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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: T L Comiskey who wrote (61669)	1/12/2000 1:53:00 AM
From: LBstocks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

The Five Horsemen of Wireless January 11, 2000 19:10 Local and long distance telecommunications company Bell Atlantic (NYSE: BEL) added 874,000 wireless customers in the fourth quarter of last year, ending 1999 with 7.7 million wireless subscribers, up 24% from last year. If the numbers are right, that could make Bell Atlantic the fastest-growing wireless service in the U.S. for the most recent quarter, a title held by rival Sprint PCS (NYSE: PCS) for most of the year. Given the size and fragmentation of the U.S. wireless industry, it may be worth a quick look at the lay of the land, with a focus on the big ponies. Five companies have emerged as wireless carriers with a significant nationwide footprint. The players are AT&T (NYSE: T), the Bell Atlantic/Vodafone (NYSE: VOD) joint venture, Sprint PCS, a subsidiary of Sprint (NYSE: FON) that trades as a tracking stock, Nextel (Nasdaq: NXTL), and VoiceStream Wireless (Nasdaq: VSTR). The numbers are moving targets due to churn rates and regular updates, but here's a rough look at how they rank based on numbers of U.S. subscribers. AT&T 12.0 million Bell Atlantic 7.7 million Sprint PCS 4.7 million* Nextel 4.1 million* VoiceStream 1.5 million** * Doesn't include Q4 ** Includes the pending acquisitions of Omnipoint and Aerial. With U.S. wireless telephone penetration rates still low compared to Europe, the market is expected to keep growing fast. At last count, there were 83.8 million wireless subscribers in the U.S., up 21% from 69.2 million last year, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association. That means the nationwide players have roughly 36% market share in an industry consolidating faster than you can say "10-10-321." Big wireless deals in the last few months include MCI WorldCom's (Nasdaq: WCOM) proposed $129 billion purchase of Sprint, which would provide the long- distance juggernaut an instant wireless presence; AT&T's alliance with Dobson Communications to buy privately held American Cellular for $2.3 billion, and VoiceStream's $3 billion stock deal to buy Aerial Communications (Nasdaq: AERL). Wireless players like Sprint PCS are growing faster than the overall market, which means they're gobbling market share. Sprint, for example, added more than 2.9 million subscribers from Q4 1998 through Q3 1999, more than doubling its total subscriber base in one year, according to a company official. The need to build out a national wireless network is driving the consolidation, and the trend is expected to continue as the market remains fragmented. In most major markets there are generally at least five competing companies, according to a recent Morgan Stanley Dean Witter report. For a glimpse at how busy the wireless market is, just go to Wirelessadvisor.com and type in your zip code for a list of companies licensed to provide wireless service. I typed mine, in Laurel, Maryland, and got a list of seven companies. If last year's merger and acquisition rate is any indication, it won't be like that for much longer.