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Microcap & Penny Stocks : XSNI - X-Stream Network -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Jacalyn Deaner who wrote (1741)7/3/1999 9:02:00 AM
From: Jacalyn Deaner  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 3519
 
Regarding xstream service - they may enjoy a product - but the service has got to get better broadband width and soon - servers cannot handle the capacity it presently enjoys on a slow day, forget regular hours or busy periods. Downloading is impossible, what takes 10 minutes to download a file on other servers takes 4 HOURS on xstream. go to www.deja.com; key in xstream and read about ALL ISPs - write to the posters and ask their opinions if you are interested in finding out what the users think about any of the free ISPs. All of them are experiencing problems; freeserve the very fewest and less severe of them all, it is the most user friendly, updated regularly, quick and readily available

freeserve is about the ONLY one worthy of someone's time and efforts; all the others are pitiful at best, unreliable. This is just my opinion and it is based on what I have been receiving from users of ALL free ISPs in the UK. Signing up customers and keeping customers are two different matters. Lucent hardware should remedy XSNI's problems, if and when it gets placed.

It also looks like AOL offering free service in the UK and Europe is a given and Freeserve IPO news is perfect timing for freeserve. could also indicate a sympathy ride for xsni if manning et al doesn't get some news into the real papers (not in-house productions) to get a stock of xstream moving on its own.

Subject:
Re: xstream
Date:
Sat, 3 Jul 1999 13:01:00 +0100
From:
Simon JD
To:
Michael & Jacalyn Deaner
1

Hi Jakie,

I think you misunderstood my posting to the newsgroup when you sent the
question about xstream to me. I replied to the thread because someone
said that Freeserve was no good to which I replied that I used Freeserve
and they provided a perfectly good service.

I can't tell you very much about xstream other than that my friend has
tried them and found it to be quite slow at the best of times. They
offered 0800 access several months ago but the lines were jammed solid
for most of the period.

I still think that for overall good service then you might like to try
Freeserve. They are seldom engaged and the download speeds are very fast
even at peak times.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
--
Simon JD, East Yorkshire, UK | Underground Dance Music at:
| trancemaster.iscool.net

******************************************************************

Anyway, I have to get ready for the parties hope everyone enjoys a safe and enjoyable Fourth of July, American Independence and Freedom Day, remember those who fought for our freedoms and remember what our freedoms are. Jacalyn



To: Jacalyn Deaner who wrote (1741)7/3/1999 11:26:00 AM
From: Jacalyn Deaner  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 3519
 
BANDWIDTH: Breaching bottlenecks
Paul Taylor reports on a series of products designed to
provide more bandwidth capacity

The law of bandwidth is quite simple. No matter how
much is available, it is never enough.

Now Lucent Technologies, the US-based
telecommunications equipment company, has
announced a series of advanced optical networking
products that it says will help carriers provide the
capacity to break through internet bottlenecks and
optimise the performance of internet applications such
as distance learning, collaborative conferencing and
online investing.

Lucent says the new additions to its WaveStar family of
products will lead to dramatic increases in fibre capacity,
and more than a 90 per cent reduction in inventory and
operations costs and ultra-reliable network monitoring.

Among the new products is an amplifier that will enable
service providers to transmit data, voice and video traffic
in an optical wavelength band called the L-band that
cannot be used at present. The WaveStar L-band
amplifier is expected to be commercially available next
June. Meanwhile, a tunable laser will enable telecoms
companies to cut operational costs significantly.

It is all about providing ever-increasing amounts of
bandwidth as well as intelligent, cost-effective ways to
manage it, says Gerry Butters, president of Lucent's
optical networking group.

Separately, Lucent's Bell Laboratories division
announced the first successful transmission of 40
gigabits per second of information using dense wave
division multiplexing technology.

Companies News / UK & Ireland

Dixons to float fifth of internet provider
By Carol Major

Dixons, the UK electricals goods
retailer, on Monday announced
plans to float nearly a fifth of
Freeserve, its free access
internet service provider, in what
will be Britain's biggest
internet-related share issue to
date.

