IRVINE, Calif., April 19, 2000 (PRIMEZONE) -- (www.ibchannel.com) - Companies focused on wireless products, services, and innovation have been posting strong earnings and revenue growth while capturing market share.
Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) said Wednesday net income for its second quarter rose 41 percent to $754 million or 23 cents a share, a penny above First Call's estimate. The company also said it will change its manufacturing process to focus on the high growth areas of wireless and enterprise networking. The stock surged in March when the company first announced plans to spin-off its PBX, SYSTIMAX structured cabling and LAN-based data businesses to form a new company in the hot area of enterprise networking. After posting a 23-percent drop in first-quarter profits due, in part, to an inability to keep up with customer demand, Lucent said it would increase its optical manufacturing capacity and spin off slow-growing businesses to focus on wireless equipment and Internet infrastructure -- including optical and data networking systems and optical fiber.
April 19, 2000 - USURF America Enters Residential and Small-Business Markets with "Wireless DSL" for Under $40 Per Month
USURF America, Inc. (AMEX:UAX), a provider of Fixed-Wireless Internet access products, including Quick-Cell(TM), announced the introduction of its Wireless Internet access service that will compete directly against the popular digital-subscriber-line, or DSL, technology as well as cable modem technology.
Usurf reported yesterday that Revenues for its fiscal year ended December 31, 1999, increased to $2.5 million, up from its 1998 revenues of $5,440. The company also reported a net loss of $10.9 million for 1999, compared to a net loss of $1.03 million for the prior year. In both periods, non-cash charges accounted for the vast majority of the loss.
The company indicated that its net loss reported for 1999 was attributable in large measure to non-cash charges related to the acquisition of its CyberHighway ISP subsidiary and other businesses during the year. These acquisitions resulted in large depreciation and amortization charges associated with the acquired customer bases, goodwill and other intangibles. The expensing of stock issuances for consulting services during 1999 accounted for a significant portion of the period's net loss. Also, the company suffered a one-time $900,000 charge related to a settlement agreement with certain former members of management. "The USURF America philosophy remains firm and the company poised to achieve its goal: to change the way businesses and people access the Internet, to rescue our customers from a dial-up existence by providing them with high-speed, low-cost Fixed-Wireless Internet access." In its New Mexico markets, USURF's "Wireless DSL" access is priced at $39.95 per month for home users - about half the cost of traditional DSL connections provided by local telephone companies. USURF also introduced a Wireless DSL product for the small-office market priced at $99 per month. Both Wireless DSL services include free customer-premises modems and free installation.
"These are flat-rate plans," said James Kaufman, USURF's vice president of corporate development. "There are absolutely no hidden charges. Customers pay either $39.95 or $99 a month for unlimited usage at an access speed up to 100 times faster than dial-up. That's it." USURF introduced its Wireless DSL products in Santa Fe, NM, where it is currently signing up customers and installing Wireless DSL, in addition to its popular "Wireless T1" service, which is designed for the more demanding corporate market. The Wireless T1 access is offered at approximately 45% below the cost of traditional, local-market hard-wire T1 service.
USURF intends to include its Wireless DSL offerings in each of the 110 U.S. cities targeted for Quick-Cell systems. The company plans to build its initial major-market systems in Denver.
"The timing is right for this very competitive product," said David Loflin, USURF's president. "Until wire-based DSL can overcome major obstacles, notably its incompatibility with fiber-optic networks, distance limitations and slow and delayed availability, we should have a significant competitive advantage in our markets. The greater flexibility of our Wireless Internet access products, in general, and our Wireless DSL products, in particular, means we can provide more people with a super-fast, "always on" connection to the Internet in a much shorter time than through traditional wire-based solutions. Our immediate objectives are to satisfy the accelerating demand for bandwidth and capture market share in each of our markets. We remain convinced that the ability to deliver economical high-speed service to a large group of customers will become recognized as a valuable asset as the Internet broadband industry matures," Mr. Loflin concluded."
In a recent article ("For Phone Companies Wiring the Web, a Surprising Speed Bump", Feb. 27, 2000), The Wall Street Journal reported: "Phone companies are counting on digital subscriber-line technology, known as DSL, to be their ticket to the world of high-speed Internet access. They've also been betting on another technology, fiber optics, to upgrade the old Bell networks, at a cost of billions of dollars. Now the Bells face a difficult quandary: The two technologies are the equivalent of oil and water. They just don't mix. DSL was designed to be delivered on the Bells' century-old copper networks, not on the new fiber-optic networks. Right now, getting DSL can be an Bell companies have wired with fiber lines."
The same Wall Street Journal article noted that there were only about 228,000 residential DSL customers nationwide at the end of 1999. April 19, 2000 - eFax Software Provides Wireless Access for Palm Users eFax.com (Nasdaq:EFAX), a leader in Internet communication services, today announced that it has released a software application to give Palm VII(TM) handheld computers from Palm, Inc. (Nasdaq:PALM) access to its Internet based fax services. Palm V users can access the same services using an Omnisky wireless modem.
The Palm Query Application (PQA) is designed to give Palm owners wireless access to faxes while on the road or away from their PC. The eFax application also allows users to forward any document, including emails with attachments, and faxes, to a local fax machine for remote printing while traveling. The Assistants (PDAs) is called eFax Wireless Hardcopy(TM).
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