Replies to post #77093 on Billionaire Boys Club Member Forum (BBCMF)

[midastouch017]

Re: Wimax

Investing In A WiMax Future
Steve Kichen, 10.26.05, 8:30 AM ET

NEW YORK - Hype and fear always accompany newfangled technologies. Both now swirl around WiMax, a wireless broadband standard that could either change the way that people access the Internet or get left in the dust by competing wireless technologies. Careful stock pickers can hedge their bets by getting their WiMax exposure with a handful of tech blue chips.

A WiMax refresher: The term refers to a group of standards designated 802.16 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association. Think of WiMax as a supercharged version of Wi-Fi, today's set of specifications for wireless local area networks. Wi-Fi is a low-powered service with a maximum range of just 100 to 300 feet, while WiMax can cover much more distance. In its high-powered guise, WiMax can reach 19 miles of rural area and several miles of dense urban environments. (WiMax will be available in both high- and low-powered configurations.)

The heaviest WiMax usage is likely to be by subscribers paying for high-powered service in a licensed portion of the radio spectrum. According to a forecast from Boston research and consulting outfit Strategy Analytics, WiMax installations could reach 20 million worldwide by 2009.

If you buy the growth numbers, you could try a company like Israel's Alvarion (nasdaq: ALVR - news - people ). The company has been a WiMax pioneer, spends 14% of its revenue on research and development and has enjoyed 26% annualized sales growth over the past five years. But so far Alvarion has only recorded two years of profit in its ten-year history, and its shares are expensive. Even after a 43% tumble in price year-to-date, Alvarion shares go 95-times projected earnings for fiscal 2006.

A better WiMax strategy is to go for a more familiar--and cheaper--names. Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ), for example, has a handle on the new technology and has the market clout to get its WiMax silicon into devices, such as laptops and handheld computers, though power consumption requirements may limit WiMax proliferation in the smallest handheld devices. Better still, its shares trade at only 14-times estimated 2006 profits, which is a five-year low multiple for expected earnings for the coming year. Over the next three to five years, analysts reporting to Thomson First Call expect Intel to generate annualized earnings growth of 17%.

Another biggie moving into WiMax is Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ). The company has been a member of the WiMax forum, a trade association of hardware and software vendors, since 2004. The company also looks reasonably priced. It currently has an enterprise multiple of 7.3 versus a five-year average of 17.3. The enterprise multiple is calculated by dividing enterprise value (market value plus net debt) by operating income (earnings before interest, taxes and depreciation). Enterprise value is a rough calculation of what it would cost an acquirer to purchase a company. Similarly, the enterprise multiple shows how many years it would take to pay back the purchase price.

The big telecommunications companies are all working on WiMax strategies. Philip Kendall, director global wireless practice at Strategy Analytics, thinks that Sprint Nextel (nyse: S - news - people ) is well-positioned to exploit WiMax. “It has licensed spectrum for 75% to 80% of the U.S. population,” he says.


Unwired To The Max
Company Country Closing Price Year-To-Date % Change In Price Three-Year Growth In Sales Per Share Estimated 2006 EPS Market Value ($mil)
ADC Telecommunications (nasdaq: ADCT - news - people ) US 18.42 -2 -31 1.04 2,144
Airspan Networks (nasdaq: AIRN - news - people ) US 5.03 -7 33 0.09 197
Alvarion (nasdaq: ALVR - news - people ) Israel 7.58 -43 15 0.08 443
BT Group (nyse: BT - news - people )* UK 36.55 -8 -4 3.64 30,962
Intel (nasdaq: INTC - news - people ) US 23.11 -1 11 1.61 140,093
KT (nyse: KTC - news - people )* S Korea 21.40 -2 17 2.38 12,192
Motorola (nyse: MOT - news - people ) US 20.94 22 3 1.25 51,944
Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people )* Finland 16.29 4 -1 1.10 72,226
Nortel Networks (nyse: NT - news - people ) Canada 3.39 -2 -27 0.18 14,690
Novatel Wireless (nasdaq: NVTL - news - people ) US 11.97 -38 -28 0.64 349
Sprint Nextel (nyse: S - news - people ) US 23.65 -5 1 1.59 35,142
YDI Wireless (nasdaq: YDIW - news - people ) US 2.40 -59 -8 NA 51
Prices as of Oct. 25. EPS: Earnings per share. NA: Not available. *Trades in U.S. as ADR or ADS. Sources: FT Interactive Data, Thomson IBES and Reuters Fundamentals via FactSet Research Systems

http://www.forbes.com/strategies/2005/10/25/wimax-stock-focus-investing-cz_sk_1026sf.html?partner=ya...

