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Technology Stocks : Westell WSTL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Curtis who wrote (19823)	8/3/2000 4:28:34 PM
From: Sir Auric Goldfinger	Respond to of 21342

Buy more! I cannot believe you pinata investors are going to let me have the best of you 4 times in less than a month, but WHATEVER! "Westell Falls After Analyst Says SBC May Order Fewer Modems Aurora, Illinois, Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Westell Technologies Inc. shares fell as much as 21 percent after an analyst said SBC Communications Inc. may order fewer of the company's modems this quarter. Westell, which makes equipment to deliver high-speed Internet connections on ordinary phone lines, fell 2 7/16 to 16 in late trading after dropping to 14 1/2 earlier today. The stock has more than doubled in the past year. SBC in June switched responsibility of turning on customers' fast Web service to its Advanced Services Inc. unit from the parent to comply with regulatory guidelines for the No. 2 local- telephone company's purchase of Ameritech Corp., Jefferies & Co. analyst Joseph Bellace said. The transition slowed the pace at which new customers' services could be installed, he said. ``You're not installing as many and you're building up some inventory,'' said Bellace, who lowered his rating on Westell to ``hold'' from ``buy.'' ``In all likelihood, SBC will ship the inventory in the channel to meet these installs rather than purchasing new equipment.'' The possibility of a strike at Verizon Communications also may limit Aurora, Illinois-based Westell's orders during the current quarter, Bellace said. Bellace also lowered his rating to ``hold'' from ``buy'' on Efficient Networks Inc., the No. 1 maker of modems used for high- speed Internet access on phone lines. Shares of Efficient, based in Dallas, rose 1 15/16 to 57. --Justin Baer in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2300 or jbaer1@bloomberg.net, through the Chicago newsroom (312) 692- 3720/jcl"

To: John Curtis who wrote (19823)	8/3/2000 4:36:35 PM
From: Czechsinthemail	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 21342

John, I was also struck by the oddity of the comments about costs being reduced by greater reliance on self-installed and higher than normal inventory levels. My take on it is that this trend would be a positive for Westell and SBC, since it cuts down on both the costs and time delays in installing new service. It should allow SBC to promote DSL service more aggressively if they are less encumbered by installation delays. Conceivably, higher than normal inventory levels may be an indicator of the lumpiness in SBC orders. But it could also be an indication that they are stocking more in anticipation of installing more. Similarly, the increased trend toward self-installed DSL mitigates the potential problems of a Verizon strike. Even if you have the worst case scenario: a prolonged strike that slows up the ability to take orders or make installations, you can bet that the company would aggressively promote the do-it-yourself DSL installations as a way of playing catch up at their earliest opportunity.

To: John Curtis who wrote (19823)	8/3/2000 10:16:09 PM
From: P. Ramamoorthy	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 21342

John, Re.:"...Looking forward, we expect the cost of provisioning DSL service at SBC will be significantly reduced because 50 percent of new DSL lines will be self-installed by Dec. 2000 compared to the 10 to 15 percent today," Bellace wrote. "Our analysis indicates that there may be more-than-normal levels of inventory in the channel." The confusion is with the word "provisioning". There are self-installed DSL modems available to ISP customers. It takes customers about two hours to install, may be two hours to visit the store and get it. If a self-installed modem is available, are they going to wait for SBC (or Pac Bell) to send out technicians to install? Normally it takes at least a month to schedule a visit for installation. The question is what happens to modems in the inventory waiting to be installed by technicians. This inventory decreases slowly compared to direct installation variety. This is what the author of this report must imply. jmo. Ram.