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To: carranza2 who wrote (87995)	11/21/2000 5:15:11 PM
From: Cooters	Respond to of 152472

Wi-Lan Falls for 2nd Day on Concern Company Won't Set Standard --From AOl.-- Cooters Calgary, Alberta, Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Wi-Lan Inc. shares fell for a second straight day on concern the company is running out of time to persuade telecommunications companies that its wireless technology should become an industry standard. Wi-Lan shares fell C$2.35 ($1.52), or 20 percent, to $9.25 in Toronto trading. The manufacturer of wireless-networking equipment has lost almost half its value since Monday, when it said revenue excluding acquisitions would be C$50 million instead of the C$84 million forecast by analysts. The shortfall highlights the slow acceptance of Wi-Lan's flagship W-OFDM technology, which allows the transmission of data at high speeds over wireless networks. Wi-Lan shares touched C$94 in March, bid up by investors who believed Wi-Lan was on the verge of establishing W-OFDM as a new industry standard. ``Wi-Lan looked like it might be a bit of a Qualcomm story, where it would get the whole industry united on their technology platform,'' said fund manager Peter Schendel of Strathy Investment Management, who said he bought Wi-Lan last year at C$5, and sold it in February when it hit C$50. In 1999, shares of cellular telephone-maker Qualcomm Inc. soared more than 25-fold after the company established the CDMA wireless transmission standard. Wi-Lan hasn't been so successful. The company has racked up a handful of W-OFDM sales to date, mostly to start-ups that might never have the money to pay for the technology, Schendel said. ``Their contracted revenues are totally in doubt. The adoption of the technology isn't really there by the big names.'' The lack of market penetration has been blamed on competition from Cisco Systems Inc., which is backing its own competing technology, called V-OFDM, and the fact the market for high-speed wireless products has been slow to develop. In 2001, less than 10 percent, or C$4.5 million, of Wi-Lan's anticipated $50 million in product sales are expected to come from the company's W-OFDM-related products, estimates CIBC World Markets analyst Todd Coupland. The majority of Wi-Lan's revenue will continue to be derived from older products. A week ago Coupland issued a research report rating the company a ``speculative strong buy,'' and touting Wi-Lan's management team, technological leadership and market positioning. Today, Coupland issued a second report, downgrading his 52- week price target on the Calgary, Alberta-based company by a factor of 10, to C$24 from C$250. ``Management has lost all credibility on the Street,'' said Schendel. ``They just haven't been able to execute and bring in the big orders people were looking for.'' Nov/21/2000 16:42 ET