LVLT - Level 3

[Guest ValueCarl]

Cardboard, although it may seem ridiculous considering the walloping that (3) shareholders received post acquisitions inclusive of this ICG asset, Dan Caruso has told me personally that, he wishes he still owned it even though (3) paid him dearly(almost 25 times owners' capital). At the same time, except through the illusion of silly stock prices being thrown out daily by Mr. Manipulator, (3) owners don't get to see the specific returns such prior purchases are bringing to their incumbent strategies.

 

In the mean time, Dan has been "paying up" for fiber assets of late. There is this smart telecom guy, Dave Rusin(American Fiber Systems), that just exited stage right with Dan's payload. 

 

 

  Zayo has since acquired 15 smaller fiber companies in deals valued anywhere from $3 million to $100 million. In June, it bought American Fiber Systems, a metro fiber company with lines in underserved cities like Boise, Idaho, Salt Lake City, and Reno, Nev., in a deal valued at $100 million.

Mr. Caruso was a former CEO of ICG Communications, a publicly traded fiber company burdened with $100 million of debt. He led a buyout of the company in 2004, funded by Columbia Capital and M/C Ventures, for $8.7 million. In 2006, they sold the company to Level 3 Communications Inc. for $170 million.

 

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204467204576048110913769584.html#ixzz19W4up2yd

[Guest ValueCarl]

How are they going to pay, who are they going to pay, and what are they willing to pay for? That is the seminal question for infrastructure owners and content producers to the world wide web!

 

<The new figures from Pew suggest paying for content online is at least not a completely foreign idea for most people.

 

About a third of respondents said they have paid for digital music. Same for software.>

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Pew-study-hints-at-what-Web-apf-880392345.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=

[brker_guy]

Happy New Year, Everyone!  Hope all will have a much better year with Mr. Market this year than last year!  Last year wasn't a bad year at all either...

 

Carl, GREAT STUFFS on the SHLD's VOD service that you found.  I have been away on for awhile and internet access was pretty bad!  So, I missed most of the fun.

 

This is a very interesting deal that you found Carl to say the least.  It's because the Sonic Solutions was not a big mover in this CDN space, but I know now how they got into this space.  This past October, Sonic Solutions bought one of the pioneers in digital video platform called DivX.  Don't know if you have heard or used DivX media players or their products, but DivX used to rule the online download space.  They are quite big in Asia.  DivX tried very hard to be like the iTunes for the living rooms by having DVD players certified to DivX Cerfitied:

 

http://www.divx.com/en/software/divx-plus/player

 

However, DivX didn't make any traction in the US, mostly in Asia and Europe.  Furthermore, the iTunes and iPod platforms took a lot of their competitive edge away.  So, now that they are bought by Sonic Solutions, they want to take back living rooms by going into this business model.  This is quite fascinating to say the least...  Sonic Solutions/DivX will be a formidable competitor in the CDN space for

Video Distribution to the living rooms

for sure!  Needless to say, They still need a backbone service provider in order to be low-cost...

[brker_guy]

Hi Carl, 

 

CES will be in Vegas starting on Thursday, I think.  Now, we finally beginning to see some signs why Comcast is erecting a toll-booth to charge NFLX and LVLT for video traffic.  Check this out:

 

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/01/04/pm-netflix-gets-a-button-on-the-remote-control/

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Today, I became convinced that Jim Crowe must leave us, at least as CEO.

 

Why? Because although he was featured as a lone speaker to appear at the CITI media conference, it turns out that his trusty CFO made a surprise visit with him.

 

During that conference, he telegraphed a question to his CFO first, a question designed to prove what he was going to say would be truth vs. hyperbole or fiction, in advance of answering the Comcast, Netflix, Net Neutrality question which was ultimately answered.  

 

If our CEO is not trusted by the untrustworthy criminals who traverse Wall Street's world, how will this company ever make it to the high heights it might deserve to go to otherwise? Unfortunately, until an act of God causes some draconian change in our world, business owners in the public marketplace need these CRIMINALS behind them. Speaking of criminal enterprises, it's Goldman Sachs brokers' who continue to remain quiet on (3) except through their "dark trading pools," I'm sure. Their Limelight(LLNW) interests continue to blind them from the promised land. I haven't seen any reports from them since the last conference, especially when one of their own clan members showed up on the call. Have you seen Goldman around town, Brker_guy? 

