Zbyslaw --
I just now noticed the Energis announcement. How the stock could fall after the company announced a $200M contract is puzzling. Must be the over-all market.
Energis is (was) part of the National Grid Group which was formerly London Electric, for those who haven't followed the privitization of UK's electric companies. I say "is/was" because Energis was going to be spun off and I'm not sure if that happened or not.
Energis' most noted customer is the BBC for whom they built a dual system --- one as back-up should the first fail.
An earlier press release from Energis:
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02/04/98
Deutsche Telekom, Energis and France Telecom to build new state-of-art telecom networks for Britain's cities
Deutsche Telekom, Energis and France Telecom today announce the creation of a new company, MetroHoldings Limited.MetroHoldings will build new local metropolitan area telecom networks in Britain's principal cities, starting in London, thereby extending Energis' existing national network, creating direct links with business customers. Following London, the next cities are expected to be Manchester and Birmingham.MetroHoldings is owned 50% by Energis and 25% each by Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom.MetroHoldings will deliver state-of-art, local telecoms networks more rapidly and more cost effectively than if the three partners were to build these networks on their own. The networks will deploy the latest SDH broadband fibre optic transmission technology - the same technology as used in Energis' existing national network. The new network will allow the partners and Global One to develop a full range of innovative, value added services to better serve the needs of business customers in the UK, such as national and international voice and data services and City Nets. This will enable businesses directly to receive higher quality, higher reliability and lower cost services.Construction of the local networks is made easier, quicker and less expensive because Energis' existing network, largely carried over the National Grid, already encircles and runs through the major conurbations and, in London, runs through the London Underground. This reduces construction cost and increases construction speed.As the two major European telecommunications operators, Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom will provide their own proven know how and link their respective international networks. Energis will be responsible for network design, planning, construction and network management for MetroHoldings.The Directors of MetroHoldings are Mike Grabiner, Chief Executive of Energis plc; John Beaumont, Director of Strategy and Business Development of Energis plc; Rex Stephenson, Senior Executive Director - Worldwide Networks of Deutsche Telekom; and Francois Comet, Vice President, Alternate Networks of France Telecom. Commenting on behalf of Energis plc, Mike Grabiner, Chief Executive, said:"This is an important addition to Britain's telecoms infrastructure and will bring state of the art networks to our principal cities. Connecting right to the doors of our business customers will significantly broaden our network reach and reduce our delivery costs. We also strengthen our commercial relationships with two major European telecom operators, with which we already have correspondent relationships on international traffic, and which will have access to Energis' state-of-art national network."Commenting on behalf of Deutsche Telecom, Paul Grosse, Senior Executive Director, New Business Development and Management said: "We are very pleased to have Energis as our strong and innovative partner in the UK. Through the infrastructure joint venture, we have excellent access to local loops. Our customers will benefit greatly from this."Commenting on behalf of France Telecom, Francois Comet said "Thanks to this agreement, France Telecom will develop its presence in the UK at a reduced cost, thus complementing the international services offered by Global One. We will offer business customers very high quality services at competitive prices. This London network will be connected with the major European business centres and enables corporations to benefit from city to city broadband managed services."Notes to the Editor:Energis plc, the telecommunications company focused exclusively on the business marketplace, built its national network primarily along the National Grid's electricity pylon infrastructure. With over 5000 kms of fibre optic cable installed throughout England and Wales, a capacity sharing agreement with Scottish Telecom and an international licence, Energis offers businesses a full portfolio of national and international services. These services include innovative telephony services, advanced frame relay and ATM for data transmission and enhanced voice services, such as local rate, national rate and freephone.Deutsche Telekom, with revenue of DM 67 billion in 1997, is Europe's largest telecommunications company and the third largest carrier worldwide. Offering a complete range of products and services in Germany, Deutsche Telekom is the leader in mobile communications services with about 4 million mobile telephony customers. Almost 17.3 million homes are connected to the Deutsche Telekom cable television network. Furthermore, it has 45 million telephone lines in service, about 8.3 million ISDN channels and its T-Online service currently has 2.1 million customers, making Deutsche Telekom the largest Internet provider in Europe. For more information about Deutsche Telekom visit our site on the World Wide Web at telekom.de.france Telecom is the world's fourth-largest telecommunications carrier, with 1997 consolidated operating revenues of FF 156.7 billion, over 33.7 million lines in services and operations in more than 50 countries. In addition to local and long-distance telephony, France Telecom provides businesses and consumers with data, wireless, online, Internet, broadcast, cable-TV and value-added services. A public stock corporation since December, 1996, France Telecom held an initial public offering in October 1997. Together with Deutsche Telecom and Sprint, France Telecom created an international joint venture Global One, providing seamless voice and data services for businesses, consumer and carriers.
(http://www.francetelecom.fr)Deutsche TelekomFrance .>>>>
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