Dubi

[midastouch017]

Re:WiMAX

WiMAX Forum(TM) Plans for Second 'Plugfest' in Beijing to Showcase Interoperability Among WiMAX Member Solutions
10/27/2005 8:05:51 AM

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 27, 2005 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The WiMAX Forum(TM) today announced it will bring the WiMAX equipment development community together again for its second "Plugfest," scheduled to take place from Oct. 30 to Nov. 6, 2005, in Beijing. This interoperability showcase, co-sponsored by Cetecom, ETSI and CATR, represents another step as the industry progresses toward Certification, which will commence for fixed network systems at the end of this year.

"Together, WiMAX member companies continue to collaborate to ensure that these systems will interoperate in real-world environments -- critical steps to achieving Certification," said Ron Resnick, president of the WiMAX Forum. "Compared to other wireless standards, the way the WiMAX Forum and its member companies have organized has allowed for accelerated progress and successful achievement of pre-set WiMAX Certification milestones. This Plugfest represents the next achievement."

WiMAX Forum member companies participating in the WiMAX Forum Plugfest include Airspan Networks Inc., Alvarion, Aperto Networks, Axxcelera Broadband Wireless, Huawei Technologies, PicoChip, Proxim Wireless, Redline Communications, SEQUANS Communications, Wavesat Wireless Inc., WiNetworks and ZTE Corporation, along with test equipment vendors Invenova Corporation and Sanjole.

"The WiMAX Forum and supporting companies are making great strides in helping the WiMAX community progress toward the seamless delivery of personal wireless broadband to homes and offices. We would like to continue to support these steps toward Certification," said CATR Vice President Xie Yi.

"We are pleased to have helped establish the WiMAX Forum Certification test lab in Spain and we will continue to help arrange Plugfests in targeted regions, such as this important event in China. This Plugfest will provide very valuable inputs to the WiMAX Forum, the WiMAX vendors and even to our testing and certification labs," said Fernando Hardasmal, deputy general manager at Cetecom.

"This scheduled Plugfest is just another example of how many companies and organizations have continued to successfully work together on the very important aspect of interoperability which ensures that people everywhere will be able to experience wireless broadband," said Philippe Cousin, manager of the ETSI Interoperability Service.

WiMAX Forum Plugfests provide WiMAX equipment suppliers and their technical staffs the opportunity to test and interwork their respective pre- certified products and equipment in advance of final testing.

WiMAX Forum Certification promotes interoperability and mass production, which lowers the price and ensures widespread adoption of WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) equipment. WiMAX Forum Certification testing will continue at Cetecom labs in Spain, and the first WiMAX Forum Certified products -- those that are certified as conformant to the standard and interoperable with other vendors' products -- are expected to be available later this year.

About the WiMAX Forum

The WiMAX Forum is an industry-led, non-profit corporation formed to help promote and certify the compatibility and interoperability of broadband wireless products using the IEEE 802.16 and ETSI HiperMAN wireless MAN specifications. The forum's goal is to accelerate the introduction of these devices into the marketplace. WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) products will be fully interoperable and support Metropolitan Broadband Fixed, Portable and Mobile Applications. For more information about the WiMAX Forum and its activities, please visit http://www.WiMAXForum.org .

WiMAX Forum(TM) and WiMAX Forum Certified(TM) are registered trademarks of the WiMAX Forum.

About CETECOM

Centro de Tecnologia de las Comunicaciones, S.A. (CETECOM) located in the South of Spain, is a global supplier of Testing Solutions for wired and wireless technologies (GSM/GPRS, EDGE; W-CDMA, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, RFID, WiMAX, DECT and PSTN). Its services portfolio ranges from conformance, regulatory and interoperability testing services to test systems development, world-wide compliance services, training and consulting. CETECOM is probably the most complete Wireless and Mobile Communications lab in the world. For more information about CETECOM and its activities please visit http://www.cetecom.es .

About ETSI

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute -- ETSI -- based in the south of France, is an independent non-for-profit organization whose mission is to product telecommunications standards for today and for the future. Within Europe, it is responsible for standardization in telecommunication, broadcasting and certain aspects of information technology, and it is officially recognized by the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as the region's competent body for standardization in these areas.

ETSI unites nearly 700 Members from five continents, and brings together manufacturers, network operators, service providers, administrations, regulators, research bodies and users - providing a forum in which all the key players can contribute. For more information, please visit http://www.ETSI.org .

About CATR

China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of Ministry of Information Industry (MII) is a national high-tech research institute in the communication industry. It supports China government work on decision-making through providing direct and professional research report and data. CATR also provides open services on products inspection, verification and certification as well as information consultations. The accredited test scope of CATR covers wires, wireless, terminals, (wire/wireless) access, transmission, switching, cable, power supply etc. and doing metrology/calibration business. CATR also plays an important role among standardization organizations worldwide contributing a large number of telecommunication product standards, metrology standards and test specifications. For more information, please visit http://www.cttl.com.cn .

SOURCE WiMAX Forum

Dan Guitteau, [phone], [e-mail], for WiMAX Forum


http://www.prnewswire.com

Dubi