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To: rr_burns who wrote (9706)	12/13/2000 1:39:45 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

OT Caramba! I've got more than I bargained for! I promise not to use the Canadians or Canada to illustrate my points anymore.

To: rr_burns who wrote (9706)	12/13/2000 2:19:16 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 12823

Negroponte is too 'Gilderian' on this topic. "Phone companies need to find a new pricing model, new ways to make money out of their subscribers. Companies that hang on to charging per bit or per mile or per minute as their key revenue source are ``dead, they're gone,'' he said. That is not a problem only of wireless. The ILECs would love to hear these 'new ways to make money'. Would he say that if ILECs don't they would also be dead gone?

To: rr_burns who wrote (9706)	12/13/2000 2:28:06 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Negroponte forgot Deflation There is over capacity in any industry you look at. There is deflation in all forms of transactions. There are low costs that are being passed to the consumer. We see many economists looking for productivity brought in by the applications of the computer and networks. But the end result of cheap computers and networks is not high productivity. IT IS LOW PRICES!!! But economists are rooted in an industrial era and keep seeking higher productivity. The wireless industry grew by offering convenience in providing people telephony. People were willing to pay a premium on a phone call to have this convenience. What started as a rich kids toy is now poor-man phone. Most of the grow of GSM 2G today is developing countries with pre-paid cards. There will be people in the Third World world that will never ever use a plugged telephone. What this has to do with the wireless industry as a whole and 3G in particular? A lot. Today operators are fighting three things: higher costs of acquiring new users, high churn rates and every new users bring less revenue than the previous one. But the wireless network is capable at doing more than it presently does: it can do GPRS. So operators are trying to use their networks more efficiently. The vendors and operators know wireless inside out. So why stop there? Operators and vendors know that if they offer data over wireless, there is nothing data over wire can do about to counteract the value of this proposition: access data networks conveniently.

To: rr_burns who wrote (9706)	12/13/2000 10:25:40 AM
From: Natedog	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

yes, and if you look at a company like www.wiband.com they currently have canada's largest fixed wireless network in north america along with everything else a ASP needs! rr, to add to point 6) Just over the UPI. Japan is shipping 7 tons of Viagara to the USA to aid with erection problems.... PS. More DSL problems..hehehe internetnews.com Four Broadband ISPs File for Bankruptcy By Jim Wagner Four broadband Internet service providers filed for federal bankruptcy protection, a move that will eventually strand thousands of customers and has prompted providers like Covad Communications Group to scramble Tuesday to adjust its business plan. The four ISPs; Flashcom Communications, Zyan Communications, Relay Point and FastPoint represent more than 32,000 digital subscriber line customers using Covad's network that will soon have no DSL service. It's unclear how the bankruptcies will affect other DSL providers. NorthPoint Communications and Rhythms NetConnections, two other major national providers, were unavailable for comment on the number of customers in its network affected by the news. Wall Street reacted by shooting the messenger bearing the bad news. Covad, (NASDAQ:COVD) which announced its adjusted business plans Tuesday morning, immediately dropped 50 cents per share to $2.50, while NorthPoint (NASDAQ:NPNT) and Rhythms, (NASDAQ:RTHM) who have stayed silent, remained largely untouched. Management at Covad Communications was forced to rewrite its business plan and adjust its financials to stay afloat after finding out about the impending court proceedings. The data competitive local exchange carrier has been feeling the financial strain for months, forced to carry the financial load of ISPs unable to pay their bills. In order to improve profitability, Covad is giving preference to its small business DSL line installations and premium residential users who sign up for the high-end DSL speed options. The data CLEC will also emphasize self-installs for new users to cut down on the costs associated with a truck roll. It's a step that leaves many residential customers who would sign up for basic DSL service at the back of a growing list of subscribers waiting for high-speed Internet services. Chuck McMinn, Covad chairman, said it's a necessary step in order for Covad to stay in business. "We are going to grow the business with lines that get us to breakeven and profitablility faster," McMinn said. "Not only will this have an immediate impact, but we expect to see long term improvement in our financial performance." Steps like these, and its decision to ramp down central office equipment deployment nationwide, will help decrease the company's losses, McMinn said. Covad officials expect these adjustments to decrease its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization by more than $100 million, and decrease its monthly cash burn almost $15 million by the end of next year. "In comparison with prior analyst expectations, we expect to spend approximately $200 million less in cash in 2001 as a result of our modified plan," McMinn said. "Our national network is one of the largest in the country. It's size and scope is very attractive to companies that want to do business with one nationwide supplier to both small business and residential services." McMinn was referring to business customers like Sony Corp., who last month signed with Covad to provide Sony-branded DSL services to its customers. The deal, if it proves successful, could reap the troubled data CLEC a huge windfall. Sony's two premier products, Vaio and PlayStation2, rely on premium Internet connections. There is no timetable to bring customers affected by the bankrupt ISPs to another provider. McMinn claimed it was too early to make a prediction and said his company would be in a better position to answer that question next month, during its fourth quarter 2000 financial results conference. Covad Monday started its Safety Net Program to switch customers from ISPs like Flashcom to others in Covad's network, even Covad's own Covad.net ISP service.

To: rr_burns who wrote (9706)	12/14/2000 12:49:04 AM
From: Raymond Duray	Respond to of 12823

Howdy rr, , except the cultural centrist tone of this thread lately has incited me to take it down a notch. So solly, been rantin' off the reservation lately. Hey, that Negroponte (PC alert!) has got some kinda cojones telling all dem damn dumb bondsmen that the scour.com crowd are next going to be printing their own computers to play "Their Own Private Idahos" for damn near free. What's the intellectual property rights crowd gonna do next? Commit seppuku? Or join Bertelsmann in co-opting the futurists? Tony Blair warned of stealing from his grandkids? That's a rich note. Blair can't even manage a decent energy crisis let alone his grandkid's estate. Thanks goodness is wife is the barristeress with the mostest. And a decent billing rate, to boot. Re: and i think bloomberg is american , so it must be right, eh? ) Yes, to be precise, Michael Bloomberg lives in New York. Cultural centrism, eh? Sounds like a politburo conspiracy. Or maybe cultural custard. Goes well with the lobster and the Cohibas, eh? The most worrying competition for companies trying to recoup the costs of building 3G networks ``won't be 4G, it will be informal networks,'' Negroponte said. We've discussed this sort of de-centralization here before, and the concensus view is that there won't be a critical mass of like minded "informals" to make the thing commercially viable. Maybe it will be more of a revival of ham radio or the Napster phenomenon, where the promise is always, "jam (and maybe profits) tomorrow". -Ray