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Technology Stocks : John, Mike & Tom's Wild World of Stocks -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Chip McVickar who wrote (1363)	6/22/2000 12:59:00 PM
From: John Pitera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2850

Hi Chip thanks for the T article, I do believe that T is an unloved and undervalued stock. T made a nice purchase of wireless properties in SF, SD and Houston, this past week, so they continue to grow the higher margin areas of their business ------------ Monday June 19 6:15 PM ET AT&T Wireless to Buy 3 Wireless Systems NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Wireless Group Inc. (NYSE:AWE - news) said on Monday it will buy wireless telephone systems serving more than 1.3 million customers in San Francisco, San Diego and Houston for $3.3 billion in cash to fill in gaps in its wireless network coverage. AT&T Wireless will buy the networks from Vodafone AirTouch Plc (VOD.L), Bell Atlantic Corp. (NYSE:BEL - news) and GTE Corp. (NYSE:GTE - news), which were required to shed certain overlapping wireless properties in order to form their new U.S venture, Verizon Wireless. Federal regulation limits the wireless capacity a company can own in each market. The deal will allow AT&T Wireless, the tracking stock that reflects AT&T Corp.'s (NYSE:T - news) wireless telephone operations, to move into the last three cities in the top 15 U.S. markets that did not have AT&T-branded wireless services. ``It's a nice fit. It really worked out for us that Verizon had to do so much shedding and we were able to do, in one swoop, a three-in-one deal,'' AT&T Wireless Chairman John Zeglis said in a telephone interview. Speak your mind Discuss this story with other people. [Start a Conversation] (Requires Yahoo! Messenger) Shares of AT&T Wireless gained 15/16 to 28-9/16. Shares of the AT&T parent company gained 7/16 to 33-13/16. Both stocks trade on the New York Stock Exchange. AT&T Wireless, which launched a record $10.6 billion initial public offering in April, said it expects to build out nine new markets on its own and pursue additional acquisitions by the end of this year. AT&T Wireless currently serves more than 12.5 million customers. ``By the end of the year...we will be almost complete in the nation's top 50 markets and we'll be closing in on the top 100,'' Zeglis said. As AT&T Wireless increases the networks it owns and operates, it will be able to cut roaming costs -- the fees it pays to send its customers' calls over wireless networks owned by other telephone companies. AT&T Wireless said the acquisitions, which are expected to close by year-end, will reduce its roaming expenses by about 8-10 percent a year. On a full-year basis, the deals will add about $850 million in revenues to AT&T Wireless and more than $300 million of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, excluding other income). AT&T Wireless expects to spend about $275 million over two years in part to change the equipment and technology in Houston and San Diego to match the rest of its systems nationally, Zeglis said. The deals may cut the profits of the AT&T parent company by about 2-3 cents a shares. Under terms of the deals, AT&T is buying the remaining 47 percent stake in a San Francisco wireless partnership it doesn't already own from Vodafone AirTouch. It is buying the San Diego system from GTE and the Houston system from PrimeCo PCS, a partnership of Bell Atlantic and Vodafone. Before the deal, AT&T already owned 55 percent of a competing wireless system in Houston. AT&T expects regulators will require adjustments of its holdings in that market. AT&T Wireless will shift its new markets to the AT&T Wireless brand as soon as possible after the acquisitions close, Zeglis said. AT&T plans to dispose its remaining stake in AT&T Wireless through a stock dividend, an exchange offer, or a secondary offering.