Tipped by the independent 2/01/2004

........."And so to our traditional "wild card". Pipex Communications, formerly known as GX Networks, is a telecoms company created by one of the entrepreneurs behind Ukbetting, Peter Dubens. It has been assembled from six smaller players. The ambitious company is generating cash for the first time but is still not widely followed in the City. It could be an undiscovered gem".

Perhaps on the rummmmmr,that Vodaphone have been having a peeeeeep.

Perhaps on the rummmmmr,that Vodaphone have been having a peeeeeep.

Money Week magazine today a recommended buy-Having established a wireless broadband joint venture with Intel this telecom operator is in a "strong position" and has been groing faster than expected;A possible takeover target.Price tipped 18p.

18p................i wish, i held these greedily perhaps and now down to less than 9p.
anyway taking over now is getting these half the value

Already hold some, but if the markets look right this afternoon, I am tempted to top up as price looks pretty sharp to me.

For what it is worth 8.0-8.5 is right at the botom of Bollinger Band, but there looks to be pretty strong reistance at just under 11.50 where 50 and 200 MDAs cross.

Meanwhile, FTSE continues strongly and Dow is teetering on the so-called key number of 10940 ...... Give it an hour and see what has happened

because i'm a barrow-boy at heart, i can't get myself to pay 8.75, but 8.50 will do and shall wait and watch ...... at that level, i think a lot of price war with Carphone Warehouse is factored in (or out if you like) and there is always the pretty good chance of a t/o in due course

Perhaps sorting out Homecall is proving costly/difficult, this and a broadband price war is maybe weighing down PXC.
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zzzzzzzzzzzzz

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz !

Looks a very promising tone to the rns, no mention of any problems with Homecall, better than market expectations for profits, user spend up 9% and LLU progressing well with, it would appear big numbers of consumers migrating to PXC. Excellent.
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Investec Reiterates Buy On Pipex>PXC.LN

Wednesday, July 12, 2006 5:13:37 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires

0805 GMT [Dow Jones] Investec reiterates Pipex Communications (PXC.LN) at buy after "robust" 1H trading update. Says profitability was "materially ahead of expectations." Upgrades 1H '06 revenue assumptions by 5% to GBP118M, and EBITDA by 20% to GBP12.7M. Revises full year revenue expectations to GBP280M, but leaves EBITDA forecasts unchanged at GBP25M. Shares trade +3.2% at 10.65p. (JEM)

LONDON (AFX) - Pipex Communications PLC said it has won a contract with Comic Relief to provide connectivity, hosting and management for the infrastructure supporting its online presence and digital donations for Sport Relief 2006.

This and Wed's announcement has gone down well hasn't it ?

Indeed not. The Comic Relief contract would sound rather small beer compared with aspirations only a few months back and probably wouldn't have warranted an announcement. That could well have made some investors a bit too nervous for comfort.

I think that's taking a rather bleak view. Sport Relief is everywhere at the moment so if it's an additional piece of business (and they do sponsor a football club) why not shout about it.

Why not shout about? Why not indeed? The market will judge its real significance.

Aspirations haven't changed. Nice trading update and wimax to follow. Lovely. the market isn't judging Comic relief contract just genreal market and chance for mms to mark down. This is an institutional/mm plaything but would expect to see nearly double this by xmas. Don't give up the DIY Dave.

Who holds the broadband trumps?


(Filed: 16/07/2006)



Sky is gambling that consumers will want to sign up to a complete package of telecoms and entertainment services. But, writes Andrew Murray-Watson, no one is quite sure that such demand really exists

On Tuesday, British Sky Broadcasting, the satellite broadcaster, will park its tanks on the lawns of Britain's largest telecoms companies with the launch of a new high-speed internet service.


Click to enlarge


Sky Broadband is likely to be free to customers who take out a hefty Sky subscription TV service and the roll-out of the service will be backed by the full weight of the broadcaster's formidable marketing machine.

The Sunday Telegraph also understands that Sky will offer broadband speeds above the 8Mb offered by all its main rivals, including BT, in localities where it has already installed its own technology in BT's exchanges - a process known as local loop unbundling.

Sky is leading a stampede of companies - including many that have until now had little to do with the internet - rushing to implement expensive strategies to offer broadband as part of a wider package of entertainment and communication services.

These companies, which apart from Sky include Carphone Warehouse, BT, NTL, the cable group, and mobile networks Orange and O2, are placing bets on the expectation that consumers want to take all their telecoms and entertainment services from one provider. The premise is that companies can slash prices for customers who take three or four different services, such as broadband, fixed line and mobile telephony and digital TV, and still make a healthy profit margin.

The only fly in the ointment is that so far there is no clear evidence that consumers are remotely interested in the idea.

Michael Philpott, principal analyst at Ovum, the telecoms and media firm, says: "No, to be completely honest, there is little evidence."

