Continue reading Free WiFi at Starbucks: Good or Bad for Business?

Free WiFi at Starbucks: Good or Bad for Business? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Kirkland, Wash. based Clearwire Corporation (NASDAQ: CLWR) closed on a transaction in December which merged the Sprint/Nextel (NYSE: S) wireless Internet business with the WiMax business of CLWR.

In connection with the transaction, CLWR secured $3.2 billion from a group of investors linked to the development of the wireless broadband industry, including Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA), Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Time Warner Cable (NYSE: TWX).

Clearwater is offering its broadband service under the label "Clear."

While operating in a competitive environment for WiMax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access), CWTR has an advantage over WiFi, which is limited to access in small areas, such as home or coffee shop. WiMax, on the other hand, offers access from a very broad area and while being mobile in a vehicle.

Though not as capitalized as competitors like Verizon (NYSE: VZ) or AT&T (NYSE: T), the company's relationship with its investors should give it access to capital when needed.

On Jan. 9, due to a significant drop in the market value of CLWR stock, Intel announced a writedown of its investment in CLWR of $950 million. Intel is only the first of the investment group to reflect this writedown in their guidance for the quarter.

Driven by accounting rules mandating that investments in stocks that decline significantly in value be written off, the other publicly traded companies with investments in CLWR will be required to follow suit.

In the face of these writedowns, investors have kept the price of CLWR depressed in spite of recent good news from the company. At around $4.60, the stock is trading near its 52-week low of $3.24, and well below its high of $7.20.

The company's balance sheet reflects its growth mode, with a long-term debt-to-equity ratio of 186 and a current ratio of 3.25.

Continue reading A 'Clear' buy at these levels

A 'Clear' buy at these levels originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

With the transaction, AT&T gets about 20,000 domestic hotspots (making the total more than 80,000). Some of the new accounts include the Wyndham and Four Seasons hotels, as well as McDonald's Corporation (NYSE: MCD).

Mobility is pervasive -- and customers expect to get Net access anytime, anywhere. So, the Wayport deal is a good move for AT&T to stay ahead of the curve. Last year, for example, about 300 million WiFi-enabled devices were shipped. And, by 2021, the figure is expected to reach one billion.

Continue reading AT&T flying high on WiFi

AT&T flying high on WiFi originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The day may be coming. According to The Wall Street Journal, a new FCC "report clears the way for the FCC to move forward with a plan to auction off airwaves to a bidder who agrees to offer free, national wireless Internet service."

Although the study indicates that most wireless carriers will not be hurt by the program, that is almost certainly not true. By many estimates the free service will be available to 50% of the US population in four years.

The new plan may well do some significant damage to major cellular and WiFi providers. Free is free, and $59 a month can be expensive. How many people will opt to pay for service when they don't need to?

The other industries that could experience some level of harm are the cable companies and telecoms, which offer wired broadband to the home. A good wireless alternative may allow some people to cancel those services.

The FCC regulates the wireless and wired communications companies. Now it means to undermine them.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

FCC may deliver a free wireless web originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Public seen receptive to Wi-Fi fee

Stock analyst and frequent flier C. Leonard Bauer says Internet fees would be "a lucrative revenue stream" for the airlines, and ironically one that will probably be popular with the public.

Continue reading A saving grace for airlines: Wi-Fi in the sky

A saving grace for airlines: Wi-Fi in the sky originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

'Free' WiFi at Starbucks! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's been a good week for Wi-Fi startup Meraki. First of all, the company raised a cool $20 million in venture capital. Investors included Sequoia Capital, DAG Venture and Northgate Capital.

What's more, Meraki says it will offer free high-speed wireless Net access throughout San Francisco. No doubt, the announcement is getting a lot of buzz.

But what does this really mean? I had a chance to interview Craig Settles, the author of Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. According to him:

"It is vitally important that people realize Meraki is NOT making this service available for free elsewhere. People have to pay for the hardware and individuals have to step up to provide DSL or some other high-speed landline access for some of these repeaters. Meraki is doing what EarthLink -- along with Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) -- should have done, that is, use the big, high-profile city as a marquee account, but sell the service to everyone else. Don't get sucked into the 'free' hype.

Continue reading Meraki's Wi-Fi free-for-all in San Francisco

Meraki's Wi-Fi free-for-all in San Francisco originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week, EarthLink (NASDAQ: ELNK) continued its moves to restructure operations. The new initiative? Well, it is to explore "strategic alternatives" for its municipal Wi-Fi business. In other words, the company is looking for a buyer for the division.

