I am a trader as well as an investor and hopefully this thread will reflect both aspects ....

We should start by saying this is a highly speculative share and the market takes no prisoners.

Over the last 18 months I made lots twice in the early days - then lost it back - bought a million at 2.6p average - founded the TAG - bought another half a million or so at sub 1p - sold most at average 4.25 - bought back at 2.2p and less - sold most at 3.5p and now buying back - overall a good net profit at this time.

I think the d4e will happen (say 90% chance) and the 3% currently talked about will give or should give a price equating to say 3/5p. Longer term on succcess of d4e and progress in the sales market the shares should move to around 10p - assumming markets are not in freefall.

I am looking to buy at any time and hoping for a war generated dip - when I do I will let you know.

The TAG site is a great place for catching up on the TWT news and I will post here as well.

Currently trading on TWT is light (1.7 million traded) and the price is down a littlw with a wide spread (2.01/2.35p). This is a sets share and you must expect a crtain amount of manipulation in these troubled times - FTSE down over 4% intraday

I have a core holding of at least half a million shares and intend to be a long term investor at this time.


ainsoph


http://www.investoraction.co.uk - currently we have 804 registered members holding around 100 million shares in total

Telewest revamps gaming service

London, March 3 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

Telewest Broadband has launched a revamped version of its online gaming service to provide subscribers with access to web-based tournaments and events for 2 per a month.


The move will see Telewest providing gamers with 130 dedicated servers and the ability to create teams, access events, public leagues and tournaments. Games on offer include Medal of Honour, Half-Life and Unreal Tournament.

Enhanced features set to be rolled-out in the coming months include subscriber-only optimised servers and high score tables.

The company, through its www.bygames.com site, will allow blueyonder customers to use its service for 14 hours per month for 2, with non-subscribers being charged 3.

The market for server-based gaming is expected to grow rapidly over the coming years. Research from DFC Intelligence suggests 116m players will access games via the web by 2006.

www.bygames.com

Intrigued by why there is concern re Malone's veto which he achieves given a holding of 15%+ yet his diluted holding - as prescribed to date - is 11%. Or is this as reliable as the Independent's statement that the TWT results are today.

cable news
Telewest revamps gaming service
16:26 GMT, Monday 3rd March 2003 -- by James Welsh
Telewest announced today that it has revamped its already-successful Blueyonder gaming service to include new features, and a new pricing structure.

Chad Raube, Telewest's Director of Internet Services, said: "blueyonder gaming is defining the future of multiplayer gaming with our unique user-controlled game and server booking system, attracting interest from as far afield as Japan and the US."

And, in a requisite swipe at BT, he added: "With BT withdrawing its multiplayer gaming servers, we're committed to offering our gamers one of the best online gaming experiences available today."

The new service will offer a subscription package in addition to its free servers. For 3 per month - 2 for Blueyonder customers, subscribers get 14 hours of server time each month to book or launch user-controlled game servers; the ability to create clans; league and tournament systems; access to subscriber-only servers running the most popular games; and access to community forums.

The cable operator also promises to add "additional enhanced features" to the service in the coming months, including rankings, more optimised subscriber-only servers and subscriber-only forums. The company claims it is one of the most popular European multiplayer gaming sites, with 1500 simultaneous players every day and a member base of around 60,000.

Blueyonder is one of Telewest's most successful operations, with Telewest ensuring not only is the broadband service up to scratch in the main, but that there is sufficient content to attract people to switch from a dial-up solution - including Blueyonder's own dial-up service - to the higher-priced broadband option. Gaming seems to be one of the areas in which Telewest is concentrating, something confirmed when it was also announced today that Blueyonder is sponsoring Gamepad, a show on Bravo - a channel owned by Telewest's own content division, Flextech.

John Orriss, Blueyonder's head of marketing, said: "Sponsoring Gamepad offers us the opportunity to connect with a young, male audience that fits closely with a major segment of the blueyonder broadband target market.

"Online gaming is one of the high growth areas propelling broadband usage and is an application which benefits enormously from the greater speed which a broadband connection offers."

