Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : KVH Industries, Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: delmarbill who wrote (373)	3/23/2000 12:32:00 PM
From: Sector Investor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7249

The MSFT venture will be with Gilat - but it is FIXED satellite-to-home, and requires (of course) a windows PC, MSN and IE for browzing. I'll include both the link and the text, as Yahoo deletes them after a few weeks biz.yahoo.com This is MOBILE TV and Full-blown high speed Internet. That is the attraction. The phone technology is based on older satellites, but is not intended as a personal device, but more a permanent installation on a boat or ship. I think you want G* for personal phone use. FYI The MSFT-GILAT Text: Wednesday February 16, 8:00 pm Eastern Time FOCUS-Microsoft, Gilat offer satellite Web service (Adds detail, byline) By Chris Stetkiewicz REDMOND, Wash., Feb 16 (Reuters) - Software giant Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) and Israel's Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (NasdaqNM:GILTF - news) said on Wednesday they will offer high-speed, two-way satellite broadband Internet access in the United States by late 2000. The service will let Web users stay online even while talking on the telephone, eliminating the need for a second phone line and will be the first to provide high-speed outgoing e-mail and file transfers as well as downloads, the companies said. Microsoft will invest $50 million for a 26-percent stake in Gilat's new consumer satellite access service, McLean, Virginia-based Gilat-To-Home, which is now offering free trial service to some 20,000 users. The cost of the service was not disclosed, but the two companies said it would be comparable to that of competing broadband services like Digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs), which are currently unavailable to millions of Americans. ``This offering helps us ... (make) high-speed access a reality for more consumers, and joining forces with an industry leader like Gilat makes this possible,' said Richard Belluzzo, vice president of Microsoft's consumer group. America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news) last summer announced a deal with Hughes Electronics Corp. (NYSE:GMH - news) to market a television service expected to debut this fall and has also partnered with SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC - news) and Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL - news) to deliver DSL Internet service. Initial Gilat-To-Home subscribers will sign up for three years of Internet access through Microsoft's MSN network, but the new company will ultimately partner with other Internet service providers (ISPs) down the road. The service will eventually feature satellite broadcasts and multicasts of high quality live video and audio events and may someday include satellite television service. Customers will need a satellite-ready personal computer that runs on Microsoft Windows 1995 or 1998 operating system software and will use Microsoft's Internet Explorer to browse the Web. Gilat-To-Home is in talks with several manufacturers about providing PCs for the service, which will be available on conventional PCs as early as 2001, said Stan Schneider, a spokesman for Gilat. The service will also provide an indoor-outdoor satellite antenna called a very small aperture terminal (VSAT), of which Microsoft plans to buy an unspecified number over the first four years. Consumers will be able to sign up for the service at the more than 7,000 U.S.-based RadioShack stores as part of Microsoft's previously announced deal with Tandy Corp. (NYSE:TAN - news) to distribute MSN CDs. Gilat shares closed 9-1/4 higher at 149-1/4 in Wednesday trading on Nasdaq. Shares of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft ended down 15/16 at 97-5/8. Both Microsoft and Gilat will contribute significant technology and financial resources to the new company, which will be led by Chief Executive Zur Feldman, formerly executive vice president of operations at Packard Bell Electronics Inc. Feldman, along with Jon DeVaan, senior vice president for Microsoft's Consumer Group, and Yoel Gat, chairman and CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks, will serve on Gilat-To-Home's board.