The company said it would float 18.25 per cent of its
subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
in July and sell an additional 1.75 per cent to Energis,
the telecommunications group that provides the phone
lines for Freeserve. Energis will buy the stake, plus a
further 2 per cent of the company over the next four
years, through Planet Online, its internet subsidiary.

Shares in Dixons rose strongly on the news, reaching
£12.20 in morning trading before falling back to £12.03 at
13.05 GMT.
The offer, to institutional investors worldwide and retail
investors in the UK, will comprise an issue of new shares
by Freeserve and a sale of Freeserve shares by Dixons.
Members of the public who wish to buy shares must
register on the internet by July 9 and invest a minimum
of £250 ($397), with preference going to anyone with a
Freeserve account.

However, Dixons did not reveal the price at which shares
would be offered, and anaylsts have valued Freeserve at
anywhere between £1.3bn and £2.6bn. It earns revenue
from advertising, e-commerce and a share of the
telephone call charge while users are online.

Graham Brown, IT analyst at Sutherlands, expected the
flotation to be a success. "It will be heavily subscribed
by UK retail customers". He was upbeat about the
prospects for Freeserve: "There's an implicit value in the
fact it is allied with the largest PC retailer in the country,
and it has the best market position in the UK at the
moment - there's no other internet stock like it. So it has
a strong lead on its competitors. In addition, internet
penetration in Britain is low compared with the US, and
is bound to grow."

Dixons plans to use the capital raised for brand
development, marketing acquisitions and strategic
investment.

Freeserve was the UK's first internet service provider to
charge no monthly fee and blazed a trail for a swathe of
similar services. It has become one of Britain's biggest
online success stories, winning 1.25m users in the nine
months since its inception, and is now the country's
biggest ISP, having usurped AOL Europe along the way.

AOL Europe said last week it was considering dropping
its subscription fee in a bid to regain its leading position.

Video Comment

Companies News / UK & Ireland

FREESERVE: TelePost investment
By Caroline Daniel

Freeserve, the free internet service provider owned by
Dixons, has made a $10m (£6.2m) investment in
TelePost Holdings, which specialises in internet-related
telephony. The announcement by the UK's largest
internet service provider comes ahead of the release of
further details, expected next week, of its flotation on the
London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Freeserve said the investment would give users of its
web site exclusive access to TelePost's messaging and
conferencing services. It would also improve Freeserve's
content offerings to subscribers, helping it stand out in
the crowded marketplace for internet services.

Under the service - to be called Telserve - users of
Freeserve will be able to make conference calls with up
to six other callers. They will also be able to pick up
voice, fax and e-mail messages from any computer
connected to the internet. TelePost is a privately-owned
company based in Silicon Valley.

EUROPE: Freeserve to float in July
By Nicholas Leonard

Shares in Dixons, the electronics retailer, rose 1 per
cent in London on Monday morning after it confirmed that
it planned to float its fast-expanding Freeserve internet
venture on the stock market during July. It will sell off
18.25 per cent of Freeserve and Energis, which owns
Planet OnLine, will have a small minority stake.

The financial returns from Freeserve so far are derisory:
in the period from September 22 1998 to May 1 it made
a loss of £1m on turnover of just £2.73m. But its value in
the issue hinges on its registered user base of 1.25m
people and the hope that, despite numerous competitive
free internet services, this can be translated into
substantial profits in the future. Freeserve had 64m page
views in the four weeks to May 29.

INTERNET ADVERTISING: Signs of
maturity

Does internet advertising have a future? This may seem
a perverse question. After all, revenues have grown from
nothing to nearly $2bn in just four years, making this a
bigger market than outdoor advertising, according to the
Internet Advertising Bureau. And many traditional
advertisers are just beginning to shift spending to the
medium.

But true to the cliché about "internet time", online
advertising is already showing signs of maturity:
year-on-year growth fell from 116 per cent in the third
quarter of 1998 to 34 per cent in the fourth quarter -
hardly spectacular by web standards.

At the same time, ad rates are softening as improved
software allows companies accurately to measure what
they are getting for their money. AdKnowledge, an
internet ad management company, says the first quarter
of this year saw a 5 per cent softening in average CPM
rates - a key advertising metric based on cost per
thousand.

