To: Jason Cogan who wrote (5671 ) 5/2/1998 9:12:00 PM From: Steven Bowen Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 12468
<That said, the more I read, the more promising Winstar seems. Removing the debt would certainly make me more comfortable, but I still have certain reservations about the technology, both due to current obstacles and potential future advances in cable modem, wireline, and fiber installation.> <reservations about the technology, both due to current obstacles> What do you see as current obstacles to the technology? <potential future advances in cable modem> I think that cable modems are a residential solution, but I don't think it's viable competition in the business market. <and fiber installation> Again, "While we are confident that WinStar can also reach the same buildings served by Worldcom/MFS and Teleport, we believe WinStar's greatest opportunity is perhaps with those buildings that are not attractive prospects for wired CLECs . There are approximately 700,000 office buildings in the United States, of which two-thirds are uneconomical for a wired CLEC to reach because of a low density of lines per office building. However, WinStar, particularly with the introduction of point-to-multipoint technology, should be able to address thousands of buildings economically with a single hub, for an incremental capital equipment cost of only $4000 per building. The typical target customer set consists os small and medium-sized businesses in buildings that have more than 100,000 square feet of office space and have no high-speed communications link. WinStar has targeted more than 8,000 buildings in this group, with a population of 9.7 million workers, using more than 2.1 million phone lines. These buildings represent an aggregate local exchange market of more than $3.3 billion per year. Excluded from the estimate are buildings that have a single tenant, universities and hospitals, as well as multi-dwelling residential buildings, which all present viable incremental target opportunities." <...list of corporate clients that have already signed on with Winstar for primary local access?> If I remember correctly, the New York Commodities Exchange was one of WinStar's first customers.