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Technology Stocks : Ascend Communications (ASND) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: blankmind who wrote (30093)	1/12/1998 9:04:00 PM
From: Glenn D. Rudolph	Respond to of 61433

WorldCom to launch telecoms services in Japan Reuters Story - January 12, 1998 04:32 %TEL %JP %US %GB %TRD WCOM 9432.T BT.L MCIC T 9431.T V%REUTER P%RTR By Yuko Inoue TOKYO, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Acquisitive U.S. telecoms giant WorldCom Inc said on Monday it was planning a major push into Japan's telecoms market, in a move likely to heat up competition and spark mergers in an already unsettled sector. WorldCom's Japan unit said it would lay fibre optic cable networks in Tokyo and other big cities and would launch services after the telecoms sector is deregulated, perhaps around early March. "We will be able to offer more competitive tariffs than Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp and other Japanese phone operators because WorldCom has the know-how to build facilities at low cost," a spokesman at the Japanese unit said. WorldCom has been aggressive in its recent expansion and last year outbid British Telecommunications Plc to seal an unprecedented $36.5 billion telecom merger with MCI Communications Corp . With estimated annual sales of $32 billion, the new "MCI WorldCom" is expected to become the second biggest long-distance telephone operator in the United States after AT&T Corp . WorldCom will be the first foreign operator to make a fully fledged entry into the Japanese market using its own facilities, following Tokyo's decision last year to lift restrictions on foreign ownership of telecoms operations. The deregulation was agreed at the World Trade Organisation and despite delays is expected to take effect around March. The spokesman said WorldCom aimed to offer cut-rate telephone and data transmission services for foreign financial institutions and other multinationals operating in Japan. A source at WorldCom said the company's initial Japan investment was likely be nearly 10 billion yen ($75.7 million). Analysts say WorldCom's entry poses little threat to the giant NTT group, which claims more than 75 percent of Japan's telecoms market, but will deal a blow to smaller firms counting on data and multimedia services as future sources of income. "Japan Telecom Co Ltd <9434 T>, which is expanding in the corporate service market, may find it hard to compete against WorldCom, which is experienced in offering efficient international services," said one analyst, who asked not to be identified. He said more and more foreign operators would follow WorldCom into Japan, possibly acquiring a combined 10 percent market share in the next three to four years. Business customers are seen as the main target for foreign operators since they spend more and are easier to serve than residential customers, many of whom live in remote areas. In addition, Japanese banks and securities companies are hastening plans for increased use of computers and for building international networks ahead of deregulation in the financial that is scheduled to start on April 1. Japan decided last year to restructure telecoms industry leader NTT in the middle of 1999, allowing the group to offer local, long-distance, international and other services through several units. Consolidation in Japan's telecoms industry has been intensifying since then, as smaller companies try to gear up to become one-stop providers of everything from telephone services to Internet access in order to compete against NTT. In October 1997, long-distance operator Japan Telecom merged with overseas carrier International Telecom Japan (ITJ). Late last year, Japan's biggest international operator Kokusai Denshin Denwa Co and long-distance operator Teleway Japan Corp signed a preliminary agreement to merge in October 1998. ($1=132 yen) ((Tokyo Equities Desk (813) 3432-9404 tokyo.equities.newsroomreuters.com))

To: blankmind who wrote (30093)	1/13/1998 1:06:00 AM
From: craig crawford	Respond to of 61433

<< i do not own coms, but i would be scared to short coms at this point, especially if intc turns in favorable earnings on tueday, the tech sector should rise on wednesday, if not sooner just on specuation earnings will be ahead of estimates. >> Go ahead and let it rally a little first. Then short it. I'm not short COMS right now, but probably will be soon. When I said COMS was still a good short today it dropped more than a point in nothing flat. When I say COMS is still a good short you have to take into account that the market will rally and adjust accordingly. Still, I bet COMS underperforms in the next few days. In other words if the market rallies I bet it rallies less and if the market drops I bet it drops faster. In fact if we have a strong rally at the open tomorrow it might be a good time to jump in. COMS will surely fall back. BTW, usually when your scared to do a trade that's the best time to act.