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Technology Stocks : Global Crossing - GX (formerly GBLX) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ellen who wrote (4493)	2/24/2000 9:12:00 AM
From: TechMkt	Respond to of 15615

Lot's of good words on GBLX. Fez ___________________________ Wholesale Report Card: Carriers Struggle to Meet Fiber Demand BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 2000--A bottleneck in the equipment needed to make fiber-optic networks operational is hampering the ability of long distance carriers to meet customer demand for Internet, data, and broadband services. According to a recent survey of long distance resellers, carriers are struggling for market advantage as they rush to meet the demand for fiber. Resellers gave Global Crossing (Frontier) a top ranking in its ability to provide customers with services overall, followed by MCI WorldCom and Williams. But no carriers are successfully differentiating themselves in the "provisioning" category, a critical factor in resellers' purchasing decisions. The survey of resellers was performed by the Boston-based telecommunications strategy and consulting firm, ATLANTIC-ACM. The survey also shows that some wholesale providers, including Qwest, have priced themselves ahead of the market, over-promising and under-delivering on services. Resellers gave Qwest among the highest rankings for competitive pricing, but Qwest's rating on interval speed was the lowest of all ratings in the study, indicating under-delivery for customers. Among the "Big Three" carriers, resellers state AT&T has made significant improvements in its customer service. AT&T ranked last in customer satisfaction among resellers in the 1998 edition of the survey, while rating first place in service in 2000. Sprint placed second, and MCI WorldCom placed fourth in rankings behind Global Crossing. The survey shows that smaller carriers are successfully carving out a market niche by differentiating themselves on provisioning or price. Qwest led the survey in price satisfaction, while AT&T and Sprint fared poorly. On provisioning, however, Qwest was at the bottom, with Global Crossing at the top. AT&T, MCI WorldCom, and Sprint received above average scores overall from resellers in the 2000 survey. But, overall high scores given to smaller players show they are competing effectively on the services offered. Global Crossing scored above the industry average overall, with new player Williams -- rated by a smaller number of customers -- at the top of the range of overall scores. Satisfaction with billing practices is another area where the largest carriers have been unable to turn their market dominance into an advantage. Flexibility is a key concern among resellers and carrier overall scores are lower in 2000 than they were in 1998, with scores for most carriers close to the average. But among the "Big Three," only Sprint makes it into the top three spots, coming in second. Global Crossing leads, with Teleglobe in third and Qwest and Williams tied for fourth.