To get a perspective on things, I had a chance to interview Craig Settles, an expert on muni Wi-Fi and the author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless.

According to him:

"The only ones who see this announcement as a cause for pause - whether detractors or supporters of municipal broadband - are people who continue to be distracted by the concept of muni networks as a consumer-centric application. Those of us who've said since 2006 that these networks' viable business case lies with local governments and businesses looking to improve operations understand that this is a logical progression for EarthLink. EarthLink could very well unveil services that position it to meet these needs.

Continue reading Earthlink not so high on muni Wi-Fi

Earthlink not so high on muni Wi-Fi originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Frequently, the difference between a successful investor and one less so is all timing. Making money in the market requires not only picking the right companies to invest in, but also deciding when (or when not) to invest in such companies.

I rediscovered Earthlink (NASDAQ: ELNK) last year while running a value screen. Like many stocks that end up in the proverbial value barrel, this company was once a high flier, trading at a split-adjusted $50, while now trading around $8. There were highs and lows, culminating in Earthlink's founder being charged with fraud and money laundering. I recalled that Earthlink was in the now-dying dial-up ISP business during the bubble days of the internet and decided to dig a little deeper.

What I saw, when I looked under the hood, caught my attention. While Earthlink was indeed seeing dial-up customers dial-out of their contracts, Earthlink was converting a good percentage of these customers to DSL service. It was working well -- while the company wasn't growing much, it was producing a lot of cash from operations and instead of just building a cash horde, like many companies would do in a situation like this, the company was looking to reposition itself with two major, seemingly sexy initiatives.

Continue reading Earthlink (ELNK): Why-Fi?

Earthlink (ELNK): Why-Fi? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 18 Nov 2007 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sprint (NYSE: S) is planning to build its next-generation wireless broadband platform based on WiMax technology, a sort of "WiFi on steroids," which can cover many miles from one base station. To save costs, it was going to create a network to reach over 100 million people in the US by sharing costs with WiMax start-up Clearwire (NASDAQ: CLWR). Sprint is about to walk away from that deal [subscription required], leaving the future of WiMax in the US in question.

Sprint had said it would devote $5 billion to creating its WiMax network. Clearwire was projected to spend nearly as much, although it has not given out a firm number. Without adequate cash on hand, the smaller company was probably going to have to go into the debt markets to build its war chest. That would almost certainly have hurt the company's shares. Splitting the cost load with Sprint seemed like an ideal solution.

According to The Wall Street Journal "any slowdown in the rollout of WiMax by either Clearwire or Sprint would negatively affect companies that are backing the technology" such as Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT). The paper adds "some of those companies may try to inject financing into Clearwire to help keep its WiMax project on track, people familiar with the matter said."

WiMax was to challenge the big 3G networks of AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless and help resurrect a troubled Sprint. All of that appears to be in jeopardy now, as are the prospects of WiMax in the US.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Sprint and Clearwire part ways, a blow to WiMax originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 08:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Alvarion (ALVR) jumps on upgrade -- should you play along? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading GigaBeam Corp. (GGBM): A small-cap success

GigaBeam Corp. (GGBM): A small-cap success originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sprint Nextel considering WiMAX unit spinoff? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In July 2006 I posted Google should buy Starbucks -- NOW! and received many less than favorable comments. I was way too glib in my post and that took away from the serious points I was trying to make. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is still a one-trick pony. Yes, they bought YouTube but they are far from generating profits from that. They paid $1.65 billion for this acquisition and contracted with News Corp's (NYSE: NWS) MySpace (TM) for another $900 million in a collaborative effort, and spent millions more on legal matters, further site development costs. All told they are probably approaching $3 billion in cost for these two deals, and will carry losses until some future date when they make some money, but so far what have they done?

They are making some money with Google CheckOut (TM), a quasi PayPal (TM) competitor owned by Ebay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) but nothing to write home about. Googles other initiatives amount to offerings that are all "me too" add ons that dilute the Internet further but add nothing new. If gmail did not exist people would not be missing much and that can be said for many other things they have explored.

Continue reading Google should buy Starbucks - go ahead and laugh!

