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Technology Stocks : MRV Communications (MRVC) opinions? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: NDBFREE who wrote (42731)	10/18/2007 12:48:27 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42804

Joe, thanks for the invite, and I appreciate the kind words. As it happens, I've been musing about this subject of backhaul for about a month, maybe longer. It's one of those cash-cow holdouts where incumbents continue to reap obscene revenues, which makes it ripe for disruption from a growing number of directions. At the same time there is enough elasticity built in to the model so that stakeholders (both carriers and vendors, alike) are not hamstrung, hence apt to move strategically, without notice, offsetting gains made by others. Even the price of T1 access can withstand considerable reduction, still. Everyday, it seems, someone else is coming along with a new cellular backhaul solution, from emulation services over fiber (such as we have in this MRV instance), to bonded twisted pairs, HFC, microwave, WiMAX, etc. In short, there is no shortage of solution categories. However, whether a given solution category, including this one from MRV, works for a particular wireless carrier could easily come down to a given carrier's specific architectural circumstances and what types of alternatives present themselves (who is bypassing their cell sites and switching nodes) that are compatible with their infrastructure and skills criteria, lest a carrier be expected to become proficient in numerous new alternatives at once, or even sporadically. I've searched for reports and analyses that lay out all these issues on the table in a fair and objective way, but short of shelling out a couple of month's rent I haven't found what I'm looking for yet. Compounding the analysis are geographic considerations, since some solutions work well in one region but have no cause to be present in another. Maybe I'll compile an analysis of my own and share it with you for ideas and feedback at some later date. In the meantime, I do have a few bookmarked articles on the subject and white papers I've downloaded that highlight the drivers, pros and cons (many of them being promotional material, however, hence they are skewed). Here's a couple of short takes on the subject from the recent past that you may have already come across: From Telecommunications Magazine: Verizon’s Backhaul Bonanza Cites Growing Demand For Alternative Solutions telecommagazine.com -- From Telephonyonline.com: Backhaul: New case studies, new products, new ideas Mar 26, 2007, Telephony, By Dan O'Shea For being a portion of the network most mobile users aren't much aware of, mobile backhaul transport has been getting a lot of attention the last year or so, and this week's Wireless 2007 in Orlando will be the second straight CTIA show at which backhaul has been a hot topic. Then again, backhaul still isn't likely to become something users are aware of unless it fails. telephonyonline.com -- Backhaul moves forward Mar 26, 2007, Telephony, By Dan O'Shea The current mobile backhaul situation could be summed up this way: The telecom industry is using a 1G wireline transport technology to answer questions posed by 3G and 4G wireless access technologies. That comment is sure to raise the ire of the portion of the telecom community that feels TDM still has a long life ahead of it and that T-1s are a suitable answer to most backhaul bandwidth needs. telephonyonline.com -- FAC ------

To: NDBFREE who wrote (42731)	10/26/2007 2:50:18 AM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42804

Hi Joe, and Hello to All: If you've not yet come across Andrew Schmitt's coverage of Light Reading's recent proceedings on wireless backhaul, you should find the following article and the reader comments following it of considerable interest: -- The Wireless Backhaul Opportunity Andrew Schmitt \| October 24, 2007 The best session of the Lightreading Ethernet Conference covered Wireless Base Station Backhaul. Patrick Donegan of Heavyreading and the panelists presented cohesive data and their take on which way the market would head. I gained a new perspective on the opportunity wireless backhaul presents. Continued at: nyquistcapital.com ------