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Technology Stocks : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: MikeM54321 who wrote (3041)	5/26/1999 6:50:00 AM
From: MikeM54321	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 12823

Re: Paul Allen's Cable Plant Thread, Not talked about too much on this thread, is the powerhouse Paul Allen is creating via the cable plant. But it is apparent to me, he is as serious as using coaxial as a last mile solution as is AT&T. Do you notice how cable telephony and Paul Allen are rarely mentioned together? Why would he be paying billions upon billions if we was not going to be either offering local phone services himself, or cutting a deal with a long distance company? I would have to imagine there is a lot going on behind the scenes at Charter, that rarely gets publicized. Personally I just see every deal he does, as further proof that AT&T is doing the right thing and further proof that billions will be spent on last mile products. AT&T gets criticized (because they pay too much) for their strategy, but most criticism leaves Paul Allen out. Puzzling. MikeM(From Florida) *********************** Charter Communications to Buy Falcon Cable for US$3.6 Billion London, May 26 -- Charter Communications Inc., the cable TV company owned by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, will buy closely held Falcon Cable Holdings for $3.6 billion in cash and stock, the Wall Street Journal reported. Charter, the seventh biggest U.S. cable operator, will pay $2 billion in cash and stock and take on Falcon's $1.6 billion debt. St. Louis-based Charter and Los Angeles based Falcon are expected to announce the sale today. The transaction is the latest in a string of acquisitions for Allen, the world's 4th richest person with assets of $21 billion, according to Forbes magazine. Charter will be the fifth biggest cable operator with about 4.8 million subscribers once all the deals are closed. The Falcon values each of Falcon's 1 million subscribers at $3,600. ''He's going for economies of scale,'' said Saeed Baradar, a cable analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. ''With cable likely to win out as the distributor of multimedia and Internet services, it is important to build subscriber numbers now.'' He said the purchase could also increase the use of Microsoft's Windows CE software on cable TV set-top boxes. Falcon's acquisition was also reported by the New York Times newspaper. About 46 percent of Falcon's shares are owned by AT&T Inc., the biggest long-distance company that has become the top U.S. cable provider with its own string of acquisitions. Allen last year entered the cable arena by buying Charter and Marcus Cable Properties Inc. for $7.7 billion in cash and assumed debt. His announced acquisitions so far this year are estimated at more than $4.5 billion, not counting the purchase of Falcon. In March, Charter agreed to buy privately held Helicon Cable Communications for $550 million in cash to expand in the eastern and southern United States. The cable acquisitions are part of a larger strategy by Allen to invest in companies that bring computer and communications technologies into U.S. homes.