Back to 1995

Chapter 176
The global telecommunications industry has basically the same model, that is, large investment and slow returns, but continuous and stable revenue. In the stock market, the telecommunications industry generally does not fluctuate much.

Not all telecommunications companies can build a line like America Telecom, which can make all Wall Street companies crazy about it.

Even America Telecom spent more than 3 million US dollars, and only then did it see the hope of completion. In addition, the most important thing is that this line has already found a buyer, because it is scarce and irreplaceable, so America Telecom can sit on the ground The starting price is a one-time advance payment for the five-year line use right.

This is basically impossible for other telecommunications companies. They build lines and then advertise to attract customers to the network. It may take three to five years for a line to pay back, which is relatively smooth.

But in contrast, once the telecom group develops, it will be able to rely on abundant cash flow and continue to develop like a snowball. Therefore, companies such as telecom, banking, and insurance have always been big players in the acquisition industry. , that is, more money!

This year, thanks to the popularity of the Internet, technology has also transformed from dial-up access to broadband and fiber optics. More importantly, the abolition of regulations on the telecommunications industry in America has brought the telecommunications industry in America into an explosive period. This year alone has already Queuing up a dozen telecommunications companies, waiting to log on to the New York stock market and NASDAQ to collect money.

Companies such as UUnet and Qwest, which do the same thing with American Telecom, are also emerging telecom companies based on the Internet. However, American Telecom does have a line anyway, and Qwest is entirely based on the founder's mouth.

In order to go public, Philip Anschutz, the founder of Qwest, and Joseph Nazio, the president, completely moved the Internet industry to the telecommunications industry.

Threatened that Qwest has a good relationship with several Bell companies, and will lay a 15-kilometer fiber-optic broadband line to provide network telecommunications services to all cities in America. The revenue will increase by 20% every year, and the profit will increase by [-]% every year. Anyway, It's blowing hard.

In other times, such bragging would definitely be dismissed, but now is the hottest period in the Internet industry, and this statement is actually believed by people...

Thanks to the hot market in the telecommunications industry, acquisitions or investments are not a big deal.

But when the two industry giants, Telephone and Telegraph and Enron, both began to cooperate and invest in the same telecommunications company, it began to attract attention.

Just as America's telecommunications and Internet industries began to pay attention to America Telecom, which has had a bit of special color since its birth, and now it is being photographed by the top [-] giants of American companies at the same time. About America The news of telecommunications came out again, which completely blew up the telecommunications industry.

Anyone with a discerning eye knows the current situation of American Telecom, which is being targeted by others. Those who are well-informed already know that the elephant of WorldCom is going to trample the little ant of American Telecom to death, and then get the line of American Telecom to enter the New York market.

But now, countless people expected that the ant would be trampled to pieces by the elephant not only did not happen, but compared with WorldCom, American Telecom, which can only be regarded as an ant, blew the horn of counterattack and launched a countercharge against the elephant!

It's not that the telecommunications industry hasn't had things that are small and big. Worldcom itself is an expert at playing this game, but it was only after Worldcom became more and more wings.

How could it be like American Telecom?
It has long been no secret that WorldCom is eyeing UUnet. As a result, other telecommunications giants did not jump out, but American Telecom began to compete with WorldCom for this old Internet provider.

It seems that the game is not big enough. Before the telecommunications industry recovered, there was news that American Telecom planned to form a joint consortium, mainly composed of American Telecom, Enron, Comerica Bank, and Telephone and Telegraph Group. The acquisition team wants to acquire WiTel, which owns the top ten companies in America and has more than 1.1 miles of underground fiber optic lines. This is also one of the telecommunications companies that WorldCom has long wanted.

The entire American Telecom and financial people, on this day, stared blankly at America Telecom, who seemed to be killing crazy, and released one after another.

America Telecom, which was still in jeopardy yesterday, was targeted by many opponents, and seemed to be one step away from bankruptcy, has turned on the berserk mode today, a mode of fighting to the end with Shitong.

Countless people were dumbfounded watching the news released by American Telecom one after another, wondering whether the times are changing too fast or they can't keep up with the rhythm.

The news of American Telecom is really difficult to distinguish between true and false. If American Telecom suddenly spreads, if it really swallows ants, and announces that it will go to the sky in one step and acquire giants such as MFS Communications, I am afraid that the outside world will not be too surprised. , It is really a move made by American Telecom, it is too shocking!
American Telecom, which didn't get much attention before, attracted countless eyes when it started to fight with WorldCom.

