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-------------------------------------------------- Telecommunications Reports presents.... TR DAILY Oct. 26, 2001 -------------------------------------------------- PLEASE NOTE: This electronic publication is copyrighted by Telecommunications Reports International. Redistribution or retransmission of any part of this electronic publication -- either internally or externally -- is strictly prohibited. Violation will be cause for immediate termination of your subscription and liability for damages. You may print out one hard copy for your personal use. If you are interested in having this publication sent to colleagues at your company, additional authorized recipients may be added to your subscription for a fee. Call Subscriber Services, at (800) 822-6338, or send an e-mail to customerservice@tr.com for more details. If you prefer not to receive TR Daily, please reply to customerservice@tr.com. -------------------------------------------------- ***See Monday's TR for an On-the-Record interview with John Grimley, European issues adviser for London-based consultancy Chelgate Ltd. He discusses regulatory strategies for doing business in Europe. Table Of Contents Click here for the full issue: http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/index.htm U.S. REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH NextWave; McCain WARNS AGAINST `SHORTCHANGING' TAXPAYERS http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601.htm BUSH ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT OPPOSES NORTHPOINT'S EFFORTS TO AVOID AUCTIONS http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-01.htm COMMISSIONERS: BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT SUFFERS FROM UNCERTAINTY, SLOW REGULATORY PROCESSES http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-02.htm ERICSSON FOCUSES ON COST-CUTTING AS MOBILE GEAR MARKET RECEDES http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-03.htm JDS UNIPHASE SEES DEMAND FALLING FURTHER, AFTER FIRST QUARTER SALES DROPPED 45% http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-04.htm MOODY's DOWNGRADES AT&T's DEBT RATINGS http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-05.htm TELECOM EARNINGS ROUNDUP=20 http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-06.htm TELECOM SECTOR WEEKLY FUNDING ROUNDUP http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-07.htm NEWS IN BRIEF=20 http://www.tr.com/online/trd/2001/td102601/Td102601-08.htm **************************************************************** U.S. REACHES SETTLEMENT WITH NextWave; McCain WARNS AGAINST `SHORTCHANGING' TAXPAYERS A settlement to resolve the dispute over NextWave Telecom, Inc.'s "C" and "F" block PCS (personal communications service) licenses is complete, sources told TRDaily today. Over the weekend, FCC staffers intend to brief key congressional aides on the accord with an eye toward having everyone on board for an announcement early next week, sources said. But a top senator today raised concerns that a settlement with NextWave could "shortchange" U.S. taxpayers. "What troubles me is that spectrum auction revenues are being lost just when they are most needed," said Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), the ranking member on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D., S.D.) and Minority Leader Trent Lott (R., Miss.). Sen. McCain noted the numerous demands on the U.S. budget due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, including funding the war, rebuilding damaged infrastructure, and propping up weakened industries. "Since revenues are essential to each of these vital tasks, I believe that the government can no longer afford to simply `pay off' a company whose only contribution to the American economy has been to manipulate, for private gain, the results of an improperly designed auction of a valuable public good," Sen. McCain added. Sen. McCain noted NextWave reportedly would walk away with $5 billion in a settlement, and the U.S. Treasury would get about $11 billion. By contrast, the government would have received $15.85 billion for NextWave's spectrum if an appeals court hadn't ruled that the FCC illegally reclaimed the carrier's licenses. A reauction earlier this year of NextWave's licenses netted a total of $16.8 billion, including licenses that didn't belong to NextWave. The senator also noted that Verizon Wireless reportedly had asked to delay until May 2002 paying the balance of what it would owe on the licenses it bid on at the reauction. "What assurances will the American taxpayer have that the federal government will receive the billions owed to them from the January reauction?" Sen. McCain asked. "The taxpayers of this country deserve an agreement that properly ensures that settlement funds are paid in full before the American taxpayer is asked to participate in any settlement. "The expected $17 billion. . .in receipts from January's reauction would have provided revenue desperately needed to address the recent terrorist attacks upon this country, and I am disturbed that an American company would force American taxpayers to forgo some of that money by exploiting legal technicalities," he added. "But if this does happen, then this Congress must use its oversight authority to ensure that this matter is resolved upon terms that protect the American people from being shortchanged once again." Lawmakers' endorsement of any NextWave settlement is crucial; Congress would be asked to approve legislation that would codify the accord, sources said. -- Paul Kirby, pkirby@tr.com **************************************************************** BUSH ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT OPPOSES NORTHPOINT'S EFFORTS TO AVOID AUCTIONS Northpoint Technology, Inc.'s attempt to gain access to Ku-band spectrum for free has suffered a major setback. The Bush administration has weighed in against the company, saying it opposes any efforts to restrict the FCC's ability to assign terrestrial licenses by competitive bidding. The development represents a victory for the direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and terrestrial wireless industries, which