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To: Eric L who wrote (2408)	8/28/2002 8:27:43 AM
From: Sam Salomon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9255

I have just received GL's book. I only had time to briefly peruse a page about QCOM and there he really blasts them about their marketing, e.g. - undue (in his opinion) emphasis on spectrum efficiency vs. operator revenue enhancing functionality (e.g. SMS) - tactically unwise (in his opinion) comments by IJ at the GSM congress about late WCDMA roll out (was discussed by yourself at the time) - ambiguous (in his opinion) CDMA standards My layperson opinion is that any critique of marketing should be taken most seriously. However, I do not know what the "real" importance of spectrum efficiency is for carriers, whether the importance is the same for all carriers, whether there are differences between certain carrier groups in this area and whether the fact that CDMA seemed to have been late with certain features (e.g. SMS, SIM) will be a long term (and not just medium term) negative for QCOM. BTW I will be in the San Diego area shortly. Is there anybody who one can have access to as an outsider and with whom one can lead an intelligent discussion about these topics? Sam

To: Eric L who wrote (2408)	9/2/2002 8:37:24 AM
From: Sam Salomon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9255

Bandwidth Bubble Bust by Grahame Lynch GL’s 133 page book reviews the rise and fall of the global telecom industry. It includes wireline, wireless, submarine and satellite. You will find comments on Inmarsat and Globalstar, Optus and Telstra, Level 3 and Global Crossing, Nokia and Ericsson, Vodafone and VoiceStream, Qualcomm and Motorola, and, yes, even on George Gilder, to name just a few. Herein lies its strength and its weakness. The author, a “world leading telecom commentator” , does exactly that: he comments on many of the dramatic events that have devoured enormous amounts of capital. And because of his enormous knowledge and experience you are bound to find something interesting that you have not known before, even if you have followed the industry (unless, perhaps, you have followed most of the author’s printed articles). He points out failed business models with great clarity and describes executives who refuse to change their opinion even in the event of obvious market failure. He finishes with a sinister prognosis for the telecom industry for the mid term future. What may be missing in the book is a deeper investigation of the details of the historic annihilation of hundreds of billions of capital. Firstly, you cannot do this in 133 pages. Secondly, at least in the wireline area, we have now several companies trying to emerge from Chapter 11 (e.g. WorldCom, Global Crossing, Willaims Communications). Therefore it would be highly interesting to have a better understanding, whether their business models will work well when the debt is taken away and whether there are differences between the quality of their models. Other questions remain unanswered, e.g. will European telcos consolidate like the RBOCs in the US? Maybe it is asked too much from one book to be the definitive history of one of the greatest bubbles. Lynch’s book is a page turner that you will enjoy thoroughly.