Simple banner ads are quickly being replaced by deals
that combine advertising and e-commerce, with the
internet company sharing any resulting revenue. The IAB
believes that towards the end of 1998 such "hybrid"
agreements accounted for half of revenue transactions.

There is potentially more upside for web sites from
sharing online sales revenues. But it ties their fortunes
ever closer to often cyclical retailers. And it places the
burden of justifying the huge valuations of internet stocks
squarely on the growth of e-commerce rather than
advertising.

LEX: Banking profits
LEX: UK stock market



To: Jacalyn Deaner who wrote (1741)7/5/1999 8:42:00 AM
From: Jacalyn Deaner  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 3519
 
Lucent in the UK is getting their answer prepared and when I receive it I shall post it; RE: performance or nonperformance of 28 million contract - UK will be calling me :)
Subject:
RE: xstream - contract
Date:
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 12:46:27 +0100
From:
"Atherley, Rebecca Anne (Rebecca)"
To:
"'Michael & Jacalyn Deaner'"

You have misunderstood me - I have been out of the office for a few days and
not had the chance to follow up all my emails.

Please accept my apologies.

What is your telephone number?

Rebecca
+44 171 647 8085

> ----------
> From: Michael & Jacalyn Deaner
> Sent: 03 July 1999 21:02
> To: Atherley, Rebecca Anne (Rebecca)
> Subject: Re: xstream - contract
>
> Ms. Atherley, since you have decided NOT to respond to my request, I am
> forwarding my request to the main corporate Lucent offices and SEC for their perusal as a performance or nonperformance of
> a
> contract valued at $28 million would reduce Lucent revenues and should be
> reflected as such. Until I get confirmation if such consumation, I
> consider
> this contract nonperformed. You issued a press release acknowledging 28
> million dollar contract with xstream UK, you need to publicly update the
> performance or nonperformance as the case may be. To wit the following has
> been posted and sent to the required interested parties. If you should
> desire
> to answer forthwith, I shall correct any record filed to date. Your
> attention
> to this matter has been requested and to date negligable. Jacalyn M.
> Deaner
>
> TO WIT:
>
> Mark, can you tell me how to verify if a contract has been consumated with
> Lucent; for example xstream UK, a free ISP in the UK, signed a 28 million
> dollar deal with Lucent in March - how do I find out if Lucent has
> installed
> any product yet since xstream UK is NOT releasing any info and hoping for
> a
> "free sympathy ride in stock value" based on freeserve IPO.
>
> I've written to Lucent to find out if they have installed anything for
> handling the broadband and it does not appear they have - xstream is
> having
> horrible connection and download times (like 4 hours downloading a normal
> 10
> minute file. Would Lucent technologies hardware let that type of
> performance
> occur?
>
> Thanks for any help. If you could give me a number at Lucent that would be
> great; I have called two people listed on the "inhouse press release" but no reply todate.
>
> I would think that the nonperformance on a contract of $28 million would affect Lucent valuation as well, huh? Thanks, Jacalyn
>
> *************************************************************
> "Atherley, Rebecca Anne (Rebecca)" wrote:
>
> > Could you let me know where you are from and what you need the
> information
> > for? Also, I'm not quite sure what you are asking...
> >
> > Rds, Rebecca
> >
> > > ----------
> > > From: Michael & Jacalyn Deaner
> > > Sent: 29 June 1999 19:18
> > > To: Atherley, Rebecca Anne (Rebecca)
> > > Subject: xstream - contract
> > >
> > > with reference to the following article, has this agreement been
> > > consumated and have you actually been rendering services? Thank you.
> > >
> > > Free ISP, the X-Stream Network, awards Lucent Technologies US
> > > $28M data networking contract
> > >
> > > FOR RELEASE THURSDAY MARCH 04, 1999
> > >
> > >
> > > LONDON - Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU) today announced a £17.5
> > > million (US$28 M) agreement to provide Internet
> > > access technology and related services to The X-Stream Network, a
> > > UK-based Internet service provider (ISP) with about