 

Additionally, I believe his prior operation on a part of his brain-fact-has played a toll on his communication skills to the extent that he gets words and relationships mixed up.

 

Let Jim Crowe go, it will be better for all owners. imo

[brker_guy]

Carl, I just listened to the whole conference call, and i got a few different perspectives.  First, it seems to me that our company is being run by two heavy hitters (Sunit Patel and Jeff Storey).  Mr. Crowe, whether through poor health or through the BOD directive, has less visibility into the Day-to-Day operation of LVLT, but serves more of a statesman and visionary for the company.  To be frank, I hate our company's leaders go present to these high priests on Wall St. like this.  Not to sound judgmental or anything here, but the voice of the moderator sounds very young.  The guy sounded like he barely finishes MBA school.  So, how can you explain to a fish what it's like to walk on land?  The guy sounds young enough to be Crowe's grandson.  So, the two of them (Patel and Crowe) have to be careful with their choice of words. 

 

Furthermore, if you are familiar with the 7 layers of OSI Model, it sounded to me that Mr. Crowe was trying to tell them that they are expanding to the upper layers of OSI without giving hints to competitors that they are doing so.  Notice that CDN and Vyvyx are encroaching upon Layer 4 and Layer 5.  Without sounding patronizing to Mr. Crowe here, but I think that it was LVLT's push into CDN that created all of these telcos like PAETEC, BT, T, VZ and GLBC moving into CDN.  I also don't want to see our Mr. Crowe turning into this crook who looted his company, left them for nearly dead and now reincarnated into a green person and come up with a cement company called iCrete:

 

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/tag/icrete/

 

Or Dave Schaefer at Cogent.  When was the last time you see CCOI posted anything useful to its shareholders at its website?  Yet, when Schaefer presents at an analyst conference, he brags how his company is the backbone to YouTube or Skype which you know are not true.  So, I think we have good and honest management.  At time, it's very frustrating, but they could have been like those two guys that I have illustrated. 

 

The grass is always greener on the other side, my LVLT friend, but I think we are better off stick to steady as she goes until the next time they REALLY screw up.  Then, we will be calling to arm...

 

BTW: Did you see the news about NFLX' new strategy to be on the remotes?  Look at how many OEM deals they have signed up so far?

 

http://www.fierceonlinevideo.com/story/netflix-getting-one-click-remote-button-array-devices/2011-01-05

 

Comcast!  Be scared!  Be very scared!  Having a Netflix on a remote control button is like having a Trojan Horse on a TV. 

[Cardboard]

Please! You guys stop the questioning. Our stock has jumped 16% in the past 3 trading days. I don't care about Crowe, Hawkins or whoever. What is clear is that some people are finally noticing what you have been saying for years.

 

All we have to wish for is that this is now for real: that the web is expanding as fast as the data has been showing and that eventually our pipes will be really valuable since they will be full of back and forth data.

 

Data moving back and forth is the key. Once this is proven. The price of the asset will become very clear to everyone out there.

 

Cardboard

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, I read everything you graciously offer to this board!

 

As for that MBA, he articulated some darn good questions notwithstanding. His quote, "This internet thing can be really big one day," although latent, remains prescient.  

 

As I have always said with this name, nothing except "sustainable, consistent, persistent growth" is acceptable!

 

Although 2 percent per quarter, greater than eight percent per year growth tied to CNS, in order to get back to where they seemed to be three years ago is a good starter, this factory's thirst will not be quenched by such results!

 

Its paltry top line is craving 20 percent growth and better similar to other giants in tech, historically, even some who had reached mature stages!

 

Crowe is a wounded lion, and Sunit's hip pocket investors are not yet ready to let this enterprise take off! I keep feeling that interest rate sucking sound! Salespeople are being held back from selling "aggressively" to what the market "wants and needs," according to him yesterday, and if I heard him correctly, he's blaming it on the "hook ups" to those 20 percent "access points" which they don't own. Stated differently, their own "integration nightmare" mess is now almost entirely behind them, apparently. A new "EXCUSE" is being bantered about though!

 

So, where are the "follow the leader" announcements? Where are sales to the government, and enterprise levels consistently, and persistently?

