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 : QUALCOMM-The Wireless Wonder in 1999 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (328)	6/13/2000 8:25:00 AM
From: GO*QCOM	Respond to of 343

China Unicom IPO Heats UP aolpf.marketwatch.com. China Unicom IPO heats up Vodafone, Qualcomm said to be potential investors By Vivian Chu, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 6:19 AM ET Jun 13, 2000 NewsWatch Latest headlines HONG KONG (CBS.MW) - China Unicom Ltd., soon to be China?s second biggest publicly traded telecom firm once it goes public next week, is getting interest not just from international investors but also from industry players eager to grab a piece of the world?s fastest growing telecom market. China Unicom launched the sale of the public portion of its $5 billion IPO in Hong Kong Tuesday. It said in a statement that it has agreed to cooperate on roaming and mobile technology with the U.K. mobile giant Vodafone Airtouch, including a possible joint venture in China. However, it did not say whether Vodafone (VOD: news, chart) would buy a portion of its global offering. Also on Tuesday, the head of U.S. digital wireless company Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM: news, chart) said it was also eyeing a possible investment in China Unicom. ?We have and will continue to make strategic investments in carriers; if this helps them move more rapidly to CDMA, gets them more modern equipment as early as possible, we view it strategically in our interests,? said Qualcomm chief executive Irwin Jacobs at the Fifth Annual CDMA World Congress in Hong Kong. Though no formal talks with Unicom have begun, Jacobs noted that investing in the company is ?possible.? And given that Unicom plans to upgrade and develop its cellular, long-distance and data networks, ?it may be that there will be need for further investment,? he added. CDMA, or code division multiple access, is one of the main cellular standards for mobile phone technology. It is used in over thirty countries and regions, mainly in the U.S., Canada and South Korea. On Monday, China Unicom said it was in talks with several international telecom firms about possible strategic investments, but did not mention any names. NTT DoCoMo (NTDMY: news, chart) and France Telecom (FTE: news, chart) are among those firms reportedly interested in investing in China Unicom. It has already lined up one key investor - Hutchison Whampoa (HUWHY: news, chart), Hong Kong?s biggest conglomerate. Hutch said earlier this month it would invest $400 million in China Unicom?s IPO as part of a broad business partnership. China Unicom, which is winding up a global roadshow before its shares start trading in New York next Wednesday, has met strong institutional demand for its global offering, which is ?well oversubscribed,? said chairman Yang Xianzu, speaking to Hong Kong investors from London. In response to investor demand and a global rally in telecom stocks in recent sessions, China Unicom on Monday revised upwards its IPO target price range to 13.66 to 15.84 Hong Kong dollars, from the original target of 11.50 to 14.50 Hong Kong dollars. The company?s public share sale starting today involves 122.95 million shares, or 5 percent of the company. Pricing of the shares will be fixed on Friday. Unicom?s American Depository Receipts (ADRs) will start trading in New York on June 21; the proposed ticker is ?CHU.? Hong Kong trading in the shares will commence the following day.

To: GO*QCOM who wrote (328)	6/13/2000 8:28:00 AM
From: GO*QCOM	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 343

Qualcomm Lauds China Unicom Clarification on Technology Choice Hong Kong, June 13 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc., the San Diego-based developer of one of the world's leading wireless phone networks, is pleased that China has clarified ambiguity by stating it will test the company's new generation technology, said Irwin Jacobs, Qualcomm chairman and chief executive. Conflicting signals about which technology China would adopt caused Qualcomm shares to drop almost 54 percent this year. China United Telecommunications Corp., or Unicom, said yesterday it will test Qualcomm's third-generation cell-phone network technology, known as code division multiple access, or CDMA, sometime next year in selected cities. If proven successful, the technology may eventually be adopted by subsidiary China Unicom Ltd., the country's soon-to-be- listed phone company. ``I am pleased with the announcement,'' said Jacobs. ``The stock market has been buffeted because there have been conflicting statements.'' The company's shares fell 26 percent in the last week of May after media and analysts, citing a variety of sources, said China's second-biggest phone company wouldn't use Qualcomm technology. Jacobs said confusion was caused because two different teams of people at Unicom were speaking independently. The experience hasn't soured Qualcomm on the mainland market, Jabobs said. ``They now are preparing to join the WTO,'' Jacobs said of the Chinese. ``So now you have another set of rules you have to play by. And it's changing very quickly. We look forward to working with China Unicom.'' Jacobs said the company may take an equity stake in a mobile phone operator, such as China Unicom, if that move would assist the advancement of CDMA technology. No formal discussions have been held with China Unicom, he said. Jun/13/2000 5:53 ET