Cable deal gets clearance

London, 3/3/2003, (venturedome.com)




A private equity consortium including Apax Partners has won approval from the European Union to buy six cable TV networks from Deutsche Telekom.


The deal, worth up to 2.1bn euros, will allow the vendor to reduce its 64bn euros debt pile. Since being appointed in November last year, Deutsche Telekom CEO Kai-Uwe Ricke has sold stakes in real estate, a satellite operator and an Internet business.

Apax, along with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners and Providence Equity Partners, will gain control of the cable networks of six German states including Bavaria and Berlin. The networks serve more than 10m German households.

The sale price either represents a bargain for the private equity firms, or shows how far the telecoms market has slumped depending on your point of view. Last year Liberty Media Corp of the US attempted to buy the same networks for 5.5bn euros, but was prevented from doing so by German antitrust regulators.

Apax raised a 4.4bn euros fund in 2001, while Goldman Sachs' GS Capital Partners 2000 fund is worth $5.25bn. Providence manages more than $5bn in funds and focuses on the media and telecommunications sectors.




Copyright venturedome.com 2003

March 04, 2003

Liberty Media to sell QVC stake
From James Doran, Wall Street Correspondent



LIBERTY MEDIA, the television and telecoms company controlled by John Malone, has put its $5 billion (3.2 billion) stake in the QVC shopping channel up for sale to raise cash for a potential bid for DirecTV.
The move marks the clearest indication yet that Liberty is preparing to make an autonomous bid for DirecTV, a satellite broadcaster owned by Hughes Electronics, rather than pursuing a joint bid with The News Corporation, parent company of The Times.

Liberty owns 42 per cent of QVC. The remainder is owned by Comcast, a cable TV and internet company.

Liberty announced yesterday that it wants to quit the joint venture, triggering a 30-day period of talks during which the two partners must determine a fair value for QVC. Under the terms of the arrangement, both sides must decide whether to take full control of the shopping channel or find a third-party buyer for the whole company.

Analysts believe QVC, which sells catalogue-style goods on its TV channels in the US, UK, Germany and Japan, is worth about $11.1 billion, valuing the Liberty stake at more than $4.6 billion.

Liberty already has more than $2 billion in free cash on its balance sheet and access to billions more via the sale of hedged positions and other investments to help it to fund a go-it-alone bid for DirecTV.

A spokeswoman for Liberty said that the company hoped the sale would go ahead at the end of the month but declined to comment about what the proceeds would be used for. At this point it is too soon to say. Because of the terms of the contract we have to be prepared to purchase QVC if Comcast doesnt.

Comcast declined to comment but a source indicated that the company would negotiate very hard to get the 42 per cent of QVC it does not own for a reasonable price and would be prepared to walk away if necessary. This is not a done deal by a long stretch, the source added.

DirecTV was put up for sale late last year when federal regulators scotched plans for it to merge with EchoStar Communications because of competition issues. News Corp, which made an unsuccessful attempt to woo DirecTV in 2001, is widely expected to bid for it.

Looks like TWT and NTL will have to wait until Dr Malone sorts this;
But the synergies there after look even stronger :

QVC on media mogul's shopping list
Lauren Chambliss in New York, Evening Standard 4 March 2003

MERICAN media mogul John Malone is trying to force one of his largest-ever deals past beleaguered media group Comcast by buying out its stake in TV shopping channel QVC.


Four years into a five-year agreement with partner Comcast, Malone's Liberty Media has triggered an option over the home shopping operation. That offers Malone's minority stake in the operation to Comcast but, with the latter struggling for cash, the move is widely seen as putting Malone into position to take over QVC.


Under the agreement, Comcast will get first crack at Liberty's 42.2% share, worth up to $7bn (4.4bn), but Comcast is not in good enough shape to splash out. It is still digesting a $50bn purchase of AT&T Broadband and just reported a loss of $274m on $21bn in revenue last year. Analysts say Comcast would like to keep QVC in its stable but may have to raise cash instead.


If Comcast does not buy QVC, Liberty has the option to purchase its partner's stake in the channel, which rose from obscurity to $4.3bnin revenue in a decade, making it one of the most profitable cable channels ever.


