I've been thinking, maybe I can get a part time job as an installer for COVD.
I've considered it! <g>
From Thesteet.com:
10 Things You Need to Know: Broadband's
Benefits Cut Wide Swath for Net Outfits
By Spencer E. Ante
Staff Reporter
1/6/00 10:33 AM ET
This story is part of a weeklong series that looks at the
top 10 trends to help you invest in the coming year.
Click on the tile at left to see other stories.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The interstate highway system
triggered the development of cities, suburbs and
businesses along its lonely stretches of pavement. In
the same way, an explosion in high-speed online networks could mean a
long-dreamt-of bonanza for Net content, services and applications companies
this year.
Wall Street has shown that it's confident the networks are getting in place to
make this high-speed Net access, called broadband, a reality for more
consumers and businesses. Fiber-optic equipment maker JDS Uniphase
(JDSU:Nasdaq - news) rose 850% in 1999, while Covad (COVD:Nasdaq -
news), a provider of digital subscriber lines, ended the year up more than
366% from its January IPO.
Financiers and analysts figure 2000 will bring
more gains to the smartest network builders. And
the new broadband networks they build will allow
services and applications to flourish. For instance,
J.P. Morgan figures the U.S. broadband opportunity for infrastructure,
services and applications will grow more than 30% annually to $100 billion by
2002 from $30 billion in 1998.
"We believe that bandwidth consumption will become the prime mover of an
increasingly technology-driven economy," says Mark Langner, an analyst at
J.P. Morgan.
Kong-Size Opportunity
Broadband and IP data services market projections
Note: Percentage change is from previous year. Source: J.P. Morgan Securities
The winners could include established companies like Yahoo!
(YHOO:Nasdaq - news), RealNetworks (RNWK:Nasdaq - news) and Exodus
(EXDS:Nasdaq - news).
Yahoo!, for instance, is leveraging its purchase of Broadcast.com and
reportedly developing a daily, two-hour live video program for the Net. And
whenever Web surfers demand richer audio and video, streaming media leader
RealNetworks stands to benefit.
Small Fry
And there are scores of small fry jostling to beat the bandwidth rush. The top
names that analysts cite are Launch Media (LAUN:Nasdaq - news), which
creates music content, Quokka Sports (QKKA:Nasdaq - news), which
provides sports programming, and EMusic (EMUS:Nasdaq - news), which
offers downloadable music.
Hand in hand with content is advertising. CMGI (CMGI:Nasdaq - news), which
has assembled a band of online marketing and advertising companies, is well
positioned here, analysts say.
"Advertising has been somewhat thwarted by narrowband," says Dan O'Brien,
an analyst at Forrester Research. "Rich advertising would greatly increase
the effectiveness of advertising."
More bandwidth also will help companies service consumers and businesses
over the Net. "You've got this opportunity to deliver a whole range of services
over this pipe," explains Peter Wagner, general partner with VC firm Accel
Partners. "I think that this story will take root in 2000."
One good example is the application service providers, or ASPs, which allow
people to use software without the large upfront costs. For instance, people
could dial in to rent constantly upgraded Microsoft Word rather than keeping
an aging copy on their PC.
Small Biz Goes Big on Broadband
Business broadband penetration projections
Source: J.P. Morgan Securities
Despite high start-up costs, software companies like Siebel (SEBL:Nasdaq -
news) and Oracle (ORCL:Nasdaq - news) have high hopes for the ASP
model. Sun Microsystems (SUNW:Nasdaq - news), a star stock in 1999, is
distributing its Star Office software over the Web. And USinternetworking
(USIX:Nasdaq - news) is focusing on the support and distribution of enterprise
software applications.
Bottleneck Breakers
Meanwhile, companies tackling the Internet's bottlenecks by routing, caching
or storing data may be less obvious bandwidth beneficiaries. Pioneers
Inktomi (INKT:Nasdaq - news) and Akamai (AKAM:Nasdaq - news) have the
advantage of an early lead. But there are promising newcomers.
iBeam, a private firm, has set up a satellite-based network for distributing
audio and video, and Xcelera.com's (XLA:Amex - news) Mirror Image, a
content distribution and caching service, look good, says Peter Christy, a
principal analyst with the Internet Research Group. (Christy has done
consulting for both companies.)
Another promising entrant is InterNAP (INAP:Nasdaq - news), whose network
of private Net tollbooths can send data along the shortest path across the
Internet. "I think InterNAP will be great for things like chat or email," says
James Callinan, portfolio manager of the RS Emerging Growth fund, which is
long InterNAP.
And someone is going to have to manage that content. Web hosting
companies like Exodus and Digital Island (ISLD:Nasdaq - news), both of
which store and maintain Web content and applications, will be busier as
more bits move around the new networks.
Just as the interstates took decades to build, there will be plenty more
broadband building down the road. "It's a bit of a misperception that we're
going to arrive at broadband at a certain point," says Munder Capital
portfolio manager Paul Cook. "The buildout is just starting." |