Regarding the news released by American Telecom, people who speculate still occupy the majority. It sounds like America Telecom has found a backer, left Anran and right Telegraph Group, and there is a Comerica Bank behind it, which seems to be completely worthless.

However, although these companies have announced their support for American Telecom, it is really hard to say how far they can go.

However, the news from An Ran's side later made these rhetoric and smoke bombs a bit more real.

Enron, who had just passed the application for a telecommunications license in the American Communications Commission, immediately announced that he would operate telecommunications business with America Telecom, transfer the license to America Telecom, and planned to invest 5 million dollars in exchange for America Telecom's [-]% equity!
This news is quite explosive. Enron directly valued American Telecom at US$100 billion. Almost as soon as the news came out, it was reported by the Wall Street media.

Qwest Telecom, which had just passed the listing review and was preparing to cut leeks, felt that its listing was not going well when it heard the news.

For Qwest, I feel that I am ruthless enough, and the balloon I blow is big enough, but compared with America Telecom, Qwest is just like playing house, and America Telecom has blown up to a valuation of tens of billions of dollars in one breath. !
When Philip Anschutz and Joseph Nazio saw the news concocted by American Telecom, they couldn't help sighing that this is how the Internet is played. Song Yang is worthy of being a genius from the Internet. Let's play with flowers!

Nazio and Nazio, who were busy with the road show to promote the leeks, also stopped to check the news of American Telecom. This is likely to be one of Qwest's main competitors in the future. In terms of blowing balloons, American Telecom has completely blown up Qwest's side.

Philip asked Nazio, "So America Telecom has survived the crisis. Do you think it is possible for them to acquire companies like UUnet?"

Nazio also read these true and false news, but he was at a loss, and could only judge based on experience, "It seems that America Telecom, which has obtained the license, has avoided the trouble of bankruptcy, but can it be acquired? Losing UUnet is not guaranteed, it depends on how much Bruno Song, the darling of the Internet, can pay to get Enron, Comerica Bank, Telephone and Telegraph to fully support him, after all, the opponent is WorldCom and Ebes!"

There is no free lunch in the world, and Nazio firmly believes in this, just like this time Qwest Telecom has to commit itself to Western Bell in order to seek the support of the other party in order to go public.

But this time, American Telecom brought in the support of Enron and Telephone and Telegraph Group. Nazio didn't believe that Song Yang didn't pay any price!

Nazio and countless people in the telecommunications industry were speculating on the news released by American Telecom. When it was somewhat credible, Enron and Telephone and Telegraph Group performed quite well.

Originally, since the beginning of this year, with the launch of Enron's online platform, the slogan "Recreate Enron" resounded throughout America, which caused Enron's stock price to continue to rise.

Now it has invested in American Telecom. Although it has not directly entered the telecommunications industry, it is equivalent to indirectly entering the telecommunications and the hottest Internet industries.

As for the 5 million US dollar, whether it is being taken advantage of by only taking [-]% of American Telecom's shares, it seems to have no effect on Enron. On that day, Enron's stock price hit a record high again, and the profit brought by the stock price directly exceeded [-] million. The US knife is several times more than that!
For Enron, which is in a hot period, any news can be understood as good news, which is a reason for the rise. As long as there are people chasing after it, Enron's stock price will continue to rise. This investment in American Telecom is just a rise. reason only.

Compared with Enron, Telephone and Telegraph Group, which has always been tepid as a representative of the telecommunications industry, recorded a 3% increase in a few days.
Any action is better than no action. Compared with the somewhat rigid Telephone and Telegraph Group, investors are more looking forward to Telephone and Telegraph Group to make greater moves in the Internet industry.

Investing in American Telecom allowed the outside world to see the changes in the Telephone and Telegraph Group, and the stock price rose sharply. Even though this investment may lose money, it still made Betts and the directors of the Telephone and Telegraph Group heave a sigh of relief. The real reaction made Betts and the Telephone and Telegraph Group more interested in the specific cooperation with America Telecom.

Following the news released by American Telecom, the stock prices of Enron, Telephone and Telegraph Group, etc. rose sharply, and Comerica Bank also attracted much attention because of its investment in American Telecom, which seemed to be a win-win situation for all parties.

However, WorldCom, which was attacked by American Telecom's mouthpiece skills, did not perform well that day.

As the president of WorldCom, Ebes did not keep WorldCom's investors waiting too long. After all, maintaining the stock price is the top priority of WorldCom's management.

That night, WorldCom issued an announcement to officially initiate the acquisition of UUnet!

But immediately after, another giant in the telecommunications industry, MFS, also suddenly announced that it would join the battle for the acquisition of UUnet!

(End of this chapter)