LVLT - Level 3

[Guest ValueCarl]

I think the SWEDES and the rest of those Scandinavians want their NETFLIX FLICKS! Neel Dev confirms that other than $150-200MM per year in maintenance capex(bigger boxes more value), it's ALL SUCCESS BASED! You know, those 1 to 1.5 year cache on cache RETURNS!

 

But then Neel goes ahead and says, our MARKET CAP is fine currency for ACQUISITIONS!

 

Well, they better be DIRT CHEAP, we ain't going to OVERPAY acquisitions this time, eh Brker_guy!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

At the same time, "BRING IT ON," cause MILLER's getting a BIG BONE US again, and his CREW has been ASLEEP at the wheel for way too long now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ;D    

[brker_guy]

I have not listened to the presentation today that Neel gave yet, but will do that on my way driving home tonight. 

 

I agree: "we ain't going to OVERPAY acquisitions this time".  That is FOR SURE!!!  I will be extremely pissed if we overpay like we did with WilTel and Broad"thing"  ;D 

 

BTW: I just saw this on CNN today.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/28/technology/billions_for_wireless_networks/index.htm

[mc33]

Anyone see/hear why Netflix was down on tuesday nationwide? Maybe it is just me but I feel it was ironic that was the same day 3 made the aggreement with Internexa. Could Netflix be putting more on the plate of 3?

[brker_guy]

Carl and TxLaw, more deal makings by LightSquared:

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-24/time-warner-cable-is-said-in-talks-to-use-falcone-s-lightsquared-network.html

[brker_guy]

Wow, LVLT has a re-designed webpage and now they have this link:

 

http://www.level3openinternet.com/

 

I guess it's time to go to war as declared by the backbone guys versus the monopolists.

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, Mr. Richards' pumping machine was going full blast all the way up to his EYES during the course of today's market operations. He kept "upgrading" his post all day long, and deleting my comment designed to help PUMP the SLUDGE being caused by our TOILET PAPER backing up the SEWAR LINES for way too many years now.

 

He says "The House that Morgan Built" with their inherited SILVER SHORT acting like fire up their a**es, is about to see (3)'s LIGHT to help put their FIRE OUT!

 

At the same time, I know that, Neel Dev is content with his stock price as "fair collateral" to execute on an acquisition, one which Seam and Fairfax would be blessing of course.

 

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/401021-jeremy-richards/154165-is-jp-morgan-about-to-upgrade-level-3-to-buy#comments

 

I wish Jeremy would stop interfering with my first amendment rights, so I'll let my hot air balloon rise here instead of over there!  I have been waiting many years to be GAPPED OPEN with that, "Telecom Shot Heard Round the World!" You know, "It might as well be us," so, "Bring it on!"  ;D Carl Krowe

 

<There are RUMORS circling alright. Mostly, they are tied to (3)'s next acquisition which will make all the models currently in place tied to value metrics obsolete.

 

There will be a mega gap OPEN for sure once it is known. That gap will be SUSTAINABLE and BUILD from there.

 

Count on it! Carl Krowe>

 

 

 

 

[brker_guy]

Carl, I think our management is up to something.  I was listening to the archived of Neel Dev's presentation this weekend, and all of the sudden, it hit me, "Why is Neel being sent to give a presentation? Where is Crowe, Sunit or Storey?  Should anyone of them be giving this presentation?"

 

With the industry about to get heated up on consolidation, I am wondering if something is cooking.

 

Look at who is cooking up craps at CTIA last week?

 

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Jim-Cramer-Talks-Mobile-Video-with-AT&T,-Sprint,-Verizon-at-CTIA-74540.aspx

 

You got it:  Dan "the hustle" Hesse and Jim "GS Loud Mouth" Cramer.  For all of my years in the wireless streaming industry, I never saw Cramer coming to CTIA until now.  All of the sudden, the guy is an industry insider?  Wow!

