i was wondering if anyone out there had any strong views? this company appears to be delivering and has just turned EBITA positive after a great trading statement last week. seems like upside to +200p once results are out.

any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.

No this is up on news in the Times that france telecom may be interested.

cheers fo that, just seen it. ABN said the same thing a couple of weeks ago. I wholeheartily agree. C&W comes with baggage on top of baggage. ESY is a clean, cheap decent footprint in the UK and Europe broadband mkt.

bring on Ofcomm and that will clear the way (with Wanadoo doing the bidding - 100% owned by france tel).

I'd be surprised if the foothold that ESY have got within the BT exchanges is large enough to be of interest to France Telecom.

would you now...the rationale is the build out potential and the fact that already have the systems and infastructure in place to roll out to the rest of the country.

the trigger will be the "landgrab" by guys like Wanadoo (aka France Tel) after the Ofcomm announcement.

ESY is the ONLY company outside BT to have a footprint (which C&W is now building and pushing through Bulldog). Also the 10 billion BT is spending on a 21CN, ESY has ALREADY put one in.

You can't expect ESY to be all encompassing yet but it is the ONLY contender to BT and managed to force BT to lower its wholesale charges to their ISP clients by 42% after ESY was undercutting them by 30% for 6 months. clearly the thorn in BT's side is having the desired effect.

I think if France Tel was not as entrenched in the UK with Wanadoo I would agree that it was just a spurious unsubstantialted rumour BUT there is a legitimate economic advantage and synergies to be gained.

Roll on Ofcomm and we shall see if the rumours carry on...i would not be surprised to see a bid emerge prior to the annoucement to try and snap up the company on the cheap....

rgds
PT

The problem is though, Proptrade, that ESY have had access to the BT exchanges for around 5 years or so now. In that time they've not really made that great an inroad, probably due to a combination of under capitalisation and the obstacles to local loop unbundling which have been laid down by BT all along the way.

BT operate an effective monopoly in everything but name.

You're now starting to see wholesale DSL charges fall and you have to seriously question the ability of the telco tiddlers to compete against BT who have had the infrastructure in place for many years. Sure, France Telecom could probably provide the funding to roll it out so much quicker, but would they really want to go down that avenue? You've only got to recall the Telewest, NTL and Atlantic Telecom fiascos of recent years to realise that, if they've got any sense, France Telecom will steer well clear.

Don't get me wrong. I think that ESY have an interesting business model which I would like to see work. I know people on UK Online who have no complaints whatsoever. Unfortunately, those people are on exchanges which have not yet undergone local loop unbundling (and there are no plans currently for unbundling), so ESY are having to pay BT wholesale and is having to make what few scraps it can.

Hilary, you have made some very interesting and correct points but the key to this success and the reason why i have banged on about these for a while is that the Ofcomm announcement should pave the way for ISP's to own their own last mile and therefore take BT 100% out of the equasion.

We will then see a "landgrab" of limited space in the exchages but the lucky few will enhance their own business models by owning their own network at a more competitive price than BT and potentially lease to other ISP's.

Also, as stated before, ESY's network is already far supior to BT's where they operate. The fact that BT is only starting to place the 21CN with huge fanfare...ESY already has installed that network!

ESY is uniquely placed at the moment to be snapped up and is miles ahead of the game. This is not a ramp, it really is a fact. Maybe C&W build out and take the second place over the next 3 years but at the moment if you serious about UK broadband and want to have control of a ready made (and growing) network that would be able to roll out 24MB speed by Septemeber (forget 8MB!), then ESY is a tasty morsel.

Multimedia is the byword of this century and for that you need capacity. ESY offers that and i think with a postive Ofcomm (which is the risk of course) we should see a decent bounce.

Hilary, you know I enjoy our banter and am delighted you share an interest in this stock. I have made and lost money in this over the years but feel that after a decent consolidation and a company with management that has repeatedly delivered on it promises this stock is ripe for takeover or at least rumour that could lift it back to 100p.

Rgds
PT

Ofcomm tomorrow...make or break time!

rgds
PT

good contarct win today...quid soon!!!?????

Well hopefully before Christmas!!!

a snippet from http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_972008.html

C&W Deal Likely To Kickstart Consolidation

Tuesday, August 16, 2005 8:22:47 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



1204 GMT [Dow Jones]--C&W (CWP) buys Energis (EGS.YY) for an initial cash consideration of GBP594M. Analyst says deal creates a stronger number 2 in the UK, which isn't great news for BT (BT) and also widens the gap between the top two and the smaller altnets. Says it is likely to force further UK consolidation of the likes of Thus (THUS.LN), Kingston (KCOM.LN), Fibernet (FIB.LN), Easynet (ESY.LN), Colt (COLT) and others. But it is unlikely to push valuations up as these deals will be done with survival in mind. Even private equity money has shied away from most small UK altnets so far. C&W -4.9% at 155p. (NPF)

Key is the comment on valuation - rationalistaion will be done to create long term viability not value. I see only little upside in speculating in the others right now, ESY included. Fraught with more risks than upside for me.

fair enough but broadband battle is just in mid flow and the real fight will be over customers and price. ESY's deliverable is ALREADY developed whereas C&W and BT are now investing in the same systems. recent wins by ESY could see them snapped up by a european or even US suitor.

i remain bullish and hand on to a 150p target in the near term

92 bid suddenly. no complaints.....

Someone's having a nibble.I'm expecting some bid action soon.

RED

ticking up a bit more...finally may look like it will get back to 100p and then i can see 150p...it is a unique target for any european/US suitor and a great opportunity to get a couple of feet into the UK broadband arena. bid likely imo as well...

Some decent sized trades going through this morning at 95.5.

very nice size, and VW as well so likely follow through buys from yesterday (order maybe shown around which is why they spiked).

expected ABN to come off the 95 bid and they have to join the pack closer to 92.

Well if they are buys from yesterday it would explain the rise after 16.00hrs yesterday before the close. Chart looking a bit healthier from June to now, possible golden cross coming up soon?

thats why i see a 100p+ price v soon...

Looking at the chart, if it breaks above here then a good chance of a run back up to the 115ish mark perhaps.

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