kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| reply to Karl Bode
Re: earthlink save yourself....drop helio.
I think this clusterfuck may actually survive. First, if AOL can survive, anything is possible.
But really, here's what Earthlink has going for it:
A CEO who has been through the wringer a few times. Not many people are better at salvaging companies than Rolla.
The "other" shareholder in Helio...SK Telecom has cash and government backing in its homeland....and a real hakerin' to expand into the US.
There was news story recently that SKT is interested in buying out Sprint. Sprint is the network Helio runs on. Sprint and Earthlink also have a commone lineage. I believe there is a very good chance that SK Telecom will buy out both Sprint and Earthlink.
Earthlink will be the customer-facing ISP brand and focus on Broadband - DSL, BPL, Muni, Fiber...any shape it comes in, Sprint will be the business, leased line, carrier wholesale type division and Helio will be the wireless brand. Boost will continue as the hip, mostly prepaid type brand targeted towards the young crowd. Mindspring will become a full blown VoIP offering. Nextel will become a sub-brand or a trademark name for the walkie-talkie service offered as an addition to wireless from Helio instead of continuing as its own separate brand like it has even post-merger....and Nextel will live even after iden dies and is replaced with qchat or some such. |
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pepperxn
join:2001-02-21
| I read this as well about SKT interested in buying Sprint. Sprint's marketcap is way larger than SKT, so they might buy part of Sprint as part of a group bid for the whole company.
I don't see how the FCC would approve of this anyways.
I read a while back that eventually Sprint will drop the Nextel brand name. I dunno about this.
I think Earthlink's best move is to buy Covad, and possibly smaller ISPs. |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| If FCC approved MCI and Verizon and AT&T and SBC...even with a democratic congress, I don' think a SK Telecom buyout or a "merger" would be a problem. At least not a big enough problem to kill the deal entirely.
Sprint doesn't have as many government contracts as ATT or MCI so there wouldn't be any "national security" type concerns. And if the argument is that foreign entities shouldn't own such a vital piece of national infrastructure, I'm agraid that boat sailed quite a while ago with most of our government and industry leaders on it!
If Covad decides it can't surivie and grow as an independent, it's going home to AT&T.
There's also the possibility that Rolla may sell Earthlink to McLeod, just like he did with his last company Mpower...McLeod, while much smaller when compared to the ILECs, has found new life! ...and could be in the market for a "consumer" brand to complement is mostly business-class offering. |
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pepperxn
join:2001-02-21
| There's a difference between SBC buying AT&T Corp. and a foreign company buying Sprint. Shareholders might not approve of it, but then again, shareholders are more concerned about money, than they are about the company itself.
Maybe Sprint will get broken up.
I read somewhere that banks were saying that Qwest was interested in Sprint's infrastructure.
Didn't Mpower get bought by some other company? |
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kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL
| I don't think Qwest has the cash or a strategic reason to buy Sprint. Breaking up really doesn't make sense either, IMO...Sprint is a strange animal...they've had a long history of taking chances on new technology and bringing it to market...they just never worked out the business end of things.
Mpower sold the Nevada and California business to TelePacific and Chicago to McLeod. Too bad, really...I had a special place in my heart for that company. Too many good people with the best of intentions were undone by greed and their own management's telco mentality. |
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djweis
join:2006-04-02
West Des Moines, IA | reply to kapil
I don't think McLeod has the funds to buy a couple cans of soda, much less Earthlink. They would be a good match, McLeod has been moving their "centers of excellence" overseas for the last few years also. |
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