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To: Al Gutkin who wrote (6154)5/15/1998 1:22:00 PM
From: Rob Prickett  Respond to of 10227
 
Annual Meeting Notes, Part 1

Nextel Annual Meeting
14 May 98

The notes are a bit choppy, and I will be presenting as much historical data as I was able to capture. Anyone else that attended the meeting and wants to add to or correct these notes, feel free.

Akerson (CEO) presenting. Most other top officers present. McCaw not present.

Overall comments:

Akerson presents in a even-toned manner. But, when he talks about the international prospects, he starts becoming excited. There was not (as Arnie predicted) any earth-shaking news released. The meeting did not come off as hype, but rather as a factual look at where the company has been and where it realistically hopes to go.

Highlights: 1) Nextel wants to establish presence internationally over the next several years similarly to what it has done domestically over the last several years (internationally, "it's show time"). Sao Paolo, Brazil to open 15 May 98 with pent-up demand, 2) the iDEN / GSM (800 / 900 Mhz) phone to be introduced within the next year, and 3) a data product phone will be introduced in about a year, at the 30+ kps speed. To Akerson's knowledge, they will be first to market with the phone, 4) Nextel is not for sale. If it were, $50-60 per share might be reasonable now, but not next year, 5) time to market for any competitor DC is 18 - 24 months, 6) quality of service (e.g., New York) is known and being addressed. Poor service is not being taken lightly.

Nextel's present policy is not to get into a public exchange with the competition (like Sprint did to AT&T's rate announcement last week). They're not big enough yet.

Nextel is focusing on building long-term value, not too worried about week-to-week variation in stock price



To: Al Gutkin who wrote (6154)5/15/1998 1:24:00 PM
From: Rob Prickett  Respond to of 10227
 
Annual Meeting Notes, Part 2

Chronological review:

Voting

Review telecommunications revolution, projections out to year 2007

Reviewed Nexel progress of last two years. Nextel had to address
1) technology (to get the phones to work)
2) aquire spectrum
end 1995, had an average of 5-7 MHz per city
now have at least 11 MHz for entire US, 15 MHz in top 50 cities (20 MHz in Boston)

3) build the infrastructure.
2000 US sites already built, another 2000 in US for 1998, 1000 sites planned for international (1998?)

Two years ago, Nextel was barely known and not a threat to the other wireless players. Now, competitors (like Bell Atlantic and AT&T) are announcing plans in response to Nextel's presence.

>>> In 1998, Nextel hopes to attract a partner(s) to help build out / supplement the last 15% or so of uncovered areas in US.

Nextel history beginning 3Q96:

Digital subs (thousands): 228 300.3 422.9 624.4 946.6 1270.7 1647 (1Q98)
ARPU (monthly) ?? 56 59 63 70 68 66 (1Q98)

Nextel beating the top competitors in new net subscribers (in thousands):

3Q97 322 / 257 / 189 Nextel / SBC / Bell At.
4Q97 324 / 408 / 292 Nextel / ATI / BA (Christmas slow for Nextel Re: holidays)
1Q98 371 / 200 / 195 Nextel / Sprint / AT&T

Nextel places 5 handsets on average sale, competition is 1 or 2
Nextel users average 350 minutes / month

Quarterly Revenue ($ Millions), beginning 4Q96:
96 111 146 207 275 327 (1Q98)
Wall Street estimates that Nextel will have $1.5 - 1.8 B revenue for all 1998

Data product - to be introduced next year, "high speed" 33+ kbs

Business Networks: financial institutions, Real Estate, construction
300,000 customers on 120 (?) networks
less churn and higher ARPU than average Nextel customer



To: Al Gutkin who wrote (6154)5/15/1998 1:26:00 PM
From: Rob Prickett  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 10227
 
Annual Meeting Notes, Part 3

International:

Nextel's presence covers 633 Million potential customers (POPs)
Prorated POPs for foreign partial ownership lowers the total to 430 Million
Nextel sees emerging markets as greatest opportunity
Nextel is / will be in 12 of the world's 25 largest cities

Brazil, Sao Paolo to open tomorrow (15 May 98), pent up demand.
Nextel is the only clear competition to Telebras

Mexico City will be launched this summer
Argentina will launch in June
Peru (Lima) will launch late 98, early 99
Phillipines will launch this summer

[After the meeting, I spoke to Keith Grinstein, CEO Nextel International. I was curious about the low per capita income for most of the countries and how Nextel can expect to make anywhere near the ARPU that they do in the US. Using Brazil as an example (and in US $), he said they expect as much or higher ARPU than the US. This is due to the economic stratification. The money is concentrated in the cities, which is where Nextel is deploying. It will be interesting over the next few quarters to see how this pans out].

Domestic: Operating cash flow positive expected late this year

AT&T can claim to be the "largest national network" only because they are talking about analog and digital combined. Akerson calls AT&T a "tangential competitor" because Nextel users want the Direct Connect feature.

Capacity utilization and quality of service are being constantly monitored. Nextel is aware of problems and working to resolve them. Sometimes it takes several weeks to a month or more.

Resell program: nothing going to happen soon. Nextel wants to service its own customers well first.

Nextel national marketing plan: Nextel does NOT want to offer a single rate for all cities. It has been looked at carefully, but doesn't make a lot of sense due to the large spread of rates and costs in various cities.

No intention to sell.
A side comment Akerson made: $50-60 / share would be a reasonable offer now, but not next year

Nextel's national footprint is better than AT&T (digital?) and Sprint. The real kicker, though, is Canada and Mexico which add a unique opportunity.

New York City radio quality:
New York Nextel traffic has grown tremendously
in February 98, New York crossed $100 / month revenue.
A second switch will be added within a month. The process of splitting and retuning cells takes time.

Capital costs, rising interest rates: to avoid possible problem of rising interest rates, Nextel in Q198 raised $3 B and expanded credit line by $3 B (under the impression, then, that it is at fixed rate). More money won't be needed until late 1999, if at all.