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Technology Stocks : Broadband Wireless Access [WCII, NXLK, WCOM, satellite..] -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: transmission who wrote (757)	10/5/1999 4:57:00 PM
From: Mazman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1860

WinStar (WCII) 40 13/16 +5/8 (from Briefing.com) If the famous scene in the Graduate, (where an adult offers Dustin Hoffman one word for the future: "Plastic!"), were reshot today, the one word might be: fiber. As the most tangible aspect, currently, for broadband internet access, fiber networks are a necessity. And they will only get bigger. Wireless for the time being, is likely to be present only in the so-called "last mile," where the system connects to you. There are a number of companies building fiber networks as fast as they can. WinStar is one of them. Metromedia Fiber Networks (MFNX) is another. (Global Crossing, Qwest, and WorldCom are some more.) The long term goal of these networks is not telephone long distance traffic, it is data traffic. In the rush to be bigger, some of the smaller players are teaming up with each other. WinStar is one of the most aggressive deal makers out there. Already deeply intertwined with Williams Communications (a utility company turned long distance phone company, then spun off), today's deal with Metromedia Fiber Networks gives them even more fiber access. Metromedia has specialized in dark-fiber, which is fiber network without a software protocol; the user supplies their own. WinStar will use the fiber network for IP-based data transmission and voice traffic. This is a win-win deal for both companies. WinStar immediately rises in capacity for its networks, which it leases to businesses for phone and data service. Suddenly businesses with offices across the country can hire WinStar as their leased network provider, and WinStar can keep the traffic entirely within their system. Metromedia will even custom wire specific buildings for WinStar. Metromedia adds yet another multi-year lease to its books. $300 million over 20 years is only $15 million per year (although it probably starts lower and ramps up over the years), but Metromedia has so many 10-20 year contracts now that future revenue is very predictable, at least the minimum level is.