The Wall Street Transcript publishes Two Telecom Issues

Business Wire, May 12, 1999

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 12, 1999--

Leading analysts examine the Wireline Services Industry and the European Telecommunications sector in two just-published editions of The Wall Street Transcript, a vital review for investors and companies.

WIRELINE SERVICES ISSUE:

1) An in-depth roundtable forum featuring two prominent analysts;

James Linnehan of Thomas Weisel Partners and Robert Wilkes of

Brown Brothers Harriman. The panel examines AT&T's (NYSE:T)

return to the local market, DSL and ISP issues, regulatory

concerns, IP switching, bandwidth issues, and stock

recommendations. Forecasting conflict in the sector, Wilkes

asserts, "Another issue that is going to be getting some

attention is the extent to which the phone companies'

competitors, mainly the cable operators, are required to open up

their networks to competitors. The phone companies argue that

there is an asymmetrical playing field because there are detailed

rules that have been put into the telecom law requiring them to

open up their networks to competitors. The cable operators don't

have the same requirements."

Other topics addressed by this distinguished panel:

bandwidth plays, effects of increased data

traffic, technology trends, pricing issues,

investor concerns, M&A activity, caution areas,

and the future outlook for the sector.

The panel offers several investment recommendations,

including: GTE (NYSE:GTE) and Ameritech (NYSE:AIT)

about which Wilkes declares, "As soon as each

merger goes through, the investor will benefit

from the discount at which GTE and Ameritech sell

at, relative to the value of the deal." Linnehan

agrees, "These companies basically have solid

footing in the marketplace, are well managed, and

have a good outlook for the long term."

2) An "Off-the-Record" survey of analysts and industry experts, who

praise and/or criticize 17 Wireline Services companies and

managements, includes several recommendations and a few

admonishments. High praise from an industry specialist for Glen

F. Post III, CEO of Century Telephone Enterprises (NYSE:CTL),

"They are one of the fastest growing of the established incumbent

telephone companies. Post focuses on rural America and Century

Telephone has some of the highest margins in the business. He has

been masterful at managing his business for profitability. So

without question, he's the CEO of the year."

Applause from a professional for Bernie Ebbers of MCI Worldcom

(Nasdaq:WCOM), "Bernie Ebbers is a visionary. It seems as if he has

always been consistently ahead of the pack in terms of envisioning

where the industry was going and he has acted, in our view, to

position the company extremely well for a changing and growing

industry. And, let's also be realistic. He's also delivered for

shareholders last year. "

But another industry CEO frustrates an industry investor, "He

has not only mis-invested his capital in assets that did not

produce any material value, but he also has been completely

- or nearly - unresponsive to shareholders for the last

decade. As a result, the Street's fed up with them and their

stock remains in the toilet. Their stock - in a booming

telecom market, where many stocks were up over 50 percent

last year - was down 4 percent, dramatically trailing the

S&P 500."

3) Latin American Telcos - Rizwan Ali of Bear Stearns & Company

examines privatization of monopolies, currency issues, liquidity,

and stock recommendations. Ali states, "In the Dominican Republic

there is the TRICOM (NYSE:TDR)story. This is a company that is

competing with an incumbent operator, gaining market share; it's

trading at a very low valuation right now. The stock is currently

trading at about 5x EBITDA. Its high was about $13, low was

$4.50. So we think that going forward, given the 25-30% EBITDA

potential (five years) for this company, the stock should be

close to $13-15 in the next eight to 12 months. That's a very

good opportunity."

4) European Telcos - Kevin Moore of BT Alex. Brown

examines European deregulation, consolidation,

growth rates, and stock recommendations. Moore

states, "we're very bullish on the sector. Again,

for those investors who missed Worldcom in the

U.S. or MCI or any of the other companies that

took advantage of deregulation there, we feel like

this is their second opportunity to play the same

trend as it basically unfolds in Europe. Our

favorite plays right now are Global TeleSystems

Group (Nasdaq:GTSG), the largest pan-European

network. And in addition, it has been very

acquisitive, acquiring retail capabilities in

Paris, Norway, Germany and London. Additionally,

we like STAR Telecom (Nasdaq:STRX), which, as we

mentioned, operates one of the 10 largest long

distance companies in Germany."

Other companies mentioned in this special 31-page Wireline Services Industry section include:

AirTouch Comm. (NYSE:ATI), ALLTEL (NYSE:AT) , America Online (NYSE:AOL), Ameritech (NYSE:AIT), AT&T (NYSE:T), Bell Atlantic (NYSE:BEL), BellSouth (NYSE:BLS), British Telecom (NYSE:BTY), CANTV (NYSE:VNT), Comcast (Nasdaq:CMCSK), Commonwealth Tel (Nasdaq:CTCO), Covad (Nasdaq:COVD), Deutsche Telekom (NYSE:DT), EarthLink Network (Nasdaq:ELNK), FirstCom (Nasdaq:FCLX), Global Crossing (Nasdaq:GBLX), Grupo Iusacell (NYSE:CEL), Iridium (Nasdaq:IRID), Level 3 (Nasdaq:LVLT), MindSpring Enterprises (Nasdaq:MSPG), Paging Network (Nasdaq:PAGE), Primus Telecom (Nasdaq:PRTL), Qwest (Nasdaq:QWST), Rhythms (Nasdaq:RTHM), RSL Comm. (Nasdaq:RSLCF), SBC (NYSE:SBC), Sharp (OTC BB:SHCAY), Sony (NYSE:SNE), Sprint (NYSE:FON), Tele Centro Sul (NYSE:TCS), Tele Norte Leste (NYSE:TNE), Telefonica de Espana (NYSE:TEF), Telefonos de Mexico (NYSE:TMX), Telemig (NYSE:TMB), Telephone & Data Systems (AMEX:TDS), Telesp (NYSE:TSP), Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), TRICOM (NYSE:TDR), US West (NYSE:USW), Verio (Nasdaq:VRIO), and Vodafone (NYSE:VOD).