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Today's report from Web Editor
Susan Rush
• JDS Eases Fears
• Oracle Divests ITV Assets
• Is It Time To Throw In The Towel?
• Broadband Airwaves Up For Grabs
• Broadband Briefs
• Next Week In Broadband
JDS Eases Fears It has
been quite a wild ride for JDS Uniphase,
as well as for fiber-optic networking investors, on Wall Street this week.
On Wednesday, after Nortel Networks
announced lower than expected sales for the third quarter, JDS shares
slipped $16.88, but the optical fiber component maker rebounded today
following strong Q3 results. Shares rose $5.28 to $79.72 in early morning
trading.
JDS reported sales of $786.5 million for the quarter ended
September 30, 2000, up from $290 million during the same period a year ago.
Analysts were anticipating sales of $755.9 million for the quarter. The
company suffered a loss of $1.0 billion, or 1.07 per share for the quarter,
compared to $133.9 million, or 17 cents a share during Q3 1999.
The future looks bright according to JDS' numbers. Anthony
Muller, CFO, expects JDS to earn 80 cents a share this year. The company has
upped its anticipated sales growth for the year to between 115 and 120
percent, up from a previous estimate of 90 percent.
Related Story:
Nortel
Takes A Hit On Wall Street, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/25/00
Oracle Divests ITV Assets
Interactive TV will be a collaborative effort for Oracle.
The e-business software provider divests parts of its iTV Division to
video-on-demand equipment vendor nCUBE Corp.
and interactive-TV start-up Thirdspace Living. In exchange for technology
and other assets, Oracle receives a minority equity stake in both companies.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The three companies will work together to develop new
products and services for the interactive TV market. "We see this
three-way deal as a way to develop our video technology in a more effective
way by transferring it to companies that are completely focused on
interactive television," says Gary Bloom, executive vice president of
Oracle.
Related Stories:
Alcatel
Teams With Oracle, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/24/00
An Interactive
TV Reality Check, Broadband Week, 9/00
Is It Time To Throw In The Towel?
Sometimes when a tiny fish tries to compete in the big pond,
it gets eaten. Although DSL router provider Interspeed
is still swimming, it looks like it might be floating on its back soon if it
doesn't act. The company has turned to acquisition advisor Broadview
International to review its options, and could possibly put the company on
the sale block.
Despite positive growth numbers for the DSL market,
Interspeed has struggled all year -- suffering a more than 85 percent drop
in its stock price -- and was trading at $1.63 this morning. The
company declined to comment on its problems, but it is no secret that the
company reported fourth quarter revenue of $660,000, down from $7 million
during the previous quarter.
Related Stories:
DSL
Pushes Forward Despite Tech Glitches, Broadband Week, 10/25/00
DSL Is
On The Rise, BroadbandWeek Direct, 7/25/00
Broadband Airwaves Up For Grabs
High-speed third-generation wireless technology is not the
only hot ticket at auction these days. The government in the United Kingdom plans to auction 12 regional licenses for broadband fixed wireless access on November 10. The reserve price is set at $100
million.
According to the Department of Trade and Industry, nine bidders are expected to take part in the auction: Eircom Ni Ltd., Energis Local Access Ltd.; Faultbasic Ltd., FirstMark Communications (UK) Ltd., Forums Communications UK Ltd., Norweb Telecom Ltd., Unica BFWA Ltd. and Winstar Communications Ltd.
The progress of the auction can be monitored on a government run Web
site.
Related Story:
The
Ins And Outs Of 3G, BroadbandWeek Direct, 10/23/00
Broadband Briefs:
- AT&T
Broadband passes the 400,000 subscriber mark for its AT&T Digital
Phone service. The company has added 50,000 subscribers since September and is
confident that it will reach its year-end goal of 500,000.
- The new head honcho at Lucent
Technologies Henry Schacht plans to cut jobs to bring profitability back
to the company. He hopes to cut jobs by attrition, but will not know how many
jobs will be lost until January.
- British Telecommunications
may be forced to open its local loop access to competitors as early as January
1. The European Parliament has put legislation on the "fast-track"
to appease various European carriers.
- Precision Optics
Corporation Inc. reports first quarter revenues of $886,299, compared to
$716,885 during the same period a year ago. Sales from dense wavelength
division multiplexer (DWDM) filters was the driving force for the revenue
boost. DWDM filter sales were up 22 percent for the quarter.
- Motorola signs
its first U.S. supply contract for high-speed, third generation wireless
installation. The company will supply Alltel
3G Code Division Multiple Access 2000 1x standards-based hardware and software
to be installed in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La. next year.
- Prodigy
Communications reports $134.6 million in revenue for the third quarter, up
from $48.9 million during the same quarter a year earlier. The company
increased its DSL Internet subscriber base by 37 percent during the quarter,
bringing its total number of subscribers to 338,000.
- Microsoft WebTV
Networks Inc. donates 1,000 Oakland Raiders tickets to middle school kids
in Alameda County, Calif.
- World Wide Wireless
Communications Inc. launches its Speedway two-way, broadband wireless
Internet service in Lima and Callao, Peru. World Wide Wireless subsidiary Digital
Way S.A. de C.V. will spearhead the project. Speedway will be marketed to
small and mid-size businesses.
Next Week In Broadband
- Conferences:
Oct. 30-Nov. 1: Wireless Data and Internet ComForum 2000, Omni
Hotel, Richardson, Texas; www.iec.org
Oct. 31: Telecommunications Security and Reliability At The FCC, FCC's Commission Meeting Room, Portals II, Washington, DC, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.;
www.fcc.gov
Nov. 6: Upstream Seminar Series, Roosevelt Hotel, New York, N.Y.;
www.kipinet.com/ustream
- IPOs:
Nov. 1: Metavante Corp. (MVNT). IPO managed by Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp., 16.5 million shares being offered at $10-$12 a share.
Nov. 2: Optical Communication Products Inc.
(OCPI). IPO managed by UBS Warburg, 10.5 million shares being offered $10-12 at a share.
- Upcoming Broadband Events:
Nov. 9: Upstream Seminar Series, Hyatt Regency San Francisco, San Francisco, Calif.;
www.kipinet.com/ustream
Nov. 13-17: COMDEX Fall 2000, Las Vegas Convention Center, Sands Expo & Convention Center and Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada;
www.key3media.com/comdex/
Nov. 28- Dec. 1: Western Show 2000, Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, Calif.;
www.calcable.org/westernshow
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