> > > 200,000 subscribers.
> > >
> > > X-Stream's Internet traffic will be carried across a powerful
> network
> > > built on Lucent's full range of networking solutions,
> > > including products from its acclaimed Cajun( Campus line of local
> > > area network switches, as well as its PacketStar® IP
> > > portfolio.
> > >
> > > "Since the free ISP market has become highly competitive in such a
> > > short time, it is imperative that we offer a highly reliable
> > > Internet service to our subscribers," said Gregory Sukornyk, chief
> > > executive officer and co-founder of The X-Stream
> > > Network. "Only Lucent was able to meet all our networking needs,
> > > ensuring we achieve the best Internet service, since it
> > > was the only vendor that was able to supply us with an end-to-end
> > > solution."
> > >
> > > "X-Stream is a pioneer in free Internet access and we are very
> > > excited that it has selected Lucent to expand its IP
> > > network," said Vincent Molinaro, chief operating officer of
> Lucent's
> > > Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. "In fact,
> > > we feel a special pride because it is proof that we are helping to
> > > shape the future of tomorrow's networks."
> > >
> > > X-Stream will manage its in-coming data Internet calls using
> Lucent's
> > > PortMaster® 4 Remote Access Concentrators, which
> > > meet high-volume, multi-service access requirements. In addition,
> the
> > > company will deploy Lucent's revolutionary
> > > PacketStar IP portfolio, which comprises the PacketStar 6400 Series
> > > IP Switch and the PacketStar Gateway 1000 solution.
> > > Millions of Internet calls can be routed via the IP Gateway 1000, a
> > > fault-tolerant, Internet telephony system that also
> > > includes the PacketStar IP Manager and PacketStar IP Gatekeeper for
> > > managing and routing calls across multiple zones in
> > > the network.
> > >
> > > All incoming Internet calls will go through the Lucent Managed
> > > Firewall, an industry-leading secure, expandable and
> > > easy-to-use hardware and software platform. They travel across
> > > Lucent's high-capacity Cajun(tm) P550(tm) Gigabit Switches
> > > either to X-Stream's host applications - provided by Lucent and Sun
> > > Microsystems' ISP bundle - or out to the World Wide
> > > Web via Lucent's PacketStar 6404 IP Switch, which is designed
> > > specifically to support the convergence of data and voice
> > > networks and services. The PacketStar 6404 IP Switch offers
> > > industry-leading Quality of Service (QoS) capabilities and
> > > guarantees up to 64,000 different levels of service, depending on
> the
> > > needs of the business.
> > >
> > > "Lucent's portfolio of reliable networking products enhances our
> edge
> > > in the competitive Internet market," said Dr Chirinjeev
> > > Kathuria, executive director of The X-Stream Network.
> > >
> > > X-Stream Technologies, Inc and its affiliate companies represent
> one
> > > of the most exciting developments in the Internet
> > > market today. The X-Stream Network seeks to become the world's
> > > largest true portal to the Web and provide advertisers,
> > > retailers and companies a unique opportunity to secure a direct
> > > access to consumers all over the world via a user-friendly,
> > > highly interactive consumer interface. Currently, it has
> > > approximately 200,000 subscribers in the UK and will shortly extend
> > > its reach overseas. Its operations base is in London, UK and it is
> > > registered in Delaware, US.
> > >
> > > Lucent Technologies designs, builds and delivers a wide range of
> > > public and private networks, communications systems
> > > and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems
> and
> > > microelectronic components. Bell Laboratories
> > > is the research and development arm of the company. For more
> > > information about Lucent Technologies, visit the company's
> > > Web site at lucent.com.
> > >
> > >
> > > For more information, reporters may contact:
> > >
> > > Vibha Agrawal
> > > Lucent Technologies - U.S.
> > > 908-953-2679 (office)
> > > 1-800-759-8888, PIN 9787214 (pager)
> > > Email:vagrawal@lucent.com
> > >
> > > Rebecca Atherley
> > > Lucent Technologies - U.K.
> > > +44-171-647-8085 (office)
> > > +44-777-191-1132 (mobile)
> > > Email:ratherley@lucent.com
> > >
>