[Guest ValueCarl]

It sounded like a FRIEND FEST with that Fricken Cramer using my favorite tag lines of friend or foe. Quite a love orgy they had going on over there! Why didn't that Goldman Chump ask about the most IMPORTANT telecom player "enabling" the transport of all those BITS ubiquitously? There must be only ONE ENEMY out there. That beautiful blonde harlot who they all have to have. 

 

One day, it will carry the majority of the "HUMAN EXPERIENCE" on its backbone in an almost virtual world. I'll visit France from my living room, if I choose to!

 

I am waiting for some Morsche NEWS-Federal Markets-something out of the GOVERNMENT which drives a SHARP KNIFE in the belly of these MONOPOLISTS so the PEOPLE finally know who has been keeping them CAPTIVE as part of the DARK AGES for way too long now, instead of those LIES to that Goldman CIRCUS CLOWN  >:(

 

 

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Brker_guy, do you remember (3)'s $1B dark fiber sale to Enron at the same time Enron fraudulently attempted to dupe the market into believing that there was a vibrant "Bandwidth Exchange" platform which they would "control" like they had with energy and natural gas?  What has really changed except for "time" and the fact that it is (3) who remains the "Bandwidth Broadband Broker" to most of the physical world today? The original vision is still in tact while the pent up demand is still being HIDDEN behind the INCUMBENTS' high prices! Mr. Market, BREAK DOWN those telecom and cable MONOPOLY WALLS in order to set "Global Citizens" free!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Enron-broadband-exec-gets-2-apf-2238907701.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=

 

 

As part of his sentence, Shelby will have to serve three months in a halfway house and three months in home confinement. He was expected to report to a halfway house in Houston in about a week.

 

Shelby had been facing up to 10 years in prison.

 

"I take full responsibility for my actions, all my decisions at Enron," Shelby told U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore before she sentenced him.

 

As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Shelby is forfeiting almost $2.6 million. Gilmore also sentenced him to 230 hours of community service.

 

Shelby was one of seven former executives first indicted in 2003, all accused of scheming to exaggerate the capabilities of Enron's broadband network in order to impress analysts and inflate company stock. Although Enron was primarily an energy trader, the broadband unit was created in 1998 as another growth engine during the dot-com boom.

About a day after Shelby and other Enron executives touted the broadband network to Wall Street analysts at a January 2000 conference in Houston, company shares jumped from $54 to $72.

 

Authorities said the broadband network never made a profit or surpassed testing stages.

 

Enron, once the nation's seventh-largest company, filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2001 after years of accounting tricks could no longer hide billions in debt or make failing ventures appear profitable.

 

http://www.fiber-exchange.com/archives/coverstory/cstory_0100.html

 

Level 3 offers its customers the opportunity to buy additional dark fiber after the initial purchase, which allows them to take advantage of future-generation fiber-optic technology. The carrier can offer this sales model because it builds multiconduit networks. "All the customers that are buying dark fiber from us today can buy additional strands of dark fiber from us when we pull the next-generation of fiber through the conduits that we have," explains Sweeney. "So the big change is that in the past you typically bought fiber and used it as long as you could and you never bought it again. Now what people are saying is, 'Yes, buy enough capacity to last for the next few years, but buy additional fiber two or maybe three years from now to derive new capacity on-and you'll then have a chance of riding the cost curve down.'

 

 

 

Enron Communications (Portland, OR), a subsidiary of the energy and natural gas utility Enron, unveiled a proposal to start trading bandwidth as a commodity with the primary objective being to trade capacity in seconds not months.

 

Enron's proposal rests on the development of benchmarks similar to those used in other commodities trading; the idea is to bring the same efficiencies present in other markets to telecommunications. "Once you have a benchmark, all the other grades can trade as discounts or premiums relative to that benchmark," says Thomas Gros, vice president of global bandwidth trading at Enron Communications.

 

As a telecommunications benchmark, Enron has proposed a DS-3 with time-division multiplexing (TDM) from Los Angeles to New York that will trade in monthly increments based on three quality specifications already recognized by the industry-errored seconds, severely errored seconds, and unavailable seconds. The trades will be handled by a neutral third party at pooling points in key cities to allow real-time, quality-certified interconnectivity. The company has yet to announce the neutral third party, although trading on this route started in early December.