Either way, analysts believe Malone cannot lose. He either gets all of QVC or a pay-off that will enable him to make a run at another media property he covets. One option is a final push, along with fellow US investor Bill Huff, to force a merger of distressed UK cable operators NTL and Telewest. But, more likely, given Malone's recent, partial withdrawal from European investments, is a tilt at General Motors' Hughes Electronics, which owns a stake in satellite giant DirecTV.


Malone and News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch had teamed up to buy GM's DirecTV but the partnership recently disolved and they are thought to now be considering rival bids.


Malone is also backing Barry Diller's continuing effort to buy Universal Studios from Vivendi. The former holds a 20% stake in Vivendi's entertainment arm and wants to merge some of his Liberty Media assets with its studio and cable properties.


His takeover moves will have a ripple effect in the US entertainment industry, as Liberty Media has a stake in AOL Time Warner, Vivendi and News Corp. Malone has spent the past few years trying to buy cable properties in Germany, Britain and the Netherlands but the consummate deal maker failed to produce a mega-marriage there.

Share price is very much stuck at this time ..... still looking to add a few


ains


Telewest abandons plans to sell Flextech

Owen Gibson
Tuesday March 4, 2003

Telewest chief Charles Burdick has abandoned the idea of selling programming arm Flextech and instead plans to bring it closer to the heart of the company

through a series of new measures, including a possible name change.

He feels his channels Bravo and Trouble would benefit if they had an umbrella identity similar to Sky's family of channels or even the BBC's, which are collectively branded UKTV.

And he is aware that the name does not have anything to do with TV - Flextech began life as an oil services company but the then chief executive, the late Roger Luard, began building stakes in the pay TV market, starting with the Children's Channel.

Mr Burdick has been jealously eyeing the close relationship between Sky's channels, such as Sky One and Sky Sports, and the Sky Digital broadcast network. The two are liberally cross-promoted and virtually indistinguishable from one another in the eyes of the viewer.

By contrast Flextech owns a range of pay TV channels, including Trouble, Bravo and FTN, but very few viewers make the connection between the channels and Telewest. It also has a 50% stake in the UKTV joint venture with the BBC, which numbers UK Gold, UK History and UK Living among its channels.

Flextech merged with Telewest in 2000 to create the UK's second largest cable group behind NTL but the two arms of the company have been run virtually autonomously ever since. Now Mr Burdick plans to bring Flextech much closer to the heart of the company to the benefit of both parties.

It has already started promoting more cross pollination between the two sides of the company, with Telewest Broadband being advertised more often on its channels and broadband service Blueyonder sponsoring programmes on Flextech channel Challenge TV.

It also plans to make it clearer to viewers that Flextech channels are owned and run by Telewest, including using the Telewest name in programme credits and channel idents.

As the company pushes broadband as a central part of its business, Mr Burdick also believes content and creative staff from Flextech will become increasingly important in the battle to sign up high speed subscribers.

Telewest admitted last year it would consider selling Flextech if a suitable offer came in, as it battled to stay afloat while initiating a complex debt for equity swap to halve its 5.3bn debt mountain.

But with the financial restructure almost completed, Telewest believes it has enough cash in the bank to see it through and Mr Burdick is determined to hold onto the programming arm.

He believes the company could much better utilise its broadcasting arm to attract and retain customers and that it also has a number of other important fringe benefits which, in the long run, could help Telewest maintain a strong presence in any merger negotiations with NTL.

A strong stable of Flextech channels will also prove invaluable when negotiating carriage agreements with Sky, he believes, giving the company some leverage.

Mr Burdick, a former AOL Time Warner executive who took over the running of Telewest from cable veteran Adam Singer last year, said last month that the two cable giants could merge as early as the first quarter of next year.

He is also looking for a new managing director to run Flextech after Jane Lighting quit the company to replace Dawn Airey as chief executive of Channel 5.

Ms Lighting left Flextech last week and Telewest's finance director, Mark Luiz, is taking charge of the company while her replacement is sought. Programming boss Lisa Opie is seen as one of the strongest internal candidates.

