e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[Tinroad]

OT re carlvogel, FWIW:

http://www.skyreport.com/skyreport/nov2001/110201.htm
Vogel Offers Insight into DBS Combination

Charter's top executive offered his opinion on the proposed merger between EchoStar and Hughes Electronics Thursday. And while most cable CEOs will undoubtedly have something to say about the pending transaction, the MSO's president and CEO has a connection to the companies involved in the blockbuster satellite TV deal like no other cable executive.

Charter's Carl Vogel was once president of EchoStar, working for the company under Chairman and CEO Charlie Ergen when it launched the DISH Network DBS service in 1996. He also headed PrimeStar prior to its acquisition by Hughes' DirecTV unit in 1999.

In a conference call detailing Charter's third quarter results, Vogel, named the cable operator's president and CEO last month, said, "bottom line, it's great for Charlie." What he's looking forward to is the regulatory scrutiny the deal will get in the nation's capital. "I will enjoy watching the Washington gymnastics on this one," Vogel said.

Vogel said the pending EchoStar/Hughes transaction won't have much of an impact on Charter. "If there are one or two satellite competitors, it may or may not be relevant to us," he said. "At the end of the day, it's about delivering digital television."

Charter said digital cable customers totaled 1.951 million at the end of third quarter. Vogel said Charter's target is to end the year with more than 2.15 million digital cable customers, representing a 30 percent penetration of the company's basic customer base. Total customers numbered 6.97 million at the end of September.

Charter also continues to promote video-on-demand. Vogel said Charter expects to pass some 2.2 million homes by the end of 2001 with VOD service.

Two-way high-speed data service was available to 56 percent of Charter's homes passed as of Sept. 30. At the end of the third quarter, Charter served 545,900 data customers, adding more than 102,000 Charter Pipeline customers during the three-month period.

Third quarter revenue increased more than 13 percent, to $1.04 billion, and operating cash flow increased more than 10 percent to $467.5 million, when compared to pro forma results for third quarter 2000.