 

Crowe says, "We don't sell cotton candy." Well, we don't sell enough CNS for way too long now, as well.

 

Don't worry Cardboard, the same trading buffoons are coming out of their holes which has historically meant, "FALSE ALARM!"

 

On the other hand, I'd be happy to be proven wrong! imo          

 

 

[brker_guy]

Carl,  I know it is frustrating to hear the words of (3)'s management at times, but think of the worse scenario.  You could be dealing with crooks who are looting us, and we didn't know.  I think we need to take the step back and evaluate the situation.  Once a mistake is made, it is very difficult to correct the problem, and if one doesn't take prudent actions, the problem worsen.  In (3)'s case, I think they overestimated the integration problems that they had back in 2007/08.  That's why it took them awhile to recover.

 

However, i have to agree with cardboard on this one. 

 

All we have to wish for is that this is now for real: that the web is expanding as fast as the data has been showing and that eventually our pipes will be really valuable since they will be full of back and forth data.

 

Data moving back and forth is the key. Once this is proven. The price of the asset will become very clear to everyone out there.

 

It's the filling up of the pipes with traffic that will make CNS grow.  This vertically integrated approach that (3) is taking will yield some juicy returns.  IP VIDEO unlike other type of IP traffic is a BEAST to deal with.  This is the year of IP Video, and you should shall see how much BW this application will eat up compared to other pure IP data or VOIP. 

 

Mr. Buffett also has taught us that lumpy results are far more gratifying that steady ones.  So, with the new year, hope is always eternal!

 

Cheers!  :D

[Guest ValueCarl]

Interesting AKAM news as they attempt partnering with "the studios" at CES today, do you think Brker_guy?  Which part of the content distribution channel for videos over the net do you think this would work for, if any?   

 

I’m very, very wary of typing this, because it’s about a yet-to-be-released product that’s being demoed at the Consumer Electronics Show.

 

Which means it could all be from the Island of Pretendistan, which supplies a good portion of the stuff you see every year at CES.

 

But! It’s possible that “UltraViolet,” the super-ambitious/probably-way-too-unwieldy coalition of just about every big media and tech company except Apple, may actually work. If Steve Jobs will let it.

 

The big idea behind UltraViolet is that it will let consumers purchase media that can work on multiple devices, using a cloud-based “rights locker.” So someone who bought, say, a “Harry Potter” DVD can watch it on their Blu-ray player, but also on their iPad, or their friend’s Google TV, or whatever.

 

It’s supposed to start rolling out this spring, and it’s a good idea. In theory.

 

In practice, even if the group putting this together–everyone from Akamai to Sony to Microsoft to Time Warner–can get the technology to work on every platform, the fact that Apple isn’t playing along is a huge problem. The music industry used to have a “works on most devices except for Apple” standard, and it was called Windows Media Audio. Remember? No?

But today Akamai, which is powering the back end for UltraViolet, will demo a version of the service on four devices: A Windows-based PC, a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone.

 

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20110106/maybe-ultraviolet-the-ginormous-media-cloud-locker-thingwont-fail-after-all-what-do-you-say-steve-jobs/?reflink=ATD_yahoo_ticker

 

 

At the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a new consortium dubbed the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) – which consists of Warner Bros Entertainment, Netflix, Microsoft, HP and Best Buy – unveiled a new technology they are calling UltraViolet. The technology would make digital content made available on home-video releases playable on certified devices.

 

http://www.hollywoodnews.com/2011/01/06/ultraviolet-revealed-at-ces-backed-by-major-hollywood-studios/

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, how are we going to reconcile on behalf of (3), one fine poster's subject matter today? Companies with Overpaid, Underperforming, Underhanded Managements

 

Crowe admitted two days ago how they have broken Buffett's rule by "over promising, and under delivering."

 

During his tenure for a host of reasons and mishaps which he must bare responsibility for, we have been diluted to the high heavens while he along with his minion have been compensated in cash and stock in absurd manners for jobs poorly done.