Half million homes buy Freeview adapters

Audiences for digital TV service Freeview now outstrip those of its ill-fated predecessor ITV Digital.

The number of homes with the service is now estimated at almost 1.4 million, after sales of roughly half a million adapters, marketing director Andy Duncan said.

The BBC teamed up with BSkyB and Crown Castle to launch free-to-air service Freeview following the demise of ITV Digital.

The aim is to drive forward the take-up of digital television, and Mr Duncan said the service is now appealing to families who previously showed little enthusiasm.

BBC3, the last of a number of free digital services offered by the corporation, was launched last month.

Mr Duncan, speaking at the FT New Media & Broadcasting conference today, said Freeview was the most important thing the BBC did last year.

"It provides a key missing piece of the jigsaw in moving to a fully digital Britain," he said.

"There is now a major new way for millions of our licence fee payers to receive all our services and the Freeview format appeals to the very audiences that had previously been least likely to go digital".

He said no one could have predicted the number of digital terrestrial houselds would be nearly 1.4 million.

"Overall this now leaves Freeview bigger than the highest ever ITV digital levels."

A Freeview adapter for an existing TV costs around 99 but many homes which held on to their old ITV Digital boxes can receive the service.


Story filed: 14:43 Tuesday 4th March 2003

Telewest gears up for multiplayer gaming
12:38 Tuesday 4th March 2003
Graeme Wearden


Blueyonder games subscribers can now book 14 hours of server time each month - ideal for creating personalised competitions with friends
With multiplayer Internet gaming set to be one of broadband's 'killer applications', Telewest has relaunched its online gaming service.

The cable firm announced on Monday that it has now added several new features to blueyonder games -- as well as introducing a subscription fee of 3 per month, or 2 per month for customers who also use blueyonder as their ISP.

The blueyonder games servers run many multiplayer computer games, including Unreal Tournament, Counter-Strike and Command & Conquer. Paying customers will now be able to book up to 14 hours of server time per month, letting them create games and competitions with their own choice of settings to which they can just invite their friends, or open up to the public.

Only the player who books the server is actually "billed" for the time, in a system the Telewest likens to the booking of a tennis court.

Paying subscribers will also be able to create their own teams, or clans, and post comments in blueyonder games forums.

It will also be possible to take part in blueyonder games for free -- but this option doesn't include any bookable server time or the ability to post in the forums.

"Blueyonder gaming is defining the future of multiplayer gaming with our unique user-controlled game and server booking system, attracting interest from as far afield as Japan and the US," said Chad Raube, director of Internet services at Telewest Broadband, in a statement.

"With BT withdrawing its multiplayer gaming servers, we're committed to offering our gamers one of the best online gaming experiences available today," Raube added, referring to the news in January that BT was closing its Games Domain Multiplay service, although Games Domain does still offer some multiplayer online games.

Telewest is planning to bring more new features soon, including subscriber-only optimised servers for the most popular games, and subscriber rankings.

Before it rejigged the service, Telewest charged blueyonder games subscribers up to 10 per month.

Just topped up again at 2.39

ainsoph, this share is a dog! how many fekkin threads do you need to open up for spouting the same old shite?

Very low volumes and a move south by a tick or two - also looking to add a few


ains



Freeview surpasses ITV Digital in four months

London, March 4 2003, (netimperative)



by Philip Buxton

Freeview, the BBC's replacement service for the defunct ITV Digital is in 1.4m homes - 200,000 more than the ITV Digital service could claim - just four months since its launch, according to new BARB figures for March due out this week.


Andy Duncan, director of marketing and communications for the BBC, revealed the figures at today's FT Broadcasting and New Media Conference adding that a new campaign promoting the service would be revealed at the end of this week. The growth means that Freeview can claim 3m viewers, prompting Duncan to describe the service as a valuable third platform in the digital TV market, behind satellite and cable.

The service, which was launched in October backed by a major campaign on BBC channels, was sprung after the BBC won the digital TV licence previously held by ITV for the ITV Digital service that collapsed last year. At its peak, ITV Digital had 1.2m subscribers.