 

Enron has also proposed the development of an IP-based benchmark from San Jose to Vienna, VA. Gros expects that market to be fully operational by the middle of this year. He says, "The IP quality specifications are a bit more challenging. Specific quality levels have been proposed for latency, jitter, re stora tion time, packet loss, and a couple of others."

 

Like crude oil, which has about six benchmarks, Enron expects telecommunications to have six or seven benchmarks, for example, transatlantic and transpacific, which will allow producers and consumers to trade almost any type of bandwidth globally. Trading bandwidth as a commodity will serve as "another tool in the toolbox" to help producers and consumers effectively manage their bandwidth re quire ments. "As in almost every other commodity market, in the first couple of years of trading, typically, it is producer to producer," says Gros. After the mechanism has proven itself, large multinational firms with huge data-transmission requirements-companies such as IBM, Continental Airlines, or American Express-are likely to become consumers in this market.

 

 

And lower prices will drive the development of new services and markets. "The pent-up demand that was hidden behind the incumbents' high prices I think has all come out. And now when you start pushing the supply-side by really pushing the true unit cost advantages, you are unleashing quite a lot of new demand," says GTS's Caccapolo. "So the elasticity function is really quite positive. In the last few months we have seen hosts of new customers emerging."

 

Level 3's Sweeney agrees that lower pricing is creating new markets. "As the total cost of bandwidth continues to drop, we are seeing demand come from markets that wouldn't have been possible before...At what point on that cost curve as its heading toward zero does it make it efficient for offices to no longer do in-office storage and computing? Instead, they centralize the computing and the storage and access it remotely through a broadband network. You can apply this model to any number of industries. I can't think of a better time for someone to be in the service provider business providing services for a network or applications to enable that to occur."

[Guest ValueCarl]

Hmm, I asked what has changed from (3)'s original "bandwidth model" earlier. As was mentioned in their South American win recently, enabling their partners via their CDN continues assisting their customers to "conserve" bandwidth rather than using this scarce commodity wastefully. Of course, it can't be a bad thing that these "savings" are occurring in "the last mile" where monopolists continue attempting to gouge their captured consumers for out of territory traffic in the form of meters, etc.  

 

Netflix cuts data use on Canada streaming service       03/29 06:18 AM

 

 

 

TORONTO, March 29 (Reuters) - Movie rental company Netflix Inc (NFLX:$237.32,00$7.31,003.18%) has made adjustments to its Canadian video streaming service to cut down on the amount of data it uses in a country where Internet usage is typically metered.

Netflix (NFLX:$237.32,00$7.31,003.18%) said its streaming service in Canada will now use two-thirds less data on average, with only a minimal impact to video quality.

Thirty hours of streaming films or television would typically use 31 gigabytes of data; it would now use only 9 gigabytes, Netflix (NFLX:$237.32,00$7.31,003.18%) said in an email sent to customers on Monday.

Netflix (NFLX:$237.32,00$7.31,003.18%) noted that this would fall well below the data caps of most Canadian Internet service providers. Canadian Internet providers typically sell monthly Internet packages allowing between 20 and 60 gigabytes.

On Monday, one of the biggest providers, BCE Inc (BCE:$35.8300,$0.1200,0.34%) , dropped its plan to pass on usage-based billing to its wholesale customers, which often sell unlimited packages. [iD:nN28223160] (Reporting by Euan Rocha and Alastair Sharp, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)    

[brker_guy]

My LVLT friend, Carl, you are a gem of database when it come to information about LVLT.  It amazes me that it took 10 years to convict a guy who committed this crime at Enron.  TEN YEARS!!!!  Mr. Buffett was right all along.  There has been more crimes committed with a point of a pen than a point of a gun.  Sad!

 

Interesting news on the NFLX streaming in Canada.  I guess NFLX is definitely using H.264 encoder and tune the encoder down a little to cut on the BW consumption.

