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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Globalstar Telecommunications Limited GSAT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: djane who wrote (7517)9/23/1999 2:03:00 PM
From: djane  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 29987
 
Qualcomm CEO Sees 1 Mln Globalstar Satellite Phone Customers
(via G* yahoo thread)

San Diego, California, Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc. Chief Executive Irwin Jacobs said
Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd., the satellite-telephone operator for which it's making equipment, can
reach a million customers pretty quickly.

Globalstar counts the world's the largest wireless-services company, Vodafone AirTouch Plc, among its
partners. The company will officially announce the availability of its service at Telecom '99 in Geneva next
month.

Of course, investors will be concerned about Globalstar's prospects, Jacobs said, since Iridum LLC and
ICO Global Communications Ltd., two other satellite-telephone services providers, have had to see
bankruptcy court protection from creditors. ``It'll be largely a soft launch,' he said of Globalstar's expected
announcement. ``Then, gradually, each operator will decide when it's appropriate to go into the full
commercial launch. I would expect much of that will happen about the beginning of the year.'

Jacobs said he expects to see demand for satellite phones rise as the regional operators ``do their part' to
market and support the service. ``I won't predict anything, but I would hope we get fairly quickly past the
million (subscriber) mark,' he said.

That milestone could be reached in ``a year, optimistically,' he said, ``but probably more than a year.'


Selling the Handset Business

Jacobs, who is also the company's chairman, said in an interview at PCS '99 in New Orleans that Qualcomm
is talking with ``several different parties' about buying its wireless handset business by the end of the year.
``There are several worldwide companies that have expressed interest, so we're now exploring that,' he
said, without being more specific. ``We'd like to see (the sale) result in another strong manufacturer that
perhaps has a more worldwide presence than we have,' he said. The new owner could choose to keep using
the Qualcomm name in the U.S., however.

Selling the handset business also means Qualcomm will have to determine the future of its Qualcomm
Personal Electronics joint venture with Sony Corp. The venture started as a cooperative manufacturing
operation, to help both companies make phones using the code-division multiple access -- or CDMA --
technology that Qualcomm invented. ``What we expected ... was that they would end up with 90 percent of
the sales because of their very strong brand name, and we would end up with maybe 10 percent,' Jacobs
said. ``But over time it actually went the other way.'

Sony decided to exit the North American CDMA handset business in the third quarter, but remains part of
the joint venture for now.

Qualcomm is also looking at ways to expand its OmniTRACS business, which lets companies manage fleets
of vehicles, he said. The business is profitable and generates cash, Jacobs said without providing details.

quote.bloomberg.com
c70943ada9&view=story&version=marketslong99.cfg



To: djane who wrote (7517)9/23/1999 6:30:00 PM
From: David Wiggins  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 29987
 
djane, Your reasoning is sound, you are right already. I suspect market may bottom tomorrow though. That may be best time to cover. Just my 2 cents

Regards, Dave



To: djane who wrote (7517)9/23/1999 7:40:00 PM
From: gdichaz  Respond to of 29987
 
djane: I long ago gave up trying to time the market, but I would bet that the market may have bottomed today in the late selloff. Interest rates went down sharply. The dollar/yen steadied. The tax cut was vetoed. The balance of payments remains a mess - but no one really gives a damn. BUT and this is the BIG BUT, I doubt that G* has seen its own individual bottom yet. You are the expert. Go to it. Chaz