The take-up of Freeview has been sparked, said Duncan, by a clear marketing strategy aimed at potential digital viewers generally ignored by Sky and the cable giants. He said that existing digital services were aimed at the populist ABC1, 18-35 consumer, leaving less technologically literate groups largely untapped.

He said, however, that Freeview was 'complementary' to the commercial digital services and that he could forsee households using cable or satellite services, alongside Freeview for other rooms.

Duncan added that the Beeb was now happy with its range of services for the forseeable future having launched a bevvy of new channels in the past twelve months, culminating in the new BBC Three, launched last week.

However, criticism continues to flow over the funding of digital services through the licence fee, while many license fee payers still do not use digital services. Duncan estimated that 15m UK homes are still without any form of digital TV service.

Hmmmmmmm ..... sounds like a good match for Malone

ains





BILL HUFF March 05, 2003

Telewest rescue fears as investor breaks ranks
By Dan Sabbagh, Telecoms Correspondent



TELEWESTS biggest bondholder, the American vulture investor Bill Huff, has broken ranks with the companys other major creditors in a move that threatens to delay the 3.5 billion capital restructuring.
The move reflects a more aggressive stance being taken by Mr Huff, who is also the newly appointed chairman of Telewests cable rival, NTL.

Mr Huff had been working with a committee of Telewest bondholders on a debt-for-shares swap that would give bond investors 97 per cent of the company. He has abandoned the committee, which is advised by UBS Warburg, and is now dealing directly with Telewest.

It is not known if Mr Huff, or one of his representatives, wants a seat on the Telewest board. Although his position at NTL does not render a board seat at Telewest illegal, it would make it impossible for him to decide on any matter where there was a conflict of interest.

As the two companies co- operate across a range of issues, Mr Huff would be prevented from taking part in many operational decisions. He would also be blocked from participating in any talks about a merger between the two companies.

It is widely expected that Telewest will merge with NTL in the next two years to beef up the cable industry so that it can head off the competitive threat from BT, the telecoms group, and the broadcaster BSkyB.

If Mr Huff does demand a board seat, other investors are also expected to demand board representation, which would leave the company with little prospect of attracting genuine independent directors. A recruitment process is scheduled to begin shortly.

Next week Mr Huff and analysts from WR Huff Asset Management, his investment company, will begin an extra round of due diligence on Telewests operations. As a result, Telewests other major investors, including Liberty Media, Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom, will also be given the opportunity to revisit the companys books.

Mr Huff says that he holds about 20 per cent of the companys bonds, twice as much as previously thought, although the claim is impossible to verify because there is no precise record of who owns which bonds. If he does have such a quantity his negotiating position is powerful because a one-fifth holding is just short of a blocking minority.

Telewest hopes to conclude its restructuring through a court-sanction scheme of arrangement, which requires 75 per cent approval of every class of investor. If Mr Huff were to withold consent and take a few others with him, he could ensure the scheme collapsed.

NTL, which has just emerged from its own restructuring, has only one independent on the board, the former television executive David Elstein, out of a total of six.

Telewest refused to comment.

Are the Papers making their own news again or has telewest just invited Big Boys to go over it's books, before results?

"Next week Mr Huff and analysts from WR Huff Asset Management, will begin an extra round of due diligence on Telewest’s operations. As a result, Telewest’s other major investors, including Liberty Media, Microsoft and Deutsche Telekom, will also be given the opportunity to revisit the company’s books".

It's an interesting situation ...... I sume it's by no means certain who will come out on top. I always felt that TWT were keen to divorce themselves from Liberty - if they could.

Wide spread and virtually no volume this morning.


ains

Telewest launches poignant wireless broadband trials

London, March 5 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

Telewest Broadband has begun trials of a new wireless broadband product to promote cable-free internet access in the home in a move that signals the company is prepared to set itself up as an all-in-one home internet provider.


The company has provided a self-installation kit to a number of existing digital television subscribers in the North West who will give feedback on the ease of use and value for money of the new product.