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Nasdaq, in addition to the US Govt., needs a James Bond network provider whose systems can't be "breached." Can "The Network Partner You Can Rely On," solve this problem with a dedicated PIPE and the right software overlays?

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-30/u-s-spy-agency-said-to-focus-its-decrypting-skills-on-nasdaq-cyber-attack.html

 

The NSA-assisted probe is now focused on how far the attack may have reached, including the breach of other systems, said one of the people familiar with the probe.

 

Frank De Maria, a Nasdaq spokesman, declined to comment on the effect the security breach might have on the company’s future strategic moves. He said Nasdaq is pursuing its probe and has no new information about the scope of the attack.

 

“With every company now, searching the networks for break- ins and insuring they’re secure has got to be a full-time job,” De Maria said in an interview.

 

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines declined to comment and referred all questions to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the lead agency in the investigation. Jenny Shearer, a spokeswoman for the FBI, declined to comment.

 

Directors Desk, where the break-in was discovered, is designed to allow directors and executives of Nasdaq client companies to share private files, nonpublic information that cyber criminals could trade on. Nasdaq bought Directors Desk in 2007 as part of its effort to diversify into corporate services.

 

Sophisticated hackers often enter computer networks through a single system, like Directors Desk, then hop to other secure parts of a computer network, the people familiar with the investigation said.

 

 

[Guest ValueCarl]

Google to build high-speed network in Kansas City      03/30 10:33 AM

 

 

 

* Plans to begin offering service in 2012

* Pending approval from city's board of commissioners

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 (Reuters) - Google Inc (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) will build a high-speed Internet network in Kansas City, Kansas, the first site selected by the company's project to spur development of a new generation of Web applications.

The network, which is expected to go into service next year, will provide Internet access speeds that are 100 times faster than what most Americans currently have, Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) said in a post on its company blog on Wednesday.

Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) , the world's No. 1 Internet search engine, announced plans in February 2010 to build a series of experimental ultra-high-speed networks in various cities across the United States. Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) said the goal of building the networks was to test ways to create new Web services, as well as new ways to build fiber networks.

The company said at the time that the networks would provide 1 gigabit per second fiber-to-the-home connections at a competitive price to at least 50,000 people, and potentially to as many as 500,000 people.

Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) said on Wednesday that it has signed a development agreement with Kansas City and expects to begin offering service in 2012, pending approval from the city's board of commissioners.

"We can't wait to see what new products and services will emerge as Kansas City moves from traditional broadband to ultra high-speed fiber optic connections," Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) said on its blog on Wednesday.

Google (GOOG:$584.07,00$2.34,000.40%) said it would look closely at ways to bring high speed Internet access to other cities across the country. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

[Guest ValueCarl]

Jim Crowe's boss, Mr. Walter Scott, is a firm believer in investing in "trends." Woe to the last mile purveyors of "traditional" video installed in dumbed down "boxes" with too many bundles from which a "fragmented," while quickly becoming LIBERATED world, is not interested in their BUNDLES in the JUNGLE!  ;D 

 

"Bring it on," by breaking down those monopoly MIDDLEMEN in the LAST MILE, Crowe! In the final analysis, there is no reason why content owners-locally, nationally and internationally-can't go direct to their end users without upsetting their advertising piece of the pie as long as their "Content is really KING," right Brker_guy! Most of it, is NOT, I might add! What they do need; however, is "The Network Partner You Can Rely On" for their Over the top Video! One VIDEO NETWORK for all will ensure the price of "transporting bits" remains cost effective over time.

 

Cutting the cable TV cord [st. Louis Post-Dispatch]      03/30 11:35 AM

 

 

 

March 30--The TV set and the Internet are getting married, and no one knows what the result of that union might be. In south St. Louis County, Jacob and Robin Metheny show one way that things might go -- with worrisome implications for the pay-TV business.

The 30-something couple cut their AT&T U-verse service. "We were paying like $100 a month, and we were only watching three or four stations," said the husband.

