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To: MileHigh who wrote (4928)	1/8/2000 6:40:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 13582

McCain's letters to FCC, other agencies released WASHINGTON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Senate panel headed by Republican presidential candidate John McCain released hundreds of letters on Saturday that he had sent to agencies under his committee's jurisdiction, a spokesman said. The move by the Senate Commerce Committee followed suggestions that the Arizona senator -- who has made limiting campaign contributions by big companies a major part of his presidential campaign -- was doing favors for big donors to his campaigns. McCain has denied acting improperly or that he used poor judgment. His committee, which oversees the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Aviation Administration, among others, released more than 500 letters over the past three years between McCain and the agencies, McCain spokesman Howard Opinsky said. ''Senator McCain wanted to release all the correspondence that he's had between himself and the various agencies under his jurisdiction as the chairman of the Commerce Committee so that the voters could see that Senator McCain has written letters to prod the agencies into action and to make sure that taxpayers are getting exactly what is expected out of the federal bureaucracy,'' Opinsky said. The release came days after it was reported that McCain asked the FCC to help major donors to his campaigns, including local telephone companies and broadcasters, according to recent letters. In 1991, the Senate Ethics Committee found McCain had used poor judgment in meeting with federal regulators on behalf of Arizona savings and loan boss Charles Keating. A recent Newsweek poll showed McCain trailing front-runner Texas Gov. George W. Bush by a double-digit margin for the Republican presidential nomination. The survey of registered Republican voters showed Bush leading McCain by 63 percent to 13 percent. Eleven percent were undecided. Bush led McCain by a similar margin in the last Newsweek poll conducted in November. A total of 753 people aged 18 and older were polled in the survey conducted on Jan. 6 and 7. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 points.

To: MileHigh who wrote (4928)	1/8/2000 7:51:00 PM
From: LBstocks	Respond to of 13582

FOCUS-Kyocera, Goldman form $285 mln venture fund By Yuka Obayashi TOKYO, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Japanese electronics group Kyocera Corp and U.S. investment firm Goldman Sachs said on Friday they would create a fund to invest in high-tech start-up ventures, opening up a new path for one of Japan's traditional companies. The 30 billion yen ($285 million) fund will be formed later this month with Kyocera injecting 10 billion yen and Goldman (NYSE:GS - news) 20 billion yen, the companies said in a joint statement. ``We hope to introduce U.S. venture investment methodologies and give startups both financial and management backups,' Kazuo Inamori, Kyocera founder and honorary chairman, told a joint news conference. The fund will focus on startup companies in Japan's infotech, Internet, and telecommunications sectors, and it represents Kyocera's first step into the venture fund business. ``This may be the sign for change in Kyocera's strategy -- shifting its cash into investment in venture business from actual takeover of companies,' said Motoharu Sone, Universal Securities analyst. FOCUS ON JAPAN'S 'GROWTH' SECTOR Goldman said it would be the first venture capital fund it has ever participated in during its entire 130-year history. ``We are very optimistic about the future of Asia and particularly the future of Japan,' Henry Paulson, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs Group told the news conference. ``There is just dramatic change and the time is right and we need to get involved early on and the year 2000 is precisely the right time to enter the business,' he said. Kyocera itself is known as one of Japan's most successful startups and the creation of the Kyocera Goldman Sachs Venture Fund comes as global investors take a closer look at Japanese ventures with potential for long-term capital returns, possibly through eventual share listings. Japan recently has made it easier for such cash-strapped firms to raise money by going public. Last month, the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) launched a new market for growth stocks called Mothers (short for Market for High Growth and Emerging Stocks). A sister version of the U.S. Nasdaq exchange will also debut in Japan later this year and attempt to attract high-quality growth enterprises with a likely focus on the high-tech sector. SIGN OF POSSIBLE KYOCERA CHANGE? Kyocera, the world's largest marker of integrated circuit ceramic packages, traditionally has expanded its business through mergers. But already it has started to move down the path of investing in high-tech companies with potential. It owns 25 percent of Japanese telecom firm DDI Corp , which is due to merge with two other Japanese telecom firms to create the country's second biggest telecom group. Inamori, Kyocera's charismatic founder, is also known for his enthusiasm to support venture companies by hosting his own venture seminars whose students include billionaire Masayoshi Son, leader of Internet invester Softbank Corp . ``Combining Kyocera's expertise in finding new promising venture businesses and Goldman's financial expertise would make a strong pair,' Warburg Dillon Read analyst Yoshiharu Izumi said. NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO STOP SHARE SLIDE Although most analysts welcome Kyocera's tie-up with an established investment banker like Goldman Sachs, some doubt whether it will translate into better earnings or reverse a recent downtrend in the group's share price. ``The tie-up has a limited impact on Kyocera's earnings in the short run and is not good enough to stop the shares' correction, given the relatively small size of the investment,' Warburg's Izumi said. Kyocera's shares have tumbled since the beginning of the year, falling from last year's close of 26,500 yen to 18,500 on Friday as part of an overall correction in the nation's info-tech stocks after the U.S. Nasdaq lost ground earlier this week. ``Japan's bullish trend in info-tech stocks including Kyocera will remain in the long term. But since the company's shares climbed too high and too quickly last month, they may need some more correction,' Daiwa Research Institute analyst Fumihide Goto said. (1$=105.40 yen)