Customers taking part in the trial can link the Netgear wireless access point with their set-top box, making use of the in-built cable modem to provide a wire-free home networking experience.

While Telewest is still laden with huge debts, it is predicting break-even for the end of this year and is now at a crucial point for deciding its strategy; whether to become a simple cable utilities provider or go further and aim to become the provider of internet access throughout the home. The trial signals that it is testing out the latter.

The new wireless connection will support 512Kbps and 1Mbps services and follows on from the release of a wired self-installation pack that was launched in January, for 12.50. The Netgear wireless kit is preconfigured with security settings to prevent drive-by hacking.

Telewest director of internet services Chad Raube said: "[The trial] will introduce the every-day surfer to the benefits of wireless technology, while ensuring the process of installing and maintaining the connection is as simple as possible."

I am interested in this and guess lots of others will be ...



Telewest trials wireless BB for the home
By Tim Richardson
Posted: 05/03/2003 at 10:23 GMT


Telewest has brought forward trials of a new self-installation wireless connection that gives its punters the freedom to get broadband anywhere in their home.

Around 500 existing Telewest digital TV punters in the North West region are being recruited to take part in the pilot.

The kit behind the trial lets punters access their blueyonder broadband service via a wireless access point and the cable modems embedded in their digital set-top box.

The self-install pack pack includes a pre-configured Netgear wireless access point and enables a connection for both Telewest's blueyonder 512kbp/s
and 1Mbp/s broadband services.

Pricing details have yet to be announced.

If successful, then a full commercial roll-out of the self-install wireless connection could be pencilled in for the summer.

In January, Telewest unveiled a wires-based self-install product for its broadband service that makes use of cable modems embedded in its digital TV set-top boxes.

NTL appoints new CFO

London, March 5 2003, (netimperative)



by Chris Lake

Former BP/Amoco VP Scott Schubert has been brought in by NTL as its new CFO, following the cable operator's emergence from bankruptcy protection in January.


Schubert, currently executive VP and CFO of US network technology firm WilTel Communications, will report directly to CEO Barclay Knapp and will be based in Hook, Hampshire, at the company's operational headquarters.

His appointment becomes affective from 1 April, when he will become part of NTL's executive management group.

Schubert has 25 years experience of financial leadership gained within companies including Williams Communications and BP/Amoco, where he integrated the two companies' financial operations after they merged in 1998.

NTL completed its financial restructuring in January, whereby its lenders exchanged almost $11bn in debt for equity.

BC close to cable deal

London, 5/3/2003, (venturedome.com)




Private equity firm BC Partners is being tipped as the likely buyer of Deutsche Bank's cable TV unit Telecolumbus for around 500m euros.


BC faces competition for the deal from Apollo, DB Capital and the same consortium (Apax Partners, Providence Equity and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners) that recently acquired Deutsche Telekom's German cable TV networks for up to 2.1bn euros.

While BC is the most likely buyer, a final decision is not due until the middle of next week at the earliest. BC is believed to have signed some form of co-operation agreement with the Apax/Providence/Goldman grouping.

"That would be the best solution because there would be no cartel problems but both sides could profit from each other," said a source close to the negotiations.

Deutsche Bank bought Telecolumbus for 720m euros in 1999 and has long been trying to sell it. A proposed deal with Liberty Media Corp of the US last year was pulled when Liberty was blocked by German antitrust regulators from buying the Deutsche Telekom cable assets.

Deutsche is believed to have written down the value of its investment in Telecolumbus by around 200m euros. WestLB, Credit Lyonnais, ING and Rabobank have all been linked with the provision of debt finance for the deal.

MP to raise broadband cap issue in parliament
05/03/2003
Editor: David Minto

The Labour MP and former Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson has said he will raise awareness in the House of Commons of NTLs decision to cap broadband usage, according to a report from The Register.

Mr Robinson paid an hour-long visit to Kingsley Smith, the driving force behind the DontPayNTL web site and campaign, after his mother, Sue, wrote to her constituency MP.

Mrs Kingsley is understood to have argued that NTLs restriction on downloads was undermining Tony Blairs strategy for Broadband Britain.