Special Wireless edition of The Wall Street Transcript
Thursday November 5, 11:51 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 5, 1998--The Wall Street Transcript has just published its annual Wireless issue containing a 25-page focus covering the sectors. Vital reading for investors and companies in the sector, it features:
1) An in-depth roundtable discussion featuring John Bensche of Lehman Brothers; Jeffrey Hines of BT Alex. Brown; Thomas Lee of Salomon Smith Barney; Eric Weinstein of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. The panel sees low impact on growth from the economic climate, as Hines says, ''There is not a strong correlation between wireless subscriber growth and economic growth..'' He adds that growth is also being spurred by new pricing plans: ''It's simplified the whole pricing scheme, and lower prices that make the whole package much more competitive. And that is one of the many factors that's going to help drive the penetration, going forward.'' Challenges in the sector, however, come from competitive pressure, where Lee notes ''you're really talking about six or seven players per market for a sustained period.'' Also for the newer PCS companies, Bensche thinks ''it's going to be tough to raise capital in the public markets for expansion of PCS networks.''
This distinguished panel discusses every aspect of the wirless industry, including the tower business, point-to-multipoint technology, C-block licenses, pricing plans, voice quality, FCC regulations and the cutting-the-cord phenomenon. Weinstein states: ''The reality is, we're taking baby steps toward the eventual replacement of wireline by wireless. The forecasts haven't really changed that much. We still look for 21% penetration at the end of last year going to 58% penetration by 2007.''
In making investment recommendations Lee says ''we'd first look for names a) that are very well-capitalized, given the liquidity crunch that we've talked about, and b) that either have a competitive niche or product of differentiation, or just aren't seeing the high levels of competition.'' Stocks recommended include , AirTouch Communications (NYSE:ATI - news), Cellular Communications of Puerto Rico (Nasdaq:CLRP - news), Crown Castle Intl (Nasdaq:TWRS news), NEXTEL Communications, (Nasdaq:NXTL - news), Price Communications (Amex:PR - news), Western Wireless (Nasdaq:WWCA - news). Hines recommends the smaller companies: Advanced Radio Telecom (Nasdaq:ARTT - news), Teligent (Nasdaq:TGNT - news), and Winstar (Nasdaq:WCII - news). Canadian stocks liked include Clearnet (Nasdaq:CLNTF - news),
Microcell (Nasdaq:MICTF - news), Rogers Cantel (NYSE:RCN - news). For the ''high-risk-tolerant people'' Bensch suggests Globalstar Comm. (Nasdaq:GSTRF - news), Omnipoint (Nasdaq:OMPT - news),
2) A confidential review of management performance at 19 Wireless companies by analysts, money managers and industry experts. ''The problem with wireless in general is that quality management teams are few and far between and you can name them on one hand. AirTouch is always at the top of the list,'' says a specialist. High marks also to Western Wireless, who one buysider calls ''probably is the only team that could actually rival AirTouch in terms of the quality, the people, and the strategy of the company.'' Praise also for management at Alltel (NYSE:AT - news), Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU - news), SkyTel Communications (Nasdaq:SKYT - news) and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD - news). However, one firm's management is criticized for producing ''a churn rate that is horrendous.'' Vital insight for investors.
3) An related interview with Kenneth Kannappan of Plantronics (NYSE: PLT - news), in which he talks at length about the company's position as the world leader in communications headsets for the past 37 years. ''In fact,'' he recalls, ''the historic words of Neil Armstrong, 'One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,' were spoken while using a Plantronics headset.''
Other companies mentioned in this special focus are: Aerial Communications (Nasdaq:AERL - news), American Tower (NYSE:AMT - news), AT&T (NYSE:T - news), Bell Atlantic (NYSE:BEL - news), BellSouth (NYSE:BLS - news), Boston Comm Group (Nasdaq:BCGI - news), Brightpoint (Nasdaq:CELL - news), Cellstar (Nasdaq:CLST - news), Cellular Comm Int'l (Nasdaq:CCIL - news), Century Telephone Enterprises (NYSE:CTL - news), Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSA - news), EchoStar (Nasdaq:DISH - news), ICO Global (Nasdaq:ICOGF - news), Iridium World Comm Ltd. (Nasdaq:IRIDF - news), Metromedia (Amex:MMG - news), Millicom (Nasdaq:MICCF - news), Nokia (NYSE:NOKA - news), Orange (Nasdaq:ORNGY - news), Paging Network (Nasdaq:PAGE - news), PanAmSat (Nasdaq:SPOT - news), PowerTel (Nasdaq:PTEL - news), Sprint (NYSE:FON - news), Telephone and Data Systems (NYSE:TDS - news), Vanguard Cellular (Nasdaq:VCELA - news), Vimpelcom (NYSE:VIP - news).
For a copy of this complete issue, which also contains interviews on other topics with analysts, money managers and CEOs, call Robert Ruffin at (212) 952 7433 or use the web at secure.addy.com. There is a $175 charge for the issue. The Wall Street Transcript does not endorse the views of any interviewee nor does it make stock recommendations.
The Wall Street Transcript is a premier weekly investment publication serving serious long-term investors for over 35 years. The Transcript publishes industry roundtables and interviews with Wall Street analysts, money managers and company CEOs, and is read by top money managers, brokers and individual investors. For subscriptions information call (800) 246 7673.
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