Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : JDS Uniphase (JDSU) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kent Rattey who wrote (1703)	11/5/1999 5:46:00 PM
From: Beltropolis Boy	Respond to of 24042

here's some local flavor if you're interested. ----- Fibre-optics smorgasbord to satisfy hunger for data Addition of Optical to menu boosts dominance, analysts says TYLER HAMILTON 11/05/1999 The Globe and Mail Metro Page B11 JDS Uniphase Corp. is putting together the ingredients for a fibre-optics smorgasbord to feed the rocketing demand for high-speed data services. Analysts say JDS's $2.8-billion (U.S.) all-stock bid yesterday for Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. of Santa Rosa, Calif., further entrenches it as a dominant force in the market for fibre-optics parts -- the nuts and bolts of tomorrow's high-capacity, superfast data networks. In the past two months, JDS Uniphase has made four acquisitions, arming itself with a fuller menu of the skills and technologies it needs to stay at the forefront of its rapidly growing industry. Analysts say yesterday's bid is the latest -- but not the last -- taste of a consolidation trend sweeping the telecommunications sector. "It's a momentum that will continue," said Richard Woo, an analyst with Thomson Kernaghan & Co. in Montreal. "Because [JDS's] share price is doing so well, it's taking advantage of the opportunity to use its currency for acquisitions with little dilution. "It's just going to get bigger, and bigger and bigger." Mr. Woo said the telecommunications industry is in rapid transition, where the amount of data traffic flowing across the Internet and private corporate networks is exploding and the demand for speed has become heightened. Electronic commerce is driving more people and organizations to the Internet, and those already on the Net are using it for longer periods. Computers are no longer the only places to access the network; telephones, mobile phones, wireless organizers and a slew of other devices are pulling more people onto it. This is creating a corresponding demand for quicker access and greater capacity at the core of the various networks that form the Internet, reports the Boston-based research firm Yankee Group in a recent study on the data services market in Canada. The firm predicts the Canadian market will be worth $3.9-billion by 2002, compared with $2.9-billion this year. Mr. Woo said the infrastructure -- or backbone -- for this communications revolution will consist of an intricate web of fibre-optics networks, particularly an advanced breed of fibre-optics system called dense wave division multiplexing (DWDM). DWDM significantly increases the amount of data that each strand of optical fibre can carry, allowing telecommunications carriers and large organizations to run more traffic over their networks. Bob Hafner, vice-president of Gartner Group of Canada, said the country's major telecommunications companies are beefing up their networks with fibre-optics technology in anticipation of future demand. For example, Montreal-based overseas carrier Teleglobe Inc. is spending $5-billion as part of its own network upgrade. "There are a whole bunch of different projects out there, just lots and lots of fibre being put into the ground and water," Mr. Hafner said. For that fibre to work, it needs lasers, amplifiers and other equipment created by companies such as Nortel Networks Corp. and Lucent Technologies Inc. In turn, those companies need certain components to be able to build their network gear. "That's where companies such as JDS-Uniphase come in," Mr. Hafner said. E-Tek Dynamics Inc. and SDL Inc., both of San Jose, Calif., also compete with JDS in the fibre-optics components space, along with a couple of other major players. Mr. Woo said that number is not likely to increase because of the high barriers to entry. In contrast, he said, the number of players in the network equipment area will likely increase to about 14 from seven within the next 12 to 24 months. And that imbalance means that JDS's sector will experience "really strong" growth for the next six to nine years. JOZEF STRAUS Age: Mid-50s Company: JDS Uniphase Corp. Title: Co-chairman, president and chief operating officer Education: PhD in Physics, University of Alberta In a nutshell: An unassuming research physicist who emigrated from Czechoslavakia 30 years ago and was one of the founders of the company in 1981. In addition to his business success, he's probably best known for such idiosyncracies as wearing a black beret, holding business meetings at McDonald's and sporting a watch on each wrist. KEVIN KALKHOVEN Age: 55 Company: JDS Uniphase Corp. Title: Co-chairman and chief executive officer Education: BSc, Geology, Whitgiht School in Britain In a nutshell: An Australian native who joined Uniphase Corp. from the software sector and had the foresight to concentrate the laser component maker on the telecommunications sector five years ago. His hobbies include flying his own twin-engine Piper Seneca, skiing and scuba diving. CHARLES ABBE Age: 58 Company: Optical Coating Laboratory Inc. Title: President and chief executive officer Education: MBA, Stanford; MSc and BA, Chemical Engineering, Cornell In a nutshell: A former U.S. Air Force officer and senior partner at management consultancy McKinsey & Co. Inc. His pastimes include skiing and managing a vineyard in California.