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

To: VanGo101 who wrote (4907)	4/7/1998 9:37:00 AM
From: WTC	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 5812

The Latest ANGEL news I read was not so upbeat ... - Noting that just over a year ago, AT&T announced a "revolutionary" new technology it planned to use to break the Baby Bells' death grip on local phone service, Business Week (4/13) reports AT&T chief Michael Armstrong--in a recent interview--said the cost of deploying the technology is double the price at which AT&T could turn a profit. The Business Week article (page 4) states that "CEO C. Michael Armstrong revealed that the cost of deploying the technology is $1,100 per home on average. That is double the price at which AT&T can turn a profit, he said. The Angel system uses radio technology to bypass the wires of local phone companies. AT&T still plans to expand the small Angel test that's currently underway in Chicago. Armstrong estimates that Angel's cost eventually will drop to $500 per household, a price that should make it profitable...." There was a Wireless Week article a couple of months ago that reported the demise of ANGEL ... the following week issue had some reversed spin that retained the facts about cost problems but said that didn't really matter. My take is that it may not matter for demonstrations and trials, but it sure does matter for wide-scale deployment. What else can Armstrong say but that he "estimates" the cost of the technology will drop to a level that supports economic development -- if he is not yet really ready to pull the plug? I think he "hopes." By the way, the wall street analysts within a day of the original ANGEL announcement had pegged the all-in technology costs at ~$1100. In my company, we took a slightly longer view and estimated $900 to $1000 with perhaps a slightly higher penetration expectation. I would say the wall street guys really nailed it, and we were between reality and some AT&T hopes and dreams. The real problem with ANGEL right now is strategic fit for AT&T. This is a two-line topology per service location unless you add in a lot of additional subscriber costs. With Armstrong now "reemphasizing" AT&T's focus on business customers, ANGEL looks like an interesting but too costly technology in search of a mission fitting strategy.