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Technology Stocks : Leap Wireless International (LWIN) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nancy Haft who wrote (467)	8/11/1999 6:01:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2737

Nancy, I agree selling might well be the best thing to do, it was just that it didn't seem like a good deal. Which means the initial investment was bad. The money they are getting for the spectrum and [I suppose] a pile of base stations and cellphone towers doesn't seem much. The system should have been nearly ready to switch on [since the auction was well over a year ago] at least in some cities. We have no idea that there was any profit at all from the deal. My guess is they bailed out when they realized their marketing plans would be disallowed. I expect the driving force for creating OzPhone was to generate business for Q! infrastructure division. With that need gone, they will focus on a more narrow marketing strategy around their Americas businesses, including NextWave's assets, Mexico, Chile. It would be interesting to know just how much money was made or lost on the Oz adventure. So, sure, better to bail out from a dodgy enterprise and go to better fishing grounds. But I don't see any it as being a success - it have been, but I can't see that from what we've been told. If the NZ government ever gets moving on 2GHz auctions here, I'd like to see Leap jumping into our free for all market where they can do any pricing scheme they like. But right now, it seems the 2GHz auction is not expected before mid 2000. There are political fights going on now, so maybe that will be resolved sooner, but with an election looming, I guess the government won't want to get into a racial war. It seems to me an election is a good time to resolve little issues like whether NZ should continue to develop apartheid further. I'm sure the majority would be against. But the politicians are very nervous about the issue. Opposing slavery is never popular among the slave owners. They'd have to work for a living! Maurice