So they went back to the days of rabbit ears and broadcast channels -- but they kept their high-speed Internet connection and got a $9.99 monthly subscription to Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) , which offers Internet viewing of hundreds of movies and TV reruns. They connect their two TVs to the Internet through a Blu-ray disc player and a Wii game console. Do they miss cable?

"Eh! It's no loss," says Jacob Metheny, adding the family only misses one show they can't currently get.

Their situation underscores the rapid fragmentation of the TV viewing market, where the rise of on-demand online entertainment threatens the longtime dominance of pay-television services. The digital revolution -- which already has made mincemeat of the traditional models for selling intellectual property ranging from newspapers to music -- now appears poised to undercut pay-TV providers such as Charter Communications (CHTR:$49.57,00$0.40,000.81%) . Based in Town and Country, Charter is the nation's fourth-largest cable company and employs 3,000 people locally and 17,000 total.

New cable and satellite TV customers, after years of growth, appear to have crested the hill -- and could soon begin a descent. The fast-evolving market now teems with competitors and competing models for both revenue and delivery. Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) and similar services offer thousands of movies and TV shows. Broadcast networks and cable channels put certain shows online or sell them through retailers such as Apple. And you can watch on more devices -- from laptops to tablets to smartphones.

Increasingly, the Internet and the TV screen are becoming one. TiVo (TIVO:$8.96,00$0.26,002.99%) , video game systems, Apple TV, Roku, Google TV and other systems link Internet content to the TV screen. TV manufacturers are marketing sets that connect directly.

Pay-TV operators "ought to be worried. If they're not worried, they're not paying attention to the potential threat," says Ian Olgeirson, senior analyst at SNL Kagan, an investment data and analysis firm.

SIGNS OF DECLINE

About 100 million households pay for TV service through cable, phone company lines or satellite. For the first time, that number dipped slightly last spring and summer. Though the losses have since been recovered, it's a sign that pay TV may have reached the saturation point, with 89 percent of homes connected by wire or satellite. Throw in cheaper or free Web options, and more viewers will be cutting the cable cord, says Olgeirson.

At the moment, people in the pay-TV business are betting that the giant flat screen won't give way to a slim tablet. Internet connections still suffer from clunkiness and limits to the shows you can watch, and the growing presence of high-definition TVs also favors cable subscriptions. Many consumers won't trade that for "fuzzy" Internet reception, says Kurt Scherf, principal analyst at Parks Associates, a digital marketing and research firm in Dallas.

But some of the more tech-savvy and determined customers may provide a window into how television and movies get consumed in the future. In O'Fallon, Mo., Robert Hollis, an engineer by trade, rigged up his own "home theater PC" for Web access on the big-screen TV, using a remote tuner, an HD antenna on the garage wall for broadcast, and a music center and surround sound. He spent $850 on equipment.

Then he cut his satellite TV service -- substituting Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) , Hulu's TV show rerun service and other free Internet video. "I was paying $70 for the satellite. It paid for itself rather quickly," he said.

The devices will get better with time, which is why the industry is busily trying to find ways to make money distributing content across multiple platforms. Cable companies might put pay TV online, for instance, but only for cable subscribers. HBOGo already lets subscribers watch the pay channel's programs over the Internet on demand. "This is really more about evolution than revolution," Bruce Leichtman of Leichtman Research Group in New Hampshire. "The future is going to look more like today than some Jetson-esque future."

Cable companies such as Charter and Des Peres-based Suddenlink are joining forces with TiVo (TIVO:$8.96,00$0.26,002.99%) to offer customers a way to connect TV to the Internet, as well as time-shift programming -- allowing the viewer to record and watch later. Over the long term, these cable providers hope to become the Googles of video search, offering searchable video on demand. Borrowing tactics from Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) and social media, they can track your viewing habits to offer suggestions and allow you to connect with friends to trade recommendations.

"You'll be able to pull down any piece of content and watch it on any device," says Rich DiGeronimo, vice president for product management at Charter.

