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

To: Bernard Levy who wrote (7681)	8/11/1998 9:07:00 PM
From: Kingpin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12468

Hi Bernard, Is there any way to estimate the difficulty and cost in switching from P-P to P-MP? It seems to me a topic I have encountered often of late. And what of the multi vendor platform that Winstar seems so rushed to implement? If there were potential compatibility issues among vendors, why then strive for a multi vendor low cost solution at this time? Could these issues be so obvious to the analyst community yet overlooked at WCII? Seems to be a very week basis for a preference to TGNT. Jack Reagan was always fond of TGNT as it was spun from his much beloved Associated Group. Maybe his spirit still lurks the hallowed halls in Baltimore. Something does not jive in this analysis. Can these issues /concerns be considered any more than speculation if no examples or explanation of potential problems are offered. I am not so sure the technology is truly understood in this case. Thanks.

To: Bernard Levy who wrote (7681)	8/11/1998 9:16:00 PM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 12468

UPDATED - <..needing to migrate its P-P operations to P-MP is valid..> Could you elaborate on this? I understand that WCII does NOT plan (anytime soon) to retune/reprogram their P-P radios/hubs to handle P-MP. I know that reprogramming a hub for P-MP costs about $300K, but don't know exactly what all that entails. I do know that WCII does NOT plan on reprogramming the P-P to P-MP anytime soon. I just don't know enough of these kinds of technical details to know whether that is a correct interpretation of what they might even want to do. IF as I understand they decide to leave (for the time being) their P-P customers as they are, would there be any integration problems further upstream into their network, based on compatibilty issues with legacy P-P protocols and P-MP? In other words, can you run P-P in Chi and P-MP is LA, and still have an integrated network? Or P-P in NY and P-MP on different hubs also in NY? Seems that once data is packetized (frame, IP, ATM or whatever), it is no longer "coded" by any proprietary P-P radio link technology - or is there a lot more to this than I am sensing? One concern I DO have is the committment to voice circuit switches (5ESSs) over data based switching. In any case, I thought Ackerman's statement (roughly) that "anyone who tells you that P-MP equipment is currently available is wrong" was, if true, potentially indicting of TGNT's business plan. Also interesting that they plan to run 38Ghz and LMDS on the same hubs. Thanks in advance for any insights you can offer. Steve

To: Bernard Levy who wrote (7681)	8/12/1998 1:09:00 AM
From: SteveG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12468

<..now Danny Zito of Legg Mason (maybe he inherited his bias from Jack Reagan)..> Though any good analysts, especially those familiar with and coming from telecom, can weave a convincing technical or accounting argument, I think that there is a certain awe and cult of personality around Mandl, justified or not. Hard to believe, but I've heard from good sources the argument that to some (analysts & fund managers), Teligent management just "presents" more professionally. Certainly something to presentation, but remember, these analysts and managers are used to considering Telecom companies. They would probably have walked out seconds into a meeting with Bill Gates, or any other of the Valley's inspired if "otherly"-occupied luminaries. These guys are used to dealing more with the likes of the old IBM, but older and more conservative. Then again, I've met Teligent general counsel, and though a telco "old boy", no offense intended (and I doubt he'd take any), the words polished or genteel wouldn't necessarily come to mind in any description of Larry Harris. In any case, impressions can be powerful tools in any interaction, and consequent justifications may more easily be found and emphasized. I'm certainly not suggesting that TGNT management is not fully experienced and capable, or that Bill R and Co don't put on a good presentation, just that I am aware of these seeming superficial biases, and seriously question their reliability in predicting success. In any case, interesting (as Dub points out) that Teligent is definitely building P-P as well as P-MP. So there goes THAT justifying argument. Further, looking back over the TGNT '97 IPO prospectus, I see that in the 24Ghz range, TGNT only lists 400Mhz in 17 markets. It has 320Mhz in another 11, 160Mhz in 1, and only 80Mhz in the balance of their 74 markets. Even accounting for the 5/4 38Ghz comparison conversion, they don't seem to have all that much spectrum (and of course, by all rights, they SHOULDN'T even have THAT much - I hope your letters are well received. Perhaps a letter to the Washington Post might ALSO be in order.) They ALSO discuss the value in being vendor independant, and contrary to Zito's comments, state: "..unlike many cellular and PCS networks, fixed wireless networks can be constructed using equipment from different manufacturers because customers do not roam between base stations. Teligent believes that the flexibility provided by vendor diversity will assist in ensuring an adequate and prompt supply of equipment at attractive prices.." (pg 38, in first paragraph of "Vendor Financing" section) Winstar seems out front and right on track. Hopefully, we may get some input from those more knowledgeable in these issues.