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Technology Stocks : CAWS - Wireless Cable (New and Improved) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zorro who wrote (4666)	2/2/1998 4:29:00 PM
From: Joseph Moran	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 5812

Zorro Maybe we should give DirectNet JA's number since JA dosen't seem too know how to get anything going. Joe

To: Zorro who wrote (4666)	2/5/1998 1:16:00 PM
From: Boris	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5812

Today's Paper Much of the contents of the past week's editions of the Times Union. CAI Wireless faces closure without new investors Telecommunications firm needs funds by Feb. 20 to pay off $27M debt DAVID ORENSTEIN Business writer The next two weeks could either break or revive CAI Wireless Systems Inc. The cash-starved company is almost out of money, and unless the company can negotiate a strategic partnership with one of two unnamed telecommunications companies, it will not be able to pay off the $27 million in debt that comes due Feb. 20. CAI has accumulated the $27 million debt, including $2 million last week, by issuing notes at a 13 percent interest rate to an unnamed backer. Investment sources said the investor is Merrill Lynch Asset Management, which already holds a significant share of CAI debt and stock that it hopes will be paid back. CAI chief financial officer James Ashman did not return phone calls seeking comment. Sources named Merrill Lynch on condition that their names not be used. Spokesmen for Merrill Lynch in New York did not comment on inquiries about whether the company held CAI debt and whether it was accumulating more. CAI has told investors in several recent press releases and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it may not have enough cash to continue in business. The company has held out hope, however, that it will succeed in forging a strategic partnership with a telecommunications company with the cash to bail it out. CAI also hopes that regulatory rulings will allow it expanded use of its digital wireless spectrum for two-way transmission of video, voice and data signals. Finally, the company is looking to wholesale its data transmissions for resale by other Internet Service Providers. Aryeh B. Bourkoff, a director with CIBC Oppenheimer in New York, said that even if CAI can get an extension on its deadline to pay back the investor, the company will still need to sign a strategic partner soon. Under a separate deal renegotiated with Bell Atlantic Corp. last year, CAI can pay back a $100 million debt to the telecommunications giant for only $40 million if it acts before Feb. 28. After Feb. 28, the debt rockets up to $140 million, which includes the interest that has accrued on top of the $100 million principal. Bourkoff said he spoke with Ashman this week, and Ashman sounded confident that there is still interest in a strategic partnership involving CAI's spectrum. "There is an incentive to do this sooner rather than later,'' Bourkoff said. First published on Thursday, February 5, 1998