All About Nortel - Latest Comments in General

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

anonymous — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:12:20 -0000

It never makes money (or so little it is nothing), so it can never pay its debt.

Haven't you figured out that most of the corporate world is one big racket ? Sell bonds, wait for an economic "recovery", stock price goes up, executive management makes money on stock and declares victory and exits before the next economic slowdown. One big ponzi scheme.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Nortelhand — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:23:43 -0000

Well said ex-nt2. Mike Z is managing a train wreck and has done a great job at running it into the ground. This company will limp along like a hurt dog for many many more years to come. It never makes money (or so little it is nothing), so it can never pay its debt..

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

NOT there anymore — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:04:27 -0000

another clear indication of the silos within NT -- how much of the data portfolio actually supports IPv6 which is required for IPTV -- last I looked there were a couple of boxes but it wasn't possible to IPv6 end-to-end with portfolio -- so I guess if they make this "break out" Cisco can collect on the network gear

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

ex-nt2 — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:59:22 -0000

Nortel Watcher

I dont think the Gov of Canada will prevent or step between someone acquiring Nortel. They do not do a lot of defense as well so nothing strategic. As for acquirer, somebody with deep pockets. This is not possible at least on the next 3 year horizon. MSFT is totally focused on twisting Yahoo around. Cisco has become too big. Others are making small acquisitions. Its too expensive when you see a $9-10 price tage, $7 billion debt. Thats like buying the co for $10 to 12 billion.

For what ??? there are a lot of valuable companies to buy for that price. pretty much a Nortel can be built for cheaper.

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

oneof30kleft — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:13:44 -0000

this fits perfectly with the cable market and is just what i am trying to achive with mediacenter.. i had to buy the pc, software, video cards, internet access, and it is still slow, but this with a tivo would be much easier..
comcast, charter, timewarner,
this is were tv should be now!!!!!!

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

A Close Observer — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:28:23 -0000

NT won't be a player in the IPTV market. They're late to market. They don't have the organizational ability to handle more than 1 - 2 business development deals concurrently. They haven't made any progress on IPTV with even their closest customer relationships.

They need to refocus on higher probability outcomes.

Re: Look Out Below!

Bob — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 20:03:17 -0000

Whats the explaination for the huge volume spike earlier this week?

Connected to short covering in advance of the debt upgrade that was just annouced?

Or?

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Apple — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:47:34 -0000

there is not much sense in that
opening bids on July 16 and awarding contracts in 6 months; why would it be such a delay?
Does it mean that nobody will know who bid what for the next 6 months?
As I know, BSNL needs new lines right away
As I understand BSNL, the lowest bidder will start installations right away./up to 50 mill lines for one company!/
As I know ZTE is first to get the most, Huawei is second...
What Nortel and Motorola can do this time? That is the question!
Erics charges $100 a line / it will be difficult for ERICs to get anything this time/ and NOK is just laughing at the "silly pricing" in India as CEO said and reported nice profits last quarter!

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Don — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:20:21 -0000

Apple,

Here is a link to a press release on the 93m line opportunity:

http://wirelessfederation.com/news/category/bsnl/

"India’s state-run telecom firm BSNL has invited bids for a contract valued at over €4.2 billion (US$6.5 billion) to supply 93 million GSM lines.

“At about US$70 [€45.33] per line, the tender could be worth over US$6.5 billion (€4.2 billion],” company director S. D. Saxena was quoted as saying.

He also said equipment makers such as LM Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks, Motorola, Nortel Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei Technology and ZTE are expected to participate in the bidding process, the Reuters report said.

All the bids will be opened on July 16.

“It should take six to eight months to award the tenders,” he said.

Unlisted BSNL is trying to expand its network to compete with rivals including Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Essar.

Saxena said the 93 million GSM lines would include 3G, services, “depending on the release of spectrum by the government,” while the remaining will be used for 2G.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Don — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 18:15:33 -0000

Apple,

I thought the new BSNL contract winner(s) would not be disclosed for 6-8 months after the opening of the bids on July 16th. Am I mistaken? I will try to find the news release and post the link.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

anonymous — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 14:50:23 -0000

Heard that internally, travel, capital, and hiring freezes. Smells like M&A

That would every mean company is an M&A target in this economy, which has significantly slowed after the results from Microsoft and Google this week. Nortel has done this several times in the last 8 years. Its nothing new. The truth of the matter is the economy is plunging deeper into an L-shaped recession.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Apple — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 04:37:39 -0000

BSNL has a new offer, 93 mill lines at $70 a line
I posted it here that July 16 would show who was the winner
wait and see
and Yes, BSNL is in Asia!
Nortel bragged about reducing costs in India so this time it should end up better than $1 loss on $1 revenue.
Problem is that NT has to compete for those lines with Huawei and ZTE, so sad!
NOK is just laughing at them /silly pricing!/
btw
If Nortel was able to reduce costs 50% it still will be 50 Cents loss on $1 revenue /simple math/

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

NOT THERE ANY MORE — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:58:25 -0000

Gotta love it - another revenue target. Not a margin target, not a profit target, but a revenue target. BSNL must be planning phase 3.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

centthoughts — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 00:29:08 -0000

Beenthereb4, assuming Nortel is the target, do you think the Canadian govt. will allow it now that most of the scandals and their consequences are now behind them(Nortel)?