To: MileHigh who wrote (4928)	1/8/2000 8:23:00 PM
From: LBstocks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

TELSTRA: Telstra's CDMA brings improved mobile phone services to the bush M2 PRESSWIRE-7 January 2000-TELSTRA: Telstra's CDMA brings improved mobile phone services to the bush (C)1994-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD Telstra continues to progressively build and fine tune its $600 million CDMA network to ensure regional NSW communities receive comparable, and in some cases significantly improved coverage as compared to the analogue network. CDMA coverage is now available in the following areas where there previously was no or very poor analogue mobile phone coverage: Coonabarabran, Dubbo, Forbes, Gilgandra, Narrabri, Orange, Parkes, Wee Waa, Leeton, Ravensworth, Tamworth, Young, Blue Mountains (Linden, Lawson, Mount Victoria), Lithgow, Bilpin, Wyee, Port Macquarie, North Wollongong, Byron Bay and Murwillumbah. Telstra's CDMA Product Manager, Mr Greg Young, said this is a major step in enhancing telecommunications services in regional NSW. "Not only have we installed CDMA into the majority of analogue base stations but we have also built additional CDMA base stations in key locations that deliver coverage significantly better than analogue." Telstra engineers have tested CDMA and analogue in a number of key areas and found CDMA coverage to be very comparable to the analogue network, including the Singleton and Broke to Wollombi areas. "Our investigation into tests conducted by the Association for Protection of Users of Mobile Phones (APUMP) comparing CDMA and analogue found that their tests were conducted at locations that fall well outside the published analogue coverage areas and/or in areas where CDMA had not yet been switched on," Mr Young said. "There have also been criticisms by the NSW Farmers' Association. To date these criticisms have been based on anecdotal evidence. "There is currently very little short fall in the CDMA performance. People need to understand CDMA is not fully operational in all analogue areas. In some areas we are continuing to build the new network and fine-tune it as it comes on-line. "At the fringe of coverage areas, where performance is variable, there may exist differences between CDMA and analogue where CDMA may operate over small areas where analogue didn't and vice versa. "In areas where CDMA has not yet been rolled out, the analogue network will continue to service regional communities until the full CDMA network is operational. "The CDMA rollout will continue to take place over the coming months. Telstra is on target with its rollout plan and in a number of areas we are ahead of schedule," said Mr Young. The CDMA network will be switched on in Griffith, West Wyalong, Balranald, Jerilderie, Deniliquin, Hay, Lightening Ridge and Moree in the next few weeks. Telstra appreciates feedback and recommends customers with concerns call Telstra Customer Service on 018 018 111. CONTACT: Tim Scott, Public Affairs Manager, Telstra Tel: +61 02 9282 4868 e-mail: newsroom@telstra.com.au