Google should buy Starbucks - go ahead and laugh! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 20:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MAJOR PAPERS:

• Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is about to purchase 13 hotels from All Nippon Airways for about $1.2B, doubling the number of hotels the investment bank owns there, reported the Wall Street Journal.
• The Financial Times reported that Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) announced it would delay shipping its new Leopard operating system until October, due to the summer launch of its iPhone.

• According to the New York Times, citing people briefed on the discussions, Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM) is in talks to be acquired by private equity for more than $20B.
• The Guardian reported that exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky is planning the "violent overthrow of [Russian] President Putin".
• The New York Post reported that Dubai is looking at buying Jones Apparel Group Inc's (NYSE: JNY) Barneys New York for $950M. Contrary to previous reports, the suitor is not linked to Qatar's royal family, but is Istithmar, a private equity firm owned by the Dubai government.

• According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple has plans to release new iPods with Wi-Fi, reported DigiTimes.com.

Newspaper wrap-up 4-13-07: Happy Friday the 13th! originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As a warning, I'm one of the .0354% of Americans who have never ordered anything at Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX). Maybe it's the fact that I find the whole idea of a chain of "neighborhood coffee shops" with jazz music and local art a little tacky. Perhaps it's the personal finance writer and penny-pincher in me that doesn't want to spend that amount of money for a cup of coffee. So be warned: I've met people to talk in Starbucks several times but I've never actually bought anything there. When I write about Starbucks, I do so from the perspective of a skeptical non-customer rather than that of a latte-sipping fan.

Starbucks currently charges $6 an hour for in-store access to the Internet through AT&T's T-mobile service, compared to McDonald's which charges $2.95, and Panera, which will let you go on for free. This raises a question: Is Starbucks making itself less competitive by charging for the Internet, or is Panera stupid to give away a service people would gladly pay for (as evidenced by the large crowds at Starbucks)? From a business perspective I think makes sense to charge, if only to keep tables from being taken up by people who buy one cup of coffee and then freeload on the Internet access for two hours (or am I the only person who would actually do that?).

Do you mind paying for Internet access in restaurants? Would you be more likely to frequent a cafe that lets you on for free?

Starbucks' wifi strategy: bonehead or brilliant? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 05 Mar 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Engadget writes that Vonage Holdings Corp. (NYSE:VG) may be teaming up with Earthlink, Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK) to offer a WiFi-enabled phone that can allow VoIP calls but can also switch to a cellular signal if the WiFi signal is not available.

Although the product may be the offering of two weak companies, there may well be a market for inexpensive handset service, and the program might help get the two companies out of the mud. Earthink's stock traded at close to $12 a year ago. Now, it is just above $7. Its transition from being an ISP to a company that builds out WiFi has been a tough one. Cities have been slow to approve widely distributed WiFi.

Vonage's problems have been worse. The stock has dropped from $17.25 to $5.48. Despite growing revenue and smaller losses, Wall Street is concerned that the company cannot compete with cable companies that bundle VoIP service with broadband and TV.

Neither company has a good way out, but offering a joint product may be a beginning

Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.

Is Vonage going WiFi? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

This week, EarthLink Inc. (NASDAQ:ELNK) got some very good news: The City of Houston has selected the company to build a citywide WiFi network. The bidding process involved five companies.

No doubt, Earthlink is getting traction in this space.

I had a chance to interview Craig Settles, the author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. According to him:

"After weeks of being caught up in the S.F. media storm over their network project, some sunshine breaks through. EarthLink just pulled in another big winner in the muni wireless sweepstakes. It was announced today they won Houston, which is going to be a pretty huge project considering its 600 square miles of major urban sprawl. This is just the news the company needs after its 4th quarter earnings led to some questions in the media about its future. I believe it's in a good position now to build some serious momentum because municipalities are going to feel EarthLink is the 'safe' and competent bet.

"This is good for municipal wireless in general. I think a lot of people are overlooking the value these networks offer to businesses, which is the removal of a main barrier to adopting mobile workforce applications - the high cost and relatively slow speed of cellular data networks. Muni networks will be much faster and a lot cheaper. Having EarthLink as the provider in a significant number of cities and counties means that businesses with workers who travel to different cities should find it easier to roam between EarthLink operated networks."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Houston, we have Wi-Fi originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 14 Feb 2007 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

After much negotiation, Earthlink (NASDAQ:EZNK) now has a four-year deal to build a WiFi network in San Francisco. It will, in fact, be the biggest project of its kind.