THE PRICE OF FREE

Cable companies are betting that the television content producers won't make the same mistake that many believe newspapers have made -- giving their content away free online. "People are still going to want to watch great quality content, and that's not free to make," says Rich DiGeronimo, vice president for product management at Charter.

Of course, some already are experimenting with giveaway content, including Hulu, an advertising-supported site providing on-demand reruns of recent TV shows, mainly from broadcast networks.

And that has content producers, such as cable channels or Hollywood studios, agonizing over how much content they can put on the Internet, or sell to middlemen such as Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) , without killing off the golden goose of cable.

Cable stations get 40 to 50 percent of their revenue from the cable companies and the rest mainly from advertising. If the content producers killed cable TV by moving shows to the Internet, they'd rip up their own paychecks.

Worried about the growing influence of Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) , pay-TV channel Starz announced last week it would delay the availability of new shows on the streaming video service, while CBS' (CBS/A:$26.1200,$0.5200,2.03%) Showtime subsidiary said it would remove some of the programs now offered on Netflix (NFLX:$238.6013,$1.2213,0.51%) .

Even longtime allies are growing testy with one another. This month, cable provider Time Warner Cable (TWX:$35.6300,$0.6600,1.89%) triggered a fight with content producers after announcing it would allow cable subscribers to access certain shows via iPad.

Sports and "event" television, such as the Oscars, will still glue people to broadcast TV and pay cable. It's part of the social aspect of television; people want to talk about the big game or "American Idol" with friends the next day, says Michael Porter, who chairs the Communications department at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Indeed, a sports fan weaned on cable would feel bereft without it, as Hollis discovered when his brother-in-law came to visit. Most Cardinals games are only available on cable. "If you're not into sports, it's an awesome thing to cut the cable," Hollis says.

As long as the networks and cable can keep such live shows off the Internet, they'll hold their audience and advertisers. "I don't see cable companies going by the wayside," Porter says.

Whatever revenue they lose from Internet video viewing, cable companies hope to make up by selling faster Internet services to carry that video. That trend may already be showing up. At Charter, for instance, revenue from consumer video cable services was flat in the fourth quarter of last year, compared to a year earlier. But high-speed Internet service was up 7 percent and phone service up 8 percent.

Broadcast networks get much less money from cable TV companies, so they're less in thrall to them. But that doesn't mean they're looking to the Internet -- where advertising yields a fraction of what networks can charge for broadcast ads -- as the next profit center. Would putting recent "CSI" episodes on the Internet cannibalize the broadcast audience?

"I'm only getting pennies online compared to the dollars I'm getting on the network," CBS (CBS/A:$26.1200,$0.5200,2.03%) chief Les Moonves reportedly groused last May in Los Angeles, during a roundtable discussion among industry chiefs.

"We're not a part of Hulu, and that's why."

To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com.

Copyright © 2011, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com.

 

[brker_guy]

Carl, when you were a kid, did you play Whack-a-Mole at your county fair?  Reading these stories remind me of those Whack-a-Mole games. Now think about this. These last mile operators are trying all sort of tactics to stop OTTC from becoming a reality. And greedy idiots like like Moonvres at CBS are joining the the game. The moron hasn't learned anything from his boss, Sumner Redstone, by executing his boss' vision of "Content is King" mantra. He's doing all he can to protect his job in order to keep his trophy wife from leaving him. Sad and pathetic!!!

 

These Whack-a-mole participants need not worry. No matter how much money they are wasting at the game, they won't win all of the prizes. The flood gate WILL open, and they are going to lose. Notice Amazon's announcement yesterday on their Consumer Cloud offering for multimedia users. That 500 feet gap that Crowe proudly talks about will be inching closer to the consumers.

 

Switching topics here... While we are debating if Sokol violated ethics or not today, an epiphany hit me in the head. I was sitting there at my desk crunching away at my keyboard and bam! The text came in from CNBC telling me that Sokol resigned. Right away, I typed in to this chat room here and bam!  A thread already was there about Sokol's resignation. All was within a matter of 30 seconds. Then, I logged into my stock account and saw BRKB started to trade down.