 

Certainly, overpaid and underperforming applies here, but does that make them "UNDERHANDED"? Big (3) has never lived up to being Big (3) on the revenue and/or earnings line; therefore, a comparison to others, especially Big Two above him, is poppycock! If he were unlucky Irish like O'Hara who needed to fall on his sword before him, I'd call it BLARNEY!  imo

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Steve Jobs knows how to "lead" his company, by example! For more than fourteen years he has taken one dollar per year, and has accumulated a little more than half the shares that Crowe already holds in (3)'s enterprise while destroying "value." 

 

It's time for Crowe to go. Make him an honorary Chairman for "vision" sitting on the right hand side next to Scott. And, change that silly compensation plan to one focused upon free cash flows!  imo 

 

Jobs is widely known for taking the $1 salary, a practice that has been in place since he rejoined the company in 1997. His total compensation for 2010 was the lone dollar, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Jobs also owns about 5.5 million shares of the company and hasn't sold any of his shares since 1997, according to the filing. He holds no unvested equity awards.

[Guest ValueCarl]

Mr. Market cannot toy with me. If we place Crowe in some back office shrine by title only, the stock will make a new 52 week high; never mind that silly $1.21 next breaking point!

 

You heard it here first! In my humble but narly opinion, of course.  ;D

 

In memory of Jim Crowe, "Bring it on!"

[brker_guy]

Wow, Carl, where do I begin?  Let me start by tackling your points about Crowe.  You see, may be it's just me growing into my thick skins of enduring these pains and suffering we are going through, but I have seen a lot in my working career, my LVLT friend.  I have worked for companies who are so old the only way for to take the guy out of the building is through a gurney, but he still doesn't retire even at the detriment of the company's growth.  I have worked for companies who CEOs lied through both sides of their mouths to everyone, and still didn't land in jail but rewarded for the lying through corporate perks and bonuses.  I have worked for company that have "NO Real Products" like Ultraviolet, and  a buyout of $800MIL came through the BOD.  Yet, the CEO rejected claiming that it should have been $1BIL.  I have worked for company that during the height of the tech bubble landed $100MIL in VC funding.  Then, the CEO promised us that he turned down the excess money to keep the shares count low, and within 2 months, the very same CEO laid off 1/3 of his work force because liquidity was running low. 

 

Now, I am seeing a company like LVLT whose management is "driven" for survival and tries to create something that is long-lasting while many of their counterparts at other companies like GLBC, Qwest, Worldcom, etc. have either looted their creations, left their shareholders in the dark, and ran(i.e. Gary Winnick and Phil Anschutz) or landed in prison(Ebbers, Sullivan and Nacchio).  Or how about dealing with an egomaniac of a CEO like Carl Icahn who is destroying the value of XOHO and leaving his shareholders to rot and die?  Or how about dealing with another egomaniac like Dave Schaefer who is a one-man show at CCOI and who never once share any information with his shareholders to let them know of his vision for the company other than being a leech on other people's networks.  Since the tech bubble busted, no one at the top layer of LVLT has been named in any kind of class action for securities fraud or financial fraud.  So coming with the background where I came from, that speaks volume in term of

INTEGRITY

, Carl. 

 

Have they been perfect?  Definitely NOT!  Have they been above board and could have done better?  MOST DEFINITELY!  In my eyes the problem with Crowe & Co lie in their execution.  I have been raised with the mantra, "ideas are commodities; execution is an art form."  (3) tried to be an industry consolidator, and didn't quite execute it right.  However, you got to hand it to them.  They did other things right by trying to fill up their pipes with traffic to prevent the white mice running through.  :D  They were the first to see the value in Vyvyx and CDN.  Look at what GLBC is doing now.  They just bought a video transport company to compete with Vyvyx.  Look at how many telcos are getting into the CDN space since LVLT decided to be in this market.  Heck, Tata is trying to buy that scraps metal from the junk yard called BitGravity.  What do you get when you mix raisins with turds?  Outside of TW Telecom, LVLT has highest metro footprint to compete against the baby bells and the MSOs.  Now, look at how many little shops are getting into this metro space?  Zayo is on an acquisition diet. 

