Rochester, NY, Jan 26, 2005 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- OTCStockExchange.com`s "Stock Watch Alert" this morning are WebSky, Inc. (Pink Sheets: WBSK), SigmaTel Inc. (NasdaqNM: SGTL), Oracle Corp. (NasdaqNM: ORCL), InfoSpace Inc. (NasdaqNM: INSP). Sign-up for a FREE trial of our award winning newsletter at http://www.otcstockexchange.com !
WebSky, Inc. (Pink Sheets: WBSK - http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=WBSK.PK ): Intel Capital announced on October 25th that it will make a "significant investment" (expected to be in excess of US$100 million) into Craig McCaw's Clearwire, inc. to develop and install high-speed networks based on broadband technology commonly referred to as WiMax. (FYI - Craig McCaw is a silicon valley pioneer responsible for building the first cellular network, which he ultimately sold to AT&T for $11.5B in 1994)
WiMax is a radio technology that promises non line-of-sight, two-way Internet access at several megabits per second, with ranges of several miles, as compared to traditional WiFi which only reaches a matter of a few hundred feet.
Backers of the technology believe that it can challenge DSL and cable broadband services because it offers similar speeds but costs carriers less to install, as it doesn't require roads to be torn up.
More than 7 million subscribers worldwide will get wireless broadband access from carriers selling WiMax services by the end of 2009, according to reports released by Parks Associates, an emerging technology research firm in Dallas, TX. Most analysts would consider this number to be extremely conservative.
The up-and-coming technology is expected to be particularly useful at getting broadband service to remote areas economically or physically out of reach of conventional wired networks. WiMax will probably find its first success in Europe and Asia, said Parks Associates senior analyst Michael Cai.
Companies selling WiMax products and services will find fertile ground in developing countries, where the need for voice and data services is hampered by poor or non-existent wireline, cable and fiber optic infrastructure. In fact most emerging markets now have many more wireless voice subscribers than conventional fixed wireline due to the lack of, or poor wireline infrastructure.
WiMax is essentially radio technology that promises to deliver two-way Internet access at speeds of up to 75 megabits per second at long range.
Backers claim that WiMax can transmit data up to 30 miles between broadcast towers and can blanket areas more than a mile in radius with bandwidth that exceeds current DSL and cable broadband capabilities. As a result, some believe that it will slash the cost of bringing broadband to remote areas and potentially open the doors to new broadband competition, leading to lower prices and faster consumer adoption.
Subscriber boxes (CPEs - customer premises equipment) for home access already cost less than $300. Base stations (transmitter/receiver stations) can cost as little as $5,000 but can cost up to US$270,000 for a 1500 subscriber unit, depending on their subscriber capacity and range. In some cases, consumers would lease CPEs from carriers the way they do with cable set-top boxes as part of their service plans.
Base stations will be able to connect to other base stations within a range of up to 30 miles with data transfer speeds of up to 75 megabits per second. CPEs, the set-top box-like devices, will connect to base stations with ranges of up to three miles and transfer speeds of up to 15 megabits per second.
Use of broadband connections in the United States shot up 42 percent to 28.3 million connections in 2003, according to the Federal Communications Commission. WiMax could theoretically make it easier and less expensive for carriers to entice even more subscribers.
WEBSKY is at the forefront of wireless broadband access providers with more global license and frequency agreements than any other publicly traded corporation.
CLEARWIRE (as above) has made several unsolicited approaches to acquire WEBSKY's licensed frequencies in N. America. Based on this assessment, using the lower-end valuations based on discounted cash flow, this would give the company an asset value of more than 20 cents per share.
WEBSKY already has licensed frequencies and has joint-venture agreements in place or is in the process of negotiating agreements with the following countries: USA, India, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Peru, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Norway, Slovakia, Russia, and Sao Tome Principe.
On a discussion panel on PBS hosted by Charlie Rose and aired on Wednesday 18 November 2004, The Presidents and CEOs of INTEL, GOOGLE, CISCO & YAHOO unanimously agreed that wireless broadband internet access in emerging markets would be one of, if not the greatest technological revolution over the next decade. WEBSKY is in a dominant position to take advantage of this coming revolution.