Forum Archive Index - March 2000

["hugh webber" <hugh.webber@clear.net.nz>]

I'm constantly amazed by the lack of discussion here on
Telecom which usually makes up about half the daily trade on
the NZSE. Continuing dead silence even though its got lots
of different pots on the boil and must be a perfect target for
day traders.
I was looking at the E and Internet supplement in the Aust Fin Review
today (and I must congratulate the Chch Library on having it in 
newspaper reading room just one day after being published in Australia -
I doubt the electronic version ran the supplement) and it had 3 articles
on AAPT which of course Telecom bought 80% of for $5.10 and now goes
for $6.80. It compared AAPT with two other competing outfits and found
AAPT was aiming at a market of 11 million with its CDMA technology
versions and that although its rollout was not until Sept 2000 up to 6
months after the other two outfits its target of 11 million was much bigger
than the oppositions 3 to 4 million in just the main urban areas.
There was a hint that AAPT would be doing a joint float with Telecom
of this business and you may recall that when TCM bought AAPT
one of the doubts aired was AAPT's big demand for cash to cover this.
The perfect cover I'd say, but when? The teletext commentary today
mentioned speculation that TCM
would float something as a reason for its rise today. There has also been
comment 
that what's afoot with AAPT will put Telecom out in front of everyone in
terms
of trans-tasman b2b etc (forget the tolls stuff its now commodified and
something
you just go thru the motions on) and that the Saturn-Telstra launch was a
desperate
and rather clumsy attempt by Telstra to deter Telecom from its AAPT plans.
(see
last weekends SST for the discussion of that point).
As well as that there's projected floats of Xtra and the Southern Cross
cables business
which latter just happens to be a perfect illustration of a Buffett
consumer monopoly.
(who else would spend heaps and heaps to lay cables to Australia and the
USA while
the new Southern Cross was substantially underutlised but yet used by
everyone?). 

cheers,
Hugh


 



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