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Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LBstocks who wrote (9883)	5/10/2000 11:01:00 AM
From: Ruffian	Respond to of 13582

US West begins national expansion By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com May 9, 2000, 11:00 p.m. PT The smallest of the local phone giants will announce tomorrow a move into SBC Communications' territory, kicking off a business-focused high-speed Net service in Sacramento, Calif. That's the first step in a dance that will bring it to San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose later this year, and 21 other cities by the end of next year, executives say. The move is an early sign of the blurring of the once-sharp lines between the "Baby Bell" phone companies, which have existed as monopolies or near-monopolies in their own geographic territories for more than 15 years. "This is a very strategic effort on the part of US West and the combined company, as part of an effort to establish a beachhead across the country," said Steve Starliper, vice president of US West's national integration division. US West, which is the primary communications provider in a 14-state region across the Mid- and Northwest, is facing steep competition in its national ambitions, however. The other, larger local phone companies also are looking for national footprints. SBC Communications has committed to entering 30 new cities in 30 months as it delivers on promises to regulators made in the course of its merger with Ameritech. Bell Atlantic, which is trying to merge with giant GTE, also has national dreams. Already the company has garnered a coast-to-coast wireless footprint by merging operations with Vodafone under the new Verizon Wireless brand name. US West's initial services will be geared for small and medium-sized businesses seeking either a relatively low-cost high-speed Net service, or a full package of services ranging from Web design and hosting to the Net access itself. The company will also pursue individual buildings as customers, using Qwest's network to help wire them with high-speed connections accessible to multiple tenants. That's just the first stage of the plan, however. Starliper said the company plans to offer services for work-at-home businesses and consumers in the new markets within a year or 18 months of beginning service. SBC, which will be the first major company with which US West competes, downplayed the effect of its new rivals. "We welcome competition," said John Britton, a spokesman for Pacific Bell, SBC's California division. "When new companies come in and start cherry-picking business customers, there's already dozens and dozens of companies doing that. They're not offering anything new for most customers." US West's merger with Qwest has already been approved by federal regulators, but still faces scrutiny by some states. uswest.com:80/home/products/everywhere_line/qcp_thinphone_saphire.html

To: LBstocks who wrote (9883)	5/10/2000 11:24:00 AM
From: Caxton Rhodes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 13582

It is more than interesting that the analyst downgrading MOT is the same one that upgraded his QCOM earnings estimates yesterday.

To: LBstocks who wrote (9883)	5/10/2000 3:23:00 PM
From: Dennis Roth	Respond to of 13582

Motorola plans speedy GPRS roll-out totaltele.com By Vanessa Clark, Total Telecom 10 May 2000 Motorola has dismissed reports that GPRS roll-out will be delayed due to handset and kit shortages and is set to announce its first commercial deployment "shortly". Speaking at a Motorola customer event, Expanding Horizons, on Monday Ted Hally, corporate vice president and general manager of Motorola GSM systems division, said: "We will be able to meet our customers' full commercial volume demands." Indeed, the company plans to "announce shortly" its first commercial deal, but Hally did not reveal which operator will be first to market with a GPRS service. He said the first GPRS handset to be released by the company will support WAP and "one plus two" up- and downlink speeds, with a new model set to be released by the end of the year offering up to "one plus four" speeds. The company also exhibited a GPRS-enabled two-way pager style device as well as a PDA. Both are expected to be shipped by the end of the year. "We are shipping now in quantities because we decided to commit resources earlier than anyone else," said Hally. Bo Hedfors, Motorola's executive vice president and president of the network solutions sector dismissed concerns about lack of standardization in the area. Some observers are concerned that the problems with WAP roll-out - namely lack of standardization and shortage of handsets - will delay the launch of GPRS. "There are enough standards in the field to launch a full commercial GPRS service today," he said. "We don't need to wait for standards - the standards can improve later." Despite their apparent bullishness, the company is remaining tightlipped about specific timescales and planned costs. It is currently trialling its end-to-end GPRS system with around 20 operators across Europe, Asia and Africa. Earlier this year U.K.'s BT Cellnet, one of Motorola's triallists, announced it plans a full commercial GPRS launch this summer. Motorola was even more tightlipped about its plans to launch Bluetooth-enabled products. Hally said there are set to be products out soon, but no date was revealed. It is likely the company will first launch Bluetooth add-ons that clip onto other devices. The Bluetooth consortium had expected product launches by the beginning of this year. Motorola and Ericsson exhibited Bluetooth at the GSM Congress in March. But according to a Motorola source, implementing the technology has proved difficult, especially in terms of minimizing the cost and size of the end device.