President & CEO of Glenayre Technologies
( Wall Street Corporate Reporter )
Mr. Gary B. Smith "Since I joined Glenayre <Company: Glenayre
Technologies Incorporated; Ticker: GEMS; URL:
glenayre.com; in 1983, I've worked in many different
positions within the company, with an emphasis on the technology and
product side of the business. I' ve held positions including
vice-president of development, chief technology officer, and general
manager of the company's paging business. In 1996, I was appointed
president of Glenayre." Glenayre Technologies "We design and
manufacture wireless telecommunication products, and are focusing
now on two primary markets - paging and enhanced services. We don't
provide end-user services. Service providers use our products to run
their systems. Our customers include paging and cellular system
operators, as well as broadband personal communication service
providers, known as PCS, and some wireline providers. Our paging
products include paging infrastructure - the equipment that makes
paging systems work - and a newly added line of advanced two-way
pagers.
"We believe we have the world's largest share of the paging
infrastructure market. Since we have just entered into the pager
business with our acquisition of Wireless Access Inc., based in
Santa Clara, California, we now have an end-to-end paging product
line. This will enable us to compete more effectively, along with
giving our customers the engineering advantages of Glenayre's and
Wireless Access's combined expertise.
"Our enhanced service platforms are sold to cellular and broadband
PCS operators, as well as to fixed network providers. These Glenayre
products allow operators to differentiate themselves from
competitors through innovative services for their subscribers. For
example, our MVP platform allows service providers to offer voice
activated dialing, as well as one number service, integrated within
our voice mail platform. And with the acquisition of Open
Development Corp. in the Boston- area, Glenayre has added calling
card systems, such as pre-paid and debit card platforms, to our
product line." Our OEM partners "We also offer our products through
OEM channels. We've partnered with several large telecommunication
providers to represent our enhanced service products. For instance,
NorTel <Company: Northern Telecom Limited; Ticker: NT; URL:
nortel.com; uses our MVP platform through an OEM
agreement. Over the next few years, we believe it will be critical
for Glenayre to fully leverage these relationships.
"We have a specific sales and marketing group dedicated to working
with our OEM partners, in addition to our direct sales force."
Software development "We put a tremendous amount of energy into
securing and maintaining research and development, staff. Glenayre's
Integrated Network Group, responsible for our integrated service
platforms, is based primarily out of our Atlanta facility. We have
also added the staff of Open Development Corp. in Boston, and CNET,
<Company: CNET Incorporated; Ticker: CNWK; URL:
cnet.com; acquired in January 1997 and located in
Dallas.
"We have a large staff of engineers at our paging infrastructure
development sites, located in Vancouver and Quincy, Illinois. We've
also added the Wireless Access personnel in Santa Clara. A key
component to Glenayre' s continued growth will be retention and
expansion of our R&D personnel within each product group."
Attracting and retaining staff "We do face challenges in recruiting
and maintaining technical talent. To be sure we attract and keep
prime staff, we have multiple financial incentive programs for
employees. Along with offering competitive compensation, we
encourage employees to become shareholders through our stock
purchase and stock option programs. Each employee participates in
some kind of profit sharing plan. It's very important that our
employees find their jobs challenging. We strive to maintain a
'business within a business' work environment that provides project
and product ownership to employees, as well as giving them challenge
and excitement." Outlook on the industry "Our strategic goal remains
unchanged - to provide superior leading-edge wireless
telecommunication systems and products. Now, as demand for these
products expands worldwide, opportunities for Glenayre are growing
as well. During the past several quarters, we have added sales and
service locations around the globe. We now have offices on six
continents, including many of the world's most significant urban
areas: Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila,
Beijing, Guangzhou, Seoul, Tokyo, New Delhi, London, Amsterdam,
Prague, Dubai and Johannesburg. These offices provide Glenayre
access to important customer contacts and allow us to work extremely
close with customers, critical in most international turnkey
projects.
"Also, the wireless service market is becoming increasingly
competitive, For example, previously only two cellular providers
operated in each U.S. market. Now that the FCC continues to auction
additional spectrum, most U.S. cities will have multiple mobile
phone providers. With telecommunication deregulation being
duplicated around the world, our customers will have to
differentiate their services to remain competitive. Our enhanced
service revenues have grown tremendously over the last twelve
months, driven significantly by deregulation.
"Deregulation has also driven the growth of the global paging
industry. In 1996, there were around 120 million subscribers
worldwide. By the year 2001, industry analysis indicates that there
probably will be approximately 220 million paging subscribers
worldwide. That represents a significant amount of growth for our
customers, as well as opportunities for Glenayre. Increased use of
paging services drives infrastructure sales." The new pagers
"Increasing use of data pagers is another extremely important
industry trend in the United States. Previously, most pagers were
simple numeric devices. Now an ever increasing number of pagers,
called alphanumeric pagers, send and receive text messages.
Glenayre' s new Wireless Access pagers not only receive text
messages, but also provide users with the ability to respond back
with text from their pager.
"Alphanumeric pagers provide users access to the Internet and
e-mail. My Glenayre Wireless Access pager has an Internet address. I
use it to send and receive e-mail directly on my pager. Think of our
new pager as cordless e-mail in your pocket. With the capability of
accessing databases with a pager, dozens of other new applications
will be created. I already receive stock quotes daily on my pager,
for instance. Sales people can easily check on product lead times
while on the road. As new paging products like Glenayre's two-way
pager come to market, paging is evolving from simple notification to
message delivery, and now serves increasingly as a highly efficient
two-way communication method for business and personal use." Future
growth "We've consistently increased sales growth, and by focusing
on two key growth markets - paging and enhanced messaging - we aim
to sustain revenue growth long term. Our enhanced service products
continue to gain positive acceptance and we expect our two newest
acquisitions to begin making important contributions to revenues in
1998. We believe that both the paging and enhanced service markets
provide Glenayre with excellent opportunities to achieve strong
growth." Future acquisitions "Although we spent a significant
portion of our cash with the three 1997 acquisitions, assets
received from the potential sale of our microwave radio business
should help offset that. We intend to continue evaluating additional
acquisitions that clearly help our growth strategy." Investing in
Glenayre "Historically we've been viewed as a growth stock. Our
investors were greatly affected by the transition of U.S. paging
operators, an important customer group for Glenayre, from being
driven primarily by pager unit sales, but who now focus on
profitable revenue growth rates. At the same time, Glenayre
dramatically expanded our international presence and enhanced
service business. Today, I believe investors view Glenayre as an
opportunity to invest in the expanding paging, cellular and
broadband PCS markets around the world.
"The wireless telecommunication market is expected to provide
significant global opportunities over the next several years. During
the past decade, Glenayre has demonstrated its ability to develop
and market world class products. We have gained marketshare against
many larger telecommunication giants. We are extremely proud of what
we have achieved, and believe that we are uniquely positioned to
duplicate our success in these growing markets." Alphanumeric pagers
provide users access to the Internet and e-mail. My Glenayre
Wireless Access pager has an Internet address. Think of our new
pager as cordless e-mail in your pocket.
In 1996, there were around 120 million subscribers worldwide. By the
year 2001, industry analysis indicates that there probably will be
approximately 220 million paging subscribers worldwide.
Paging is evolving from simple notification to message delivery, and
now serves increasingly as a highly efficient two-way communication
method for business and personal use.
Copyright 1997 Wall Street Corporate Reporter, Inc. No quotations
from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without
attribution to Wall Street Corporate Reporter, Inc. This material
may not be copied or resold in any media.
President & CEO of Glenayre Technologies., Wall Street Corporate
Reporter, 12-23-1997. |