 

So, my point is that it was management decisions the ripple through the company and reflects on the performance of the company.  Granted, results have been slow and coming, but one can not turn a ship around quickly without pain and suffering.  To be frank, I rather see Crowe saying this, over promising, and under delivering." than not saying a word about it.  As Buffett reminded us, "The sins of omission are far worse than the sins of commission."  By admitting their guilts to me, I am okay with their integrity.  It would be wrong of us to compare Crowe to Steve Jobs.  Steve Jobs is a creative genius; Jim Crowe is no dumby either.  This is a man who created MFS Communication and sold it to Worldcom for $13BIL.  So, let's exercise a little bit of patience with Crowe.

 

I think Longleaf said it best this past quarter in their letter:

 

Level 3 has irreplaceable fiber assets, and demand for bandwidth is growing rapidly with the increasing movement of data and video across multiple platforms. The company’s pace for adding new direct customers has been disappointing. The contribution margin from increasing top line growth is

substantial. Translating obvious demand into strong organic revenue growth in the near term will determine success.We are unhappy with Level 3’s operating results and stock price. You can assume that we are neither oblivious nor idle.

 

I am at CES this week, and I can tell you that the future hold a lot of promise.  Almost all of the TVs that I see have Internet connections.  I am loyal to my Sony and Panasonic TVs.  :D ;D  So, here are a few:

 

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375236,00.asp#

 

http://www.panasonic.com/promos/ces/2011/

 

http://www.panasonic.net/avc/viera/us2011/viera_connect/index.html

 

 

Heck, even CSCO is getting into the act with their "connected home vision":

 

http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/2011/prod_010511.html?POSITION=LINK&COUNTRY_SITE=us&CAMPAIGN=NewsAtCiscoLatestNewsfromCDCHP&CREATIVE=LINK1&REFERRING_SITE=CISCO.COMHOMEPAGE

 

Finally, I think you will like this study:

 

http://blogs.forbes.com/bruceupbin/2011/01/07/the-netflix-effect-results-from-a-revealing-study-in-canada/?partner=yahootix

 

Cheers!

[Guest ValueCarl]

What more can I say to you, Brker_guy, except to acknowledge your perseverance and conviction! You bring great things to this discussion panel!

 

Many applause! I will reserve the standing ovation, however, until our WHEAT is finally identified by most players over the chaff.  ;) 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQOix-KidpY

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

What in the world is internet security coming to now? I don't see that strange bed fellow, or partner Akamai, who gets to free load by domiciling in the cable head ends, or central offices of telecom companies, while they hide behind Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to profile in order to sell "consumer behaviors" to businesses who will pay them in the advertising space. I am sure they can't be excluded from all this business intelligence, even though that operating stealthy as they have been, should be ILLEGAL! I am all for "intelligent" data mining, but mining that is being developed with clear understanding by those consumers who up until now, have been being experimented upon like the "dirty little secret" that it is!

 

Who is going to make these Akamai "privacy invaders" come clean and play fair?

 

 

While the White House has spearheaded development of the framework for secure online identities, the system led by the U.S. Commerce Department will be voluntary and maintained by private companies, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement.

 

A group representing companies including Verizon Communications Inc., Google Inc., PayPal Inc., Symantec Corp. and AT&T Inc. has supported the program, called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, or NSTIC.

 

“This is going to cause a huge shift in consumer use of the Internet,” said John Clippinger, co-director of the Law Lab at Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “There’s going to be a huge bump and a huge increase in the amount and kind of data retailers are going to have.” 

 

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-07/internet-identity-system-said-readied-by-obama-administration.html

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, what is your take on how "Edgecast" plays into the CDN space, especially for Disney? Please be thorough in your response as respects their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges, i.e., patents. 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EdgeCast_Networks

[brker_guy]

Carl, do you remember one of the golden child of the PC era called Micron Technology?  If you do, then you will recognize EdgeCast.  Back in the old days, Micron used to own a web hosting company called Interland.  During that time, web hosting was just at its infancy going nowhere.  So, like all great visionaries, the management at MU couldn't expand this web hosting space.  Under this division of Interland, they had a lot of patents filed.  However, they couldn't expand from web hosting.  As I remember it from old sources, they sold a lot of their patents to patent trolls.  I think this is how Edgecast got so many of these (Interland, Web.com and Trellis) patents. 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web.com_(1995_%E2%80%93_2007)

 

As far as the patents go, I think they are quite unique.  IMHO, I think it's better for Tata to buy these guys that that scrap metal, BitGravity.  I know that Disney is funding them.  The company is run by very hungry 30-something go-getters.  They have a very good CDN wholesale strategy.  Because they come from the web hosting business, their business model very much resemblance of AKAM and LLNW.  They need network BW from someone.  So, I think in the long run, GLBC will gobble them up if they are proven to be a good asset to GLBC. 

