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Technology Stocks : NEXTEL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (7820)	10/5/1998 8:54:00 PM
From: Arnie Doolittle	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10227

Here's post one of two that I posted on Yahoo: SPRINT PCS - A SHADOW OF NEXTEL gad123 Oct 5 1998 8:37PM EDT As promised, I have reviewed Sprint Corp.'s S-3 and S-4 filed respectively on 9/25/98 and 10/1/98 and at long last we have an all digital wireless company to compare with NXTL. So how is NXTL doing? Outstanding, thank you very much. But don't let me tell you what has been obvious to NXTL bulls. I'll let Sprint speak for itself. The quotes are the Sprint Corp. S-3 & S-4, with occasional comments from yours truly. Check out the details (each is in excess of 400 pages) on EDGAR. :-) The sum and substance of what you're about to read? We have invested in one heck of a company and I'm darn proud of what McCaw, Akerson et al (including MOT) have accomplished. NEXTEL IS A WORLD CLASS COMPANY IN THE MAKING. MIGHTY (HA!) SPRINT IS BEHIND AND TRYING TO PLAY CATCHUP. HERE WE GO. ENJOY. 1. Cap ex from 7/1/98 to 12/31/99 is expected to be $3.2-$4.0 billion. Cap ex for 1998 and 1999 calendar years "will total approximately $4.7 billion to $5.5 billion." 2. S-PCS has had SIGNIFICANT problems implementing their CDMA system, as indicated by the S-3: "Vendors often have not had systems available to fully meet the PCS Group's requirements ....(I)t is a significant challenge to add systems capacity, make software enhancements, ensure uniformity of deployment of features and functions..." "Assuming that a fourth quarter 1998 software release, which is currently in testing, meets expectations, management estimates that the PCS Group's billing system will have sufficient capacity for anticipated customer growth through mid-year 1999....Contingency plays exist in the event that" (additional software releases) "are late, do not perform as planned or are delayed due to other business priorities." 3. "(R)apid expansion...has placed increasing demands on the PCS Group's customer care systems and processes as well as management information and financial systems and controls." 4. "(A)ggregate indebtedness, as of June 30, 1998 on a proforma basis, would have totaled $6.9 billion." They "proposes to issue, subject to market conditions, up to $3.0 billion aggregate principal amount of debt securities...for working capital purposes and to refinance existing indebtedness...." 5. "PCS Group does not require its customers to enter into long term contracts...." 6. "(Q)uality of the service provided by a network provider during a roaming call may not approximate the quality of the service provided by the PCS Group and its affiliated companies ....(T)he PCS Group customer may not be able to use any of the advanced features (e.g., voicemail notification) the customer enjoys when making calls from within the PCS Group network. 7. "The PCS Group has experienced a higher rate of customer churn as compared to cellular industry averages." WHY IS CHURN HIGHER? GET THIS, NXTL BOO BIRDS: "network coverage and reliability issues (e.g. blocked calls, dropped calls, handset problems)" CONTINUED ON NEXT POST

To: John F. Dowd who wrote (7820)	10/5/1998 8:57:00 PM
From: Arnie Doolittle	Respond to of 10227

SPRINT - A SHADOW OF NEXTEL - PART 2 gad123 Oct 5 1998 8:42PM EDT 8. "The wireless industry ... has experienced a trend of generating a significantly higher number of customer additions and handset sales in the fourth quarter of each year...." Oh, yeah? Not NXTL. Does that tell us something about NXTL's success with businesses? Answer: YES. 9. "PCS Group owns licenses to provide service to the entire United States population, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands." They currently operate "PCS systems ... (in) 38 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas." Kinda behind, eh? By June, 1999, they expect to be operational "in all of the 50 largest metropolitan areas and 80 of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States." 10. "Revenues include subscriber revenues, roaming revenues and sales of handsets are normally sold at prices substantially below the PCS Group's cost." 11. ARPU for the six months ended 6/30/98 was $60. 12. "(C)hurn rates and customer marketing costs have been higher than cellular industry averages, but are within the range management expected at this stage of development." In other words, management had to change the expected churn rate to a higher % when they discovered that customers weren't as thrilled with CDMA as they expected them to be. 13. 1.3 million subscribers at 6/30/98, an increase of 1 million over the prior year. 14. They spent $3.1 billion to buy the PCS licenses. THAT'S A LOT OF BLUE SKY. 15. "As of July 31, 1998, the PCS Group's network was able to provide service in areas covering 108 million Pops or 40% of total Pops." They've got a HUGE cap ex ahead of them if they want to have a functional, complete nationwide footprint. 16. At 6/30/98, they had $3.3 billion in accumulated losses to date with much more to follow. 17. Net operating revenues, including roaming income, totaled $468 million for the six months ended 6/30/98. Losses for the same period were $1.191 billion. Ok, there you have it. Comments? Arnie