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Technology Stocks : Winstar Comm. (WCII) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SteveG who wrote (3749)	2/7/1998 9:43:00 PM
From: DubM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12468

Steve, this is rather old news and you are probably already aware of it, but you were looking for any possible negatives for WCII. They had announced sometime back that they had entered into an agreement with Broadband Networks and Siemens for the point to multipoint radio systems. Broadband was then bought by Nortel, who of coarse is providing a huge amount of vendor financing for TGNT-BS. I would think that Broadband will be happy to sell radios to any paying customer, and other companies are supplying or working on point to multipoint systems. Does anyone know if WinStar is still working with Broadband? SOURCE: Northern Telecom Limited Nortel (Northern Telecom) Announces The Successful Completion Of Its Offer To Buy Broadband Networks Inc. TORONTO, Jan. 9 /PRNewswire/ - Northern Telecom Limited today announced the successful completion of its offer to purchase all the issued and outstanding common shares of Broadband Networks Inc. (BNI) on a fully diluted basis. BNI is a leader in the design and manufacture of fixed broadband wireless communications networks. The offer expired at 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) on January 5, 1998. The combined Nortel/BNI technologies position Nortel's customers to deliver end-to-end broadband network solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Nortel will be able to offer its customers a full suite of networking products for the local multipoint distribution system (LMDS) market, including its DMS-500 Local/Long Distance and Passport asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching systems and point-to-multipoint radio systems. ''The enhanced product line should be attractive to successful bidders in the FCC's upcoming LMDS auction in February. With the completion of the purchase, we can expand our product line for carriers wanting to break into local networks around the world, particularly in Canada, Europe and Latin America,'' said Matt Desch, president, Wireless Networks, Nortel. BNI will be run as a separate business unit within Wireless Networks to allow Nortel and BNI development teams to work effectively together while preserving BNI's entrepreneurial spirit. David Graves, former president and CEO of BNI, will become group vice president and general manager of the new Broadband Wireless Access unit. All the issued and outstanding shares of BNI, on a fully diluted basis, were tendered and accepted for purchase pursuant to the offer. The aggregate purchase price was approximately $593 million Cdn, comprising approximately $213 million Cdn in cash and approximately 5.6 million Nortel common shares (after giving effect to Nortel's two-for-one common share stock split). A significant portion of the acquisition price relates to purchased research and development. Nortel will charge this amount to its earnings over a period of less than 12 months, resulting in significant non-cash charges against Nortel's 1998 earnings. The charges arise principally from the need for further research and development expenditures resulting from the rapid pace of change in broadband wireless technologies and the anticipated integration of BNI's technology into the Nortel product portfolio. While the amount of the charges cannot be specifically determined at this time, the charges are expected to be within the range of 85 - 95% of the aggregate acquisition price. Excluding the impact of the charges, the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on Nortel's 1998 consolidated results of operations. Nortel works with customers in more than 150 countries to design, build and integrate their communications products and advanced digital networks. Customers include public and private institutions; Internet service providers; local, long-distance, cellular mobile and PCS communications companies; cable television companies; and utilities. Nortel had 1996 revenues of US$ 12.8 billion and has approximately 70,000 employees worldwide.