It will mean free access for its citizens (for 300 Kbps rates). There will, of course, be paid services (for higher bandwidth). Google Inc.(NASDAQ:GOOG) will help monetize things with advertisements.

I had a chance to interview Craig Settles, who is the author of Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless. His take:

One of the big dangers of the situation in San Francisco from the hype that portrays this as free wireless access for all. While technically true to a point, wireless access at a speed that's going to benefit businesses, government workers and anyone else with serious mobile computing needs is definitely not going to be free. This pandemonium over free is fueling un-realistic expectations within San Francisco and among officials in other cities.

The second danger you're having people's expectations rise assuming that this is a done deal, which is far from the case. There is a movement for an alternative business model in which the city owns the network. And because the city's approach to doing it needs assessment and technology due diligence for the network was lacking, there's enough dissatisfaction and activist criticism that final approval of the contract by the Board of Supervisors is not assured.

Unfortunately, EarthLink, through no fault of its own, is caught in the middle of what could be an ugly showdown. But since they went through a lengthy process with getting City Council approval in Philadelphia, this experience may enable EarthLink to better navigate successfully through these negotiations. There's a valuable lesson here to other cities, which is do a better job getting your ducks in order. Political and constituent consensus on these networks needs to be hammered out before the RFP is released.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Earthlink takes San Francisco originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wireless, wireless and more wireless... That's what I'm reading. Bluetooth serves as the prime example of what I'm writing about. The omnidirectional wireless transference of all manner of data between electronic devices is what will be a growth focus for many technology companies for a long time to come. For right now, Bluetooth requires that interacting devices be in fairly close proximity and that they utilize limited bandwidth. Sweet little conveniences such as a wireless computer mouse and wireless cellphone headsets were just the beginning. Now, nearly your entire PC can go wireless and I envision entirely wireless home entertainment systems becoming the standard in the very near future.

If that little voice in the back of your head keeps whispering "Bluetooth" as an investment direction, there are a lot of different companies that you can look at. The following list is in alphabetical order and is not meant to imply endorsement of any of the companies as particularly suited for investment.

Agere Systems (NYSE: AGR) is a supplier of chips and integrated circuits. Agere works in a limited partnership with Motorola (Freescale) and Infineon under auspices of the StarCore joint venture.

Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) is a world leader in business telecommunications solutions in mobile formats and broadband Internet. Ericsson is deeply involved in the expansion of world wide communication systems. (See also: Ericsson Mobile Platforms)

Intel (NASDAQ (GS):INTC) Is a manufacturer and developer of business and consumer technologies and is continually expanding the landscape of technology equipment, user applications and solutions.

Lenovo Group (HongKong: ADR (LNVGY) is a leading manufacturer of PC's in China and has a growing global presence. Lenovo produces PDA's and mobile phones as well. Check out the link provided if you especially like global diversity.

Microsoft (NASDAQ: (GS) :MSFT) is the worlds #1 provider of software and is an ever expanding force in the worlds of corporate development, office information, personal computers and gaming. Microsoft is targeting web based services as a major growth focus.

Motorola (NYSE: MOT) is working in the areas of Internet connectivity, government systems, business communication mobility and a broad field of mobile devices / networks. Motorola is the worlds #2 manufacturer of wireless handsets.

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) is the worlds # 1 cell phone manufacturer. Nokia has a multi faceted wireless game plan involving wireless voice and data devices, domestic multimedia for entertainment and gaming, networks for video and data transmission and wireless systems for businesses. Nokia has not been shy in declaring that they aim for top of the heap in everything they undertake.

The companies I've listed here are all big players in your worlds of communications and computing. This group represents a cross section of technology leaders who strive hard to keep new innovations coming. I didn't involve WiFi in this writing but I would say WiFi is sort of like Bluetooth's big brother. The two platforms are not to be considered interchangeable. I should have also added Toshiba to the list but I couldn't provide a specific direction to point to research them. If anyone is researching the above companies, be sure to give Toshiba a look also. It's probably pretty obvious that my knowledge of these technologies is limited but once again, I sure have given you some places and companies to look into. Use the links and look around at your wireless hardware future. I'll be looking deeper into the individual focuses of these companies as 2007 gets under way. I'll attempt to provide you with some insight into where wireless technology is headed.

Consumer trending for 2007 and beyond is saying "Get Unplugged" originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Jan 2007 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.