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Technology Stocks : Frank Coluccio Technology Forum - ASAP -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (514)	11/28/1999 11:54:00 PM
From: mthomas	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

at 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. PST the SI boards were so slow I went elsewhere....that site was a bit slow for this time of night, but not like SI was. Can never tell if it is my ISP or the upstream stuff...unless someone else asks. Martin Thomas

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (514)	11/29/1999 1:37:00 AM
From: Ahda	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

Frank I don t agree with you about t my own feeling is very non tech but I think of two cables running into one house one TV one broadband yes video if poor on broadband but then interactive so what does that mean a third cable coming into the house for the TV digital interactive Then I think security broadband not so secure right? So I tend to think T is not all to sure if a huge percent of the populace is going to want cable never mind the legality that has hampered them. I have friends that have put TV cable in and taken it out the benefit to them wasn't there. So back to broadband AOL would be the best presenter of broadband due to word of mouth and chatting that goes on over there.. Could it be they see added costs in broadband and Site Speed problems? I think T sees that initial cost in broadband is difficult to budget for.. Project Angel? HDTV Back to speed and SP problem and the numerous calls that have to be handled is it site or is it broadband There are many hidden costs in aside from the installation due to the tech problems of commercial net. I don't feel as you do about T

To: Frank A. Coluccio who wrote (514)	11/30/1999 4:22:00 AM
From: wonk	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1782

Frank, regarding T's cable purchases and tracking stocks, a couple of quick thoughts: ...Is this a belated revelation on their part that perhaps they spent a ton going after an old dog in the bush, only to find a much better value in their bird in the hand? #reply-12086471 If I do say so myself <g>, I think my comment when the T acquisition of TCI was first announced still apply... ...T has been, and remains, the most vulnerable to RBOC entry into LD. In a year, SNET took something over 30% of the residential LD in Connecticut after the passage of the 96 Act. Replay that across the board and you have a disaster on your hands, since T is top-heavy residential.... Notwithstanding the fact that both deals were pricey, what else could they do? ... #reply-5070395 I believe the cable foray was / is motivated by following two, equally important facts: (1) within the acquired companies territories, the reach of the infrastructure is near ubiquitous and hence superior, from a marketing perspective, to the available wireless or fiber CLEC alternatives, while holding out the promise for a cost-efficient upgrade (speaking relatively) for voice and broadband data services and (2) T purchased revenues which significantly diversified its overall revenue composition and greatly mitigated the assured future loss of residential LD revenues and market share. In fact, the latter point is probably more significant (from a finance and shareholder value perspective), but the former shaped the direction since the market would not have tolerated a non-telecom related purchase of this size. As for tracking stocks, I haven't found an authoritative reference for the rules but here is a brief summary: ...While companies have a great deal of flexibility in establishing the terms and conditions of tracking stock, complex accounting and tax rules restrict how tightly the rights of a class of tracking stock may be tied to the division or group being tracked. Among the basic terms and conditions which need to be established for a class of tracking stock are the following: 1.Voting Rights 2.Liquidation Rights 3.Dividend Rights and Policies 4.Mandatory and Optional Exchanges 5.Retained Interests 6.Inter-Division Transactions... biospace.com As for ...What will this list of burdens look like in the wireless realm in another year or so? Do you think they will have changed their air interface direction by then? Will the fixed wireless space be cannibalized by the effects caused by startups and other newly acquired spectrum players? T's quest (no pun intended), as is WCOM's, FON's is for a ubiquitous (there's that word again) solution. All of the aforementioned burdens, IMO, pale in comparison to the problems associated with having a crazy-quilt, patchwork set of technology platforms across the country ostensibly providing a common set of business and residential services. I'm sure you far better than I, could expound upon the rationale and the practices of the pre-divestiture Ma Bell, e.g., the BSTJ, Notes on the Network, etc. Notwithstanding all the good that has come out of divestiture, there is much to be emulated if one wishes to recreate a single source solution for end-users. I would suggest that in its attempt to re-enter the local space T needs, as close as they can get, a common technology solution to maximize the efficiency of nationwide technical, sales, marketing, and customer support expenditures. T could have purchased a Winstar 2 years ago (real cheap) and gotten a lot more bang for the buck (in terms of spectrum and footprint) than what they got in TCG from the TCI deal. But they would not have got any significant revenues. I think its safe to say that at that time T was unwilling to stake the perception of its local strategy and to some degree its corporate future on a predominately wireless last mile solution. Today - at least for today - the market is giving them credit for a wireless solution - in addition to their cable endeavors. ww