If there is no clear customer demand for bundled telecoms services, why are the likes of Sky, Orange and O2 pursuing a strategy that some analysts are now describing as an expensive folly? And which company, if any, is likely to emerge triumphant in the broadband war?

Despite a warning from Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of BSkyB, that the roll-out of broadband would hit the company's profits this year, the satellite broadcaster is confident that it can successfully sell high-speed internet services to the existing 8m customers of its TV services.

Analysts believe the investment in broadband could hurt Sky's profits by up to 100m this year and it is understood that the company does not expect the division to make a profit for up to three years.

The group, which is able to offer broadband following its 211m acquisition of Easynet last year, will extend its broadband network to 50 per cent of UK households by the end of this year and to 70 per cent by the end of 2007. In the meantime, it will buy a wholesale broadband product from BT in areas not reached by its own network.

Despite growing evidence that households which are buying broadband for the first time tend to stick with their existing supplier of slower dial-up services, some analysts think Sky's renowned customer service will give it an advantage.

Ian Watt of Enders Analysis says: "Sky sets the standard for customer service."

And because Sky customers already pay for TV services, the company can afford to offer broadband and voice calls for a minimal amount.

An internet arm will also allow Sky to offer its customers video on demand broadcast over a broadband link. The company's new high definition Sky+ box has a socket that is currently redundant but is designed to be used for a broadband connection.

Broadband means that Sky will not be overtaken by telecoms companies that broadcast TV over the internet. Its position will be further strengthened if it succeeds in its 650m bid for AOL UK. The acquisition would give it over 2m internet customers and the company believes its entertainment credentials will give it the edge over its rivals.

Meanwhile, the logic of moving into broadband for Orange and O2 looks less clear.

Orange announced recently that it would offer fixed-line broadband and video on demand to its mobile customers. Observers increasingly see the move as a defensive measure to reduce the churn of its mobile phone customer base. Enders Analysis estimates that Orange's free broadband offer allows those of its customers who currently take broadband from another supplier to save up to 60 per cent.

However, according to Enders, less than 20 per cent of Orange's mobile customers in the UK are in fact the billpayers for household broadband, meaning that cross-selling opportunities are reduced.

That statistic is also relevant for O2, which recently said it was to offer broadband following its 50m takeover of internet group Be.

Analysts at Enders conclude that it will cost Orange 17 per month per customer to provide "free" broadband. This means the offer will probably hit the profits the company makes from its top mobile customers, even if it does reduce churn.

A recent research note from Enders claims that a converged broadband/mobile package is an "expensive distraction for any operator that indulges in it".

Enders' Watt believes that mobile networks are now diversifying into broadband simply because they do not want to appear to be standing still.

He says: "The risk of sitting back and doing nothing as a one-product company is that you risk being like the frog in a pan of water that sits there calmly as the water gets hotter and hotter.

"Orange is going into broadband because its parent France Telecom wants it to go into broadband. O2 is going into broadband because Orange is going into broadband."

In short, according to Watt, it is the economics of the companies involved that is driving the move into broadband rather than any obvious consumer demand for bundled services.

By contrast, Vodafone and T-Mobile have both invested heavily in 3G networks and plan to offer wireless broadband on mobile devices at speeds comparable to fixed-line broadband within the next year. O2, on the other hand, chose not to invest in 3G to nearly the same extent.

The big guns of broadband that are watching while new entrants muscle into their space are BT and NTL. The former is to offer BT Vision, a new freeview digital TV box with a built-in hard drive to store recorded programmes. Customers will be able to access video on demand services and get a useful wireless hub that will link up their TV to their PC without the need to trail cables around the home.

And then there are Carphone Warehouse and Pipex, both of which have a large existing fixed-line business and are now offering high-speed broadband at bargain prices.

Pipex has launched an advertising campaign starring former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and plans to sell broadband and unlimited voice calls for 19 per month. Carphone has a comparable product at 21 per month and said last month that it had signed up 340,000 customers to the new service in just six weeks since its launch.

There are currently about 8m broadband users in the UK and analysts expect that number to rise to up to 20m by the end of the decade. But despite the rapid growth in the industry, it is likely that smaller players will get snapped up.

Watt says: "Companies with weaker brands, such as Pipex, are more exposed."

While the consumer has never had it so good when it comes to the internet, the headlong rush to move into the broadband market by the likes of Sky, Orange and BT means that the resulting competition for customers is likely to erode any financial bonanza for the companies involved.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/07/16/ccsky16.xml&menuId=242&sSheet=/money/2006/07/16/ixcity.html

I dont quite understand Watt says Pipex being a weaker brand are more exposed,to what a rival takeover,and why would people want to sign up with Car-phone warehouse when Pipex offer far better deals?.

Quite active this morning, in a positive mood.
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