 

So can you imagine how the "low latency" has spread the news around and how people have traded on such news?  It was amazing! 

 

Now we know LVLT has started to do this "low latency" connectivity for the financial industry. Lots $$$ to be made there.

[Guest ValueCarl]

Whack a Mole! That's funny, BG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Speaking of whacking something, (3) cannot seem to BREAK Cody Klein from Fool Land's pricing model! It's almost like Wall Street has adopted it for pricing this security.

 

If (3) is going to whack that spreadsheet, it's going to need to grow their top line exponentially either by hook-organically-or crook-MNA-according to "the speed of light" its network represents.

 

As I have in the past, I continue to tip my hat to Mr. Klein!

 

http://kleincody.web.officelive.com/LVLT_DKlein.aspx   

[Guest ValueCarl]

ICON seems to need a WHITE KNIGHT of his own or another "hip pocket" judge-R2's ongoing litigation against him- unless he is just continuing to play along with his usual dirty tricks. imo

 

Total revenue for 2010 was $1.5 billion, an increase of $8.0 million, or less than 1%, compared to 2009. Adjusted EBITDA (a non-GAAP financial measure) increased 25% to $191.1 million for 2010 compared to $152.6 million for 2009. Net loss for 2010 was $11.8 million compared to $21.8 million net income in 2009. The company's net loss for 2010 was primarily due to a $20.0 million impairment charge related to our LMDS licenses. The company's net income for 2009 principally resulted from gains from the sale of marketable securities of approximately $60.0 million, partially offset by an $8.3 million impairment charge related to our LMDS licenses. As of December 31, 2010, cash and cash equivalents was $69.6 million, a decrease of $293.6 million compared to December 31, 2009. The cash decrease was due to the redemption of the Class A preferred stock of $258.9 million, as well as continued capital investments and other working capital requirements in excess of cash from operations.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/XO-Holdings-Reports-Fourth-iw-3659368746.html?x=0&.v=1

[brker_guy]

Carl, how can I say this in a very polite way?

 

ICON will soon learn the true meaning of "KARMA"!  Oh, ICON, make sure you unleash your army of liars and trolls onto the LVLT Message Board at nights okay?  Soon, you, Mr. ICON, will learn the true meaning of vengeance when it's being served cold on a silver platter to you. :) :)

 

I hope the LVLT sales team capitalize on this news of XO's financial instability and goes after XO's accounts...

[Guest ValueCarl]

Katie Couric goes to Netflix? Not a bad idea whilst pondering internet related "market fragmentation" including generational gaps with "product differentiation" being absolutely necessary for those who truly believe that their "CONTENT IS KING!" Can Katie draw the crowd?

 

If I were Netflix, I would go to popular personalities like Couric and offer a "split" on a subscriber basis for those who choose to "stream" Katie or others into their living rooms. The studio development and costs for creating such an environment might resemble Clear Channel, for example, but I would NEVER pay these SILLY PERSONALITIES large sums except based upon a "split" of the "real interest" being displayed by "my" meaning Netflix's customer base reflecting "factual demand."

 

Clear Channel, comparatively speaking, is the stupidest biz model I have ever seen where the "owner" of the "distribution channel" gives the lions share of its revenues to buffoons including the likes of Limbaug, Seacrest, etc. No PERSONALITY on planet earth should be worth so much. One could see how the model I describe would correctly "value" personalities over time!  ;D  How do I get paid for such BIG IDEAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't let Donnie "spoon fed" Deutsch know! Speaking of personalities, I believe his show bombed ultimately, but "streams" are more factual than "ratings" in quantifying how long one can make the "revenue" cut! imo             

 

<A network executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Couric has not officially announced her plans, reported the move to The Associated Press on Sunday night. The 54-year-old anchor is expected to launch a syndicated talk show in 2012 and several companies are vying for her services.> 

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-source-Couric-leaving-news-apf-2231762192.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=2&asset=&ccode=

[brker_guy]

We need Katie, and we need OWN.  We need ALL of the Content of OWN to be distributed via NFLX.