have fought Northpoint on the issue. Sources have said that Northpoint was attempting to get senators to tack a "rider" onto a fiscal year 2002 appropriations bill that would prohibit the FCC from auctioning spectrum to terrestrial wireless providers if those frequencies were licensed to satellite services without such competitive bidding (TR, Oct 22). The FCC last year said that terrestrial wireless systems can share the Ku-band with DBS providers and it is now considering technical and service rules for licensing Northpoint, including whether to auction the spectrum (TR, Dec. 4, 2000). In an Oct. 25 statement regarding the Senate agriculture appropriations bill, the White House's Office of Management and Budget said the Bush administration "would strongly oppose any amendment that would restrict the FCC's ability to assign, via competitive bidding, spectrum licenses that could be used by terrestrial (i.e., non-satellite) services. "Such a provision would interfere with the efficient allocation of federal spectrum licenses, provide a windfall to certain users, and reduce federal revenues," OMB added. The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association, which represents DBS providers, praised the Bush administration's position. "There is no public policy or legal justification for Congress to accept Northpoint's outrageous proposal to change current law and give Northpoint the use of this spectrum for free," said Andy Wright, SBCA's acting president. But Antoinette Cook Bush, Northpoint's executive vice president, responded, "It is very hypocritical for SBCA to urge auctions for our company, when its members such as Hughes [Electronics Corp.] successfully urged Congress to enact legislation last year to exempt themselves from auctions while their applications were pending to share spectrum with Northpoint." She added that Northpoint "only seeks fair and equal treatment with other companies seeking to use the same spectrum. . .The existing statutory exemption plainly gives satellites an enormous competitive advantage over us and we're simply asking the Congress and the administration to restore a technologically neutral regulatory process." -- Paul Kirby, pkirby@tr.com **************************************************************** COMMISSIONERS: BROADBAND DEPLOYMENT SUFFERS FROM UNCERTAINTY, SLOW REGULATORY PROCESSES FCC Commissioners today disputed that there's a "broadband crisis" in the U.S. Broadband deployment is occurring "on a reasonable and timely basis" compared with the pace of earlier technologies, Com- missioner Kathleen Q. Abernathy said. She and Commissioners Michael J. Copps and Kevin J. Martin shared their ideas for spurring the deployment of advanced services today at a national broadband summit in Arlington, Va. Sponsors of the summit included the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and the National Exchange Carrier Association, Inc. Commissioner Copps called broadband a "precious right" for all Americans but said it was "too early to say we have a `broadband divide.'" Commissioner Martin said the country should focus on broadband as a "fundamental national priority." "We need to change the way government taxes broadband services and [creates] regulatory financial disincentives," he said. He specifically singled out state and local government burdens such as franchise fees, right-of-way fees, and permitting processes. "We need more strict enforcement of the collocation rules, additional performance measures [on unbundled network elements], and the FCC should reconsider which elements should be made available," he said. Regulators also need to remove the "regulatory underbrush" of federal, state, and local rules, he said. The FCC should move expeditiously on the cable open access pro- ceeding and perhaps create a "rocket docket" to resolve complaints filed with the Enforcement Bureau, he said. According to one source, there are thousands of pending Internet service provider complaints. Commissioner Abernathy said the FCC should look at what it could do to encourage investment in telecom facilities. "We need to look at the decision and rulemaking processes and address issues sooner," she said. "We are behind the curve on technology advances." Mr. Copps said the current pessimism regarding broadband deployment was misguided. Broadband can revitalize the economy, he said. But the FCC "gets in trouble when it doesn't look at the supply-and-de- mand issues for a service and sets policies to encourage certain services." He cited third-generation wireless services and digital TV as examples where expectations hadn't been met. "The train can't carry freight until the tracks are laid," he said.=20 The FCC's role is to eliminate barriers, regulate with clarity and transparency, and speed decision making, he added. -- Ed Rovetto, erovetto@tr.com **************************************************************** ERICSSON FOCUSES ON COST-CUTTING AS MOBILE GEAR MARKET RECEDES As its customers pause to consider how and when to deploy third- generation (3G) wireless services, Telefon AB LM Ericsson is counting on deeper cost-cutting to combat slower sales. The "efficiency program," as the cost-reduction effort is known, "is ahead of schedule," President and Chief Executive Officer Kurt Hellstrom said today. The company cut 2.5 billion Swedish kronor ($236 million) in the quarter that ended Sept. 30 and will save 7 billion kronor ($660.7 million) by year-end, he said. It reduced headcount by 5,500 employees during the quarter, bringing its headcount cuts to 6,800 so far this year. The Swedish telecom equipment maker lent more weight to its cost- cutting prospects by announcing that Michael Treschow would become chairman, effective March 2002. He will resign as president and CEO of Electrolux and will succeed Lars Ramqvist as Ericsson's chairman. Mr. Treschow "is known for his effective cost-cutting management skills at Electrolux and Atlas Copco and we believe he is just what Ericsson needs in this difficult operating environment," said Adnaan Ahmad of Merrill Lynch & Co. Ericsson's third quarter results fell short of expectations. The company recorded sales of 54.6 billion kronor ($5.2