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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 9:49:53 AM
From: Keith Feral	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

PCS should consider a strategic sale to Verizon to build the mother or all wireless carriers. Why should someone sell PCS $2 billion in commercial paper when you could buy the whole value fo the common equity for the same number. There is one very compelling reason for VZ to consider the purchase. When all the CDMA handset customers pick up their 3G phones, they will be very tempted to switch carriers to pick up the free phone. It would allow all the CDMA phone customers to keep the same phone numbers with no churn alternatives.

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 10:02:10 AM
From: Keith Feral	Respond to of 152472

Maybe QCOM should send the $300 million for NextWave to SprintPCS. It is interesting to note that Qualcomm has not made any direct investments in US wireless companies. They could structure a deal around BREW to make it look nice.

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 10:03:28 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

Re : Barrons article -- I just read it. Given my usual choice of : they are either stupid or liars ... I think this time they are just stupid. It seems (once again) to be "beyond anyone's intellectual capacity" to be cognizant of the issues of the technology upgrade path for non-CDMA carriers. Oh well ... I guess we now know why Sprint PCS shares fell almost 50% in about a week and a half (with no publicly available news or developments). Jon.

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 12:03:51 PM
From: Art Bechhoefer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 152472

BARRON'S has never been comfortable about writing anything critical of AT&T, for that is the mentality reflected by the dinosaurs of Wall Street. Thus, it is no surprise that, once again, BARRON'S considers the operating and capital costs of moving from existing CDMA to 3G, compared with the much higher costs for TDMA and GSM to be insignificant or unimportant. I'd consider writing them myself, but I know in my heart it would be like talking to a wall of bias. Art

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 12:45:34 PM
From: John Hayman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Is Street too worried about telecom? Barron's article points to buying opportunities By CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 11:23 AM ET Feb. 16, 2002 NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Wall Street jitters over telecom shares may be overdone, analysts say. Free! Sign-up here to receive the Taxing Times Weekly e-newsletter! Create an alert for T Add T to my portfolio Discuss T NEWS FOR T Barron's: Rethinking the telecom sector risks Phone companies lead retreat Internet privacy debate intensifies More news for T Quote & NewsChartsFinancialsAnalystsOptionsSEC Filings Quote delayed 20 minutes. Disclaimer According to an article in this week's Barron's, buying opportunities could exist within the sector, thanks to the increased likelihood for consolidation among at least some of the big U.S. telecom names. But the industry has been dogged by ever-tighter competition and some liquidity issues pounded shares, particularly for AT&T Wireless, a division of AT&T (T: news, chart, profile), Sprint PCS and Nextel Communications (NXTL: news, chart, profile). Sprint on Friday announced it would cut 3,000 jobs at wireless arm Sprint PCS (PCS: news, chart, profile). Get the full story. The big fear is that wireless will follow the downward path of the long-distance phone industry without generating the profits that business once enjoyed, the article says. As for Sprint PCS, analysts say the company would regain some investor confidence if it would scrap or limit its "Clear Pay" plan that allows consumers with weak credit ratings to secure a wireless phone without a deposit. The plan has significantly raised the debt level at Sprint PCS. But investors could warm to some substantial mergers within the U.S. market, considering the domestic industry is less concentrated than telecom markets overseas. This equates to more efficient competition and lower margins. According to the Barron's piece, the most likely telecom marriages are AT&T Wireless with Deutsche Telekom's (DE:555750: news, chart, profile) Voicestream Wireless or Cingular Wireless with Voicestream. Analysts are cooler toward Nextel however, suggesting that if investors are interested in the company, they look at the Nextel's 20-percent junk bond yields versus its shares.

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (113465)	2/16/2002 4:03:13 PM
From: SHELTIE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Jon, However,the following observation from the article would seem to support a far better picture of QCOM's near term growth potential with 1x in the U.S. than The Market seems to be taking into account. Snip... from just published Barrons article <<The current competitive landscape is great for consumers, who routinely switch from one wireless operator to another as more attractive calling plans emerge. Monthly churn of 3% means wireless companies have to replace over a third (33%) of their subscribers a year, just to stay in place.>> Doesn't this suggest that as competition heats up, the "churn" alone should provide a 20% to 30% growth rate in new (replacement) handsets for "Q" if their carriers don't loose market share? What is the "upside" if they gain market share with the advantages 1x allows them?