 

BTW: I saw the news today that Qwest got a very big DISA contract with the DoD.  That's not good that we can't win one of these Pentagon jobs.  Where is the Admiral when we need him most?

[Guest ValueCarl]

I'm glad you called the Admiral out to the woodshed instead of me for a change, Brker_guy! Care for a street fight with "en_ron_hubbard" or "Homersimpson" who are expecting to be overpaid for that flea bitten, rabid DOG controlled by ICON today?  ;D   

[brker_guy]

Carl, now we know a network that you CAN'T rely on:  VERIZON!

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Verizon-customers-exposed-in-rb-12746443.html;_ylt=Aqs0ZoMihasWu_b2G_cS1.q7YWsA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1ajByb3NxBHBvcwM4BHNlYwN0b3BTdG9yaWVzBHNsawN2ZXJpem9uY3VzdG8-?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=5&asset=&ccode=

 

I got 5 emails this week from 2 banks that I do business with and 3 merchants informing me of the email breach by "Epsilon".  Well, looks like the real culprit here is VZ.

[Cardboard]

Talking about value in the telecom world, I have taken a deep look at Sprint Nextel following the announced merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. On some aspects, the story looks similar to LVLT.

 

It trades at roughly 6.5 times free cash flow and it seems that the business has turned around during 2010 with subscribers additions. Like LVLT, debt is too heavy and consumes a large amount of annual income. What is most similar to LVLT is the type of assets behind the shares.

 

They too have a massive amount of NOL's that could be used to shield taxes for years to come. More importantly, they own more than 3 times the amount of 4G wireless spectrum than Verizon or AT&T. This asset will become scarce at some point since you cannot invent spectrum and the trend is for increased usage and increased speed. These "pipes" will get filed too, just like at LVLT.

 

T-Mobile has 12.2% of the U.S. wireless market and these guys have 16.1%. AT&T is paying $39 billion for T-Mobile, so it is easy to get a price of roughly $9 a share for Sprint factoring in their debt load.

 

Google is also doing more business with these guys and they want the Android platform to dominate. Their experiment in Kansas City also highlights their interest in delivering real broadband to consumers. A 3 way merger between Google, Sprint and Level 3 may not be that far fetched after all. Such a network would have quite a few competitive advantages over Verizon and AT&T and financial strength with the help of Google.

 

Microsoft could do it too or Apple. At some point however, these two players just have too much of a valuable asset that will become scarce in the visible future and trading at a low enough valuation to entice a bid that will be easily justifiable to their investors. 

 

Cardboard   

 

 

[brker_guy]

Cardboard, I somewhat have similar thoughts. 

 

"More importantly, they own more than 3 times the amount of 4G wireless spectrum than Verizon or AT&T."  Funny how you brought this up.  A better risk/reward play in this is CLWR, Sprint's WiMax partner.  CLWR has the most spectrum.  For the last few months, S has been trying to wrestle more spectrum from CLWR as part of its ransom for holding the CLWR notes as a barter for payment.  With the amount of 3G/4G phones are out there, people are going to be needing spectrum.

 

"Google is also doing more business with these guys and they want the Android platform to dominate. Their experiment in Kansas City also highlights their interest in delivering real broadband to consumers. A 3 way merger between Google, Sprint and Level 3 may not be that far fetched after all. "

 

First, I like your thoughts on the 3 ways dance.  This would make a nice merger. :)  BTW: I think you got the right Kansas City, but it's just in different state.  Who knew?  ;D ;D

 

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/03/google-bestows-1gbps-fiber-network-on-kansas-city-kansas.ars

[Guest ValueCarl]

I can hear VZSAURUS' call to Akamai now, Brker_guy! Akamai will have to split the ad revenue with them, of course! It's a "dirty little" secret for domiciling their servers in TITAN homes at zero cost!  >:( 

 

Cynicism aside, are you aware of (3) and/or Akamai providing similar "email services" within their content offerings tied to "security?" tia