We've all heard it here and elsewhere of how the sector has shrunk due to M&A deals and that it may very well be a positive for Nortel. But will the govt. allow it is, I think, a bigger question.

Re: Nortel’s Asian Ambitions

Beenthereb4 — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 20:50:09 -0000

Mark,
There`s smoke, can`t still yet find the fire. Heard that internally, travel, capital, and hiring freezes. Smells like M&A, can`t miss that smell, question is who is acquiring who. There`s always a deal going on, question is, is this the one.

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

Another Nortel Watcher — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 23:16:29 -0000

I don't see Nortel gaining a foothold (aka 'making serious money') in the IPTV space. It's too far from the core businesses. The required partnerships and ecosystems aren't in place, and it's not surprising because the culture and the approach is all wrong for an IPTV vendor. The video plays an ad for 'telephone calls that can interact with your TV'. That is not at all what IPTV is all about.

I could maybe see Nortel working as a partner to 'communications enable' one or more IPTV solutions... except that the major players are likely to be Microsoft, Cisco, and one of a number of offshore companies. Ooops.

And btw, the video references using the CS2000 to complete the voice calls. Isn't that the most energy-inefficient VoIP softswitch on the market? The carbon footprint is unacceptable! Yikes! I'm texting Al Gore as I type this! We need a plan to replace those 1990s state-of-the-art behemoths before they melt the ice in my soda!

Re: Q2 Results: August 1

buckpost — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:34:06 -0000

Thanks - much appreciated.

Re: Q2 Results: August 1

Joe — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:24:55 -0000

Keep up the good fight Mark. You have a lot of happy/posituve/constructive readers/bloggers!

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

buckpost — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:24:37 -0000

Thanks!

Re: IP-TV on the Rise

BoGowan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:20:23 -0000

Hey Mark - you're right...not a lot of people are familiar with our work in the IPTV market. A picture (or a video) is worth a thousand words, so I'll use your post as an opportunity to point to the below video. It's from the recent NXTcomm show in Vegas, and shows some capabilities of Nortel's IPTV solution.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR4i7hFNQ2o&fmt=18

Re: DBRS Upgrades Nortel Debt Trend

The Psychiatrist — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 19:01:10 -0000

Speaking of Citigroup, I see that Michael Genovese has been really quiet since putting out his $35 target on NT earlier last year.

At least he is not suffering from obsessive compulsive price target disorder like RBC's Mark Sue has over the last 18 months.

Mark Sue you can call me anytime your ready to deal with your (OCPD)!

The Psychiatrist

Re: DBRS Upgrades Nortel Debt Trend

Observer — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:46:48 -0000

yes centthoughts. those investment bankers would be from Citigroup. imo Nortel is the posterchild for not having to do anything other than some financial wizardry to show a supposed improving balance sheet. This is what the GE finance program is all about. Of course, the financial experiment that has been undertaken by the globe will fail miserably.

Re: DBRS Upgrades Nortel Debt Trend

centthoughts — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:39:16 -0000

Observer, good point but NT will re-fi those bonds quicker than cabdriver Z-man can say "here's your change". Count on NT's investment bankers and their fee-sniffing noses to set-up the refi as soon as reasonably possible.

Re: DBRS Upgrades Nortel Debt Trend

Paul — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 12:46:37 -0000

Comstar to Use Nortel Equipment to Develop Mobile WiMAX Network in Moscow

Last update: 5:00 a.m. EDT July 16, 2008
MOSCOW, Jul 16, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- "COMSTAR - United TeleSystems" JSC ("Comstar" or "the Group") (UK:CMST: news, chart, profile) , the leading integrated telecommunications operator in Russia and the CIS, today announced that it has selected Nortel (NYSE/TSX:NT) equipment to develop the first mobile WiMAX network in Moscow. 160 base stations are expected to be built in Moscow by the end of 2008. The overall investments in the project are expected to amount to approximately US$ 20 million in 2008.

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/comstar-u...

Re: Look Out Below!

anonymous — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:37:10 -0000

2x average volume on the NYSE and almost 5x average volume on the TSE today.