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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: engineer who wrote (26428)	9/5/2002 12:24:43 AM
From: Maurice Winn	Respond to of 196740

Hi Oldtimer. How about a small cheque, just to show they know what's up, and then throw in a share buyback 6 months later, to see which gets people more excited per $100 million paid out? Then run with the more popular payment scheme. Maybe a bit of each. If dividends really get people excited, the share price will go up and shareholders could take some profits by selling a few to the newly enthusiastic, maintaining a constant value in their holdings. If share buybacks give a P:E turbo boost, shareholders who want a cash-out could sell a few of their shares to maintain a constant value of holdings. My guess is that dividends would work a bit more magic. Shareholders are sick of companies keeping all the money for the CEOs to give themselves loans and stuff [not that QUALCOMM would do that, but people are nervous these days after Enron, Global Crossing, Worldcom and all that stuff]. All guesswork. I say suck it and see if it's a lemon or an orange. Leap has put too much effort into voice to just throw it and millions of handsets away. With more and more people dropping their landlines and going cyberphone only, the landline termination costs will drop to near zero at which time the true benefits of unlimited calling will become more apparent. The monthly cost of the equipment is only about 1100 minutes x $0.002 or thereabouts, so they can make profits with really low fixed monthly charges. There's altogether too much advertizing, shop, management and other costs. They need to forget about the old-style cellphone big-budget way of life and think more like Wal-Mart = stack it high and sell it cheap. If people can yak to each other all day without busting a budget, they'll sign up in droves. The more who cut the wire, the lower the interconnection losses. Network effect critical mass might not be too far away. Microsoft sure has got a big stack of cash which I'm sure they'll use to leverage their software into cyberphones, with the Tablet due on sale here in October. Tablet here: microsoft.com My preference is not to use the stack of cash to get involved with the Nextwave battles. There are plenty of CDMA and other service providers who are in a position to do something about it. I don't think that QUALCOMM has anything in particular to add that would be more valuable than some existing service provider wanting to expand their spectrum holdings, marketing and technologies. Maybe Microsoft and AT&T could get together with a hot-stuff CDMA network, saving us the trouble, expense and risk - they are the ones who need to find a way into the CDMA business, so why bother competing with them for Nextwave or other service provider assets? There are quite a few service providers already and there's going to be blood on the floor. I'd like it not to be mine. Mqurice

To: engineer who wrote (26428)	9/5/2002 9:16:17 AM
From: quidditch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196740

Hi, engineer, maybe Mq has a point in staying away from Nextwave for the time being, given that all that investment will fund for the next year or so will be to fund the appellate lawyers. As to LWIN--I like that idea too--but don't we run afoul of the original limitations of the bandwidth auctions LWIN's successful bids in which resulted in LWIN's current spectrum. As I recall, QCOM had to divest (or convert into warrants) some securities and write letters to the FCC asserting that it didn't "control" LWIN and that LWIN was indeed eligible to participate in the C-Bloc or D-Bloc (alphabet indigestion--I may have the letters wrong). Maybe Powell will be kindly disposed to another "independent" CDMA carrier fallen on hard times, even if the FCC wasn't kindly disposed to the folks in Hawthorne, NY. quid PS Hope your boys are doing well. Hi to the crazies.