[brker_guy]

BTW: Carl, I see (3) is back to its old self giving out guidance and reaffirming it.  Why do they do that?  Why can't they just shut up and kill off the shorts?

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/110111/20110111006004.html?.v=1

 

I don't understand those monkeys in the IR department at (3).  I gave them a lead over the weekend on a possible opportunity with a very big sports network channel for CDN.  Let's see if they follow up.

[FFHWatcher]

Not sure if the Canadian's have been mentioned here regarding Netflix's move into Canada and their bandwidth consumption.  Interesting article to say the least.

 

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/tech-news/netflix-confronting-canadian-challenges/article1866312/?cmpid=nl-news1

 

here is a snippet...

 

....Video streaming eats up a lot of bandwidth. This isn’t a problem for Netflix in the U.S., where one of the strictest plans is Comcast Corp.’s, which limits users to 250 gigabytes per month. That’s still enough to watch eight hours of Netflix per day. In Canada, Internet providers have capped bandwidth use much more aggressively.

 

In the summer, two days after Netflix announced it would be coming to Canada, Rogers Communications Inc. changed the data limits on its “Lite” Internet service from 25 gigabytes per month to 15.

[Guest ValueCarl]

Talk about a Netflix PUT, eh FFHWatcher! Those Canadians really like to slam their prey hard against the boards!

 

Brker_guy, when you brought up Divx, you brought back memories of CCUBE, an old tech play of mine which was bought out prior to the Y2K bubble. Yes, I remember Micron Technologies as well, but your history tied to "edgecast" is superior, and greatly appreciated! Thx!

 

I was thinking differently about those monkeys in IR you allude to. Crowe must lead them, no? Let's hope it's not monkey see, monkey do! LOL  Certainly, releasing it in concert with the new straight debt offering at "fixed rates" was to put aside more dubious notions "the street" may have had. And, they didn't even state a "range of numbers" leaving the potential to "beat nicely" on February 2nd, in my mind. Caveat: I have a very strange mind.

 

As for this recent $300MM refinance, I am hoping Sunit has an ace up his sleeve-more creative-one which is different than the expectation for these funds being utilized to pay off all or some of the 2011 and 2012 converts which are tied to $196MM and $294MM principal amounts with corresponding strikes at $3.98 and $5.46 along with dirt cheap interest rates at 5.25 and 3.5 percent respectively. I am not happy about accelerating 12 plus percent fixed interest money to pay down such cheap money in advance even while saving some dilution during the process.      

 

I also notice that they don't incorporate "acquisition language" tied to this bucket of funds. Sadly, those usury rate fifteen percent ones that are payable in 2013, tied to SEAM and our friends at Fairfax, have a "FORCED CONVERSION" of approx. $4.00 per share beyond the voluntary $1.80 strike.

 

It's the spread between that usury with dilution as part of same, tied to this new fixed rate that I would like to experience the savings from versus the aforementioned dirt cheap money. imo  

 

     

 

 

 

 

 

[brker_guy]

IntrinsicValue,  great find on refreshing our memories of Longleaf's comments about LVLT.  Thanks for posting it again.  I think we are beginning to see that Mr. Market is waking up from manic-depressive symptom of LVLT.  Let's hope they close out the year strongly on Feb. 2nd.

 

"Mr.Market" will recognize this eventually and LVLT's Intrinsic Value will shine bright, delivering bandwidth with greater throughput on the last mile LTE network of Verizon this year.

 

With all due respect, you meant "last mile FIOS network of Verizon..." right?  Because, you know, Verizon like those T-Rex put caps on their wireless data users.

 

http://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/mobilebroadband/?page=plans

 

FFHWatcher, thank you for posting a very interesting article from a Canadian perspective on NFLX and its expansion there.  I feel for the Canadians.  All of those last mile providers putting usage caps on you guys as soon as NFLX announced plan for expansion. 

 

I like these comments from the artticle, "Video streaming eats up a lot of bandwidth."  More importantly, that Credit Suisse report on NFLX has some really interesting pricing info on it.  Carl, we need to absorb that report to really know the CDN pricing well.

 

Also, Carl, I have to say.  It's definitely a small world.  I didn't know that you used to be a shareholder of C-Cube Microsystems (CUBE).  CUBE was my very first 5 baggers stock.  I bought it a few months after it IPO after all of the hypes died down which drove the stock down.  I sold my last share when it broke up in two, selling its chips operation to LSI and the encoding business to Harmonic.  Do you remember Harmonic?  If you used to own CUBE, you should recognize this name.  Remember this guy?

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/t/16/4072.html

 

Small world eh?  I see the news this morning that Mr. GOOG has decided to move to a derivative of DivX CODEC for video.  Interesting!  Oh, btw, I must confess.  I was one of those dummies who used to have a lot of tech in my portfolio back in the early 90s until the Value Investing Religion shined a light upon me.  So, I used to own MU.  That's how I know about Interland, Trellis, and Web.com.  MU used to brag about that during the CC in the late 90s and early 2000.  I don't know anyone at Edgecast.

 

Carl, I don't know what to make of this new notes offering, but I am constantly reminded by my wise mother who taught me the value of debt when I was growing up.  Before I got my first credit card, my mom used to say, "It's a debt any which way you look at it.  So, you either PAY NOW or PAY LATER.  Take your pick.  Pay now cost you less; pay later cost you more."  When I read the (3)'s PR on the note yesterday, that's what came to my mind.  So, I sure hope (3) generates a lot of FCF to pay for all that 12% btw now and 2019...

[Guest ValueCarl]

Hmm, I have a father like your mother, Brker_guy! He is debt phobic! I think when he hears the word "DEBT," he just about goes into cardiac arrest! Of course, Warren Buffett taught me that, when the banks are giving away money, don't stop taking as much as you can get your grubby hands on! They did a lot of that-giving away dirt cheap money-during the Yen "Carry Trade" behind us.

 

I didn't do as good as you did you on C-Cube, nor was I in as early, my LVLT friend, but I got out O.K. Dr. Balkanski, was quite the visionary like Crowe, you think? He did rapture me up!  ;D

 

Although I am sure you can cut through some of the marketing, here's some history on Harmonic including its ties to cable and satellite, its founders and its Israeli R&D connection.

 

http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/16/Harmonic-Inc.html  

 

If you don't want to expand on the above link as respects any material pertinence to today's "broadband world," please make some predictions regarding the Dish/Tivo dispute with imminent "court findings" soon to be released. Much thanks, as always.  

 

Oh yeah, and like I said, let's hope Sunit has an ACE up that SLEEVE of his regarding such expensive MONEY!  

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, have you seen Rob Powell's Renesys Rankings post with (3) clobbering the competition, yet again, with respect to carrying the most data traffic in the world according to IP?

 

If only we would find a way to be paid sufficiently for such a "long haul"!

 

I have to continue to believe with Powell that, at some point in its dubious history, Global "Enterprise Corruption" Crossing, will be swallowed by Miller's crew who have thus far, been receiving much pay for little work sitting behind their (3) desks.  

 

http://www.telecomramblings.com/2011/01/renesys-level-3-leads-global-crossing-ntt-tinet-surge/#more-9570  

[brker_guy]

Carl, I am reading the Renesys actual blog now.  VERY, VERY INTERESTING!

 

http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/a-bakers-dozen-2010-edition.shtml

 

I am amazed at how much S has dropped off from the radar.  I told you those guys at GLBC is to be fearful of.  They are duplicating the LVLT's business model right beneath our nose.  Where is Gary Winnick?  Get that crook back in there and let him loot that company again.  He needs to another $750MIL to build another massion in Bel-Air and his new venture in iCement. :-) :-)

 

Regarding the Dish/TIVO dispute, I have to be honest.  I haven't paid much attention it since last year sometimes when the lawsuit came out.  So, I don't have anything to add.

 

Oh yeah, and like I said, let's hope Sunit has an ACE up that SLEEVE of his regarding such expensive MONEY!

 

We might be a very complicated IP engineering company, but Sunit has proven to be the Master of Financial Engineering.  So, let's hope there is something good with that super expensive debt...