network is one of the smaller players, but they just keep seeming to make bigger and bigger steps, which is what today's move is. Since we first profiled Metromedia Fiber Networks in a Stock Brief on August 13, 1998, the stock has risen from $8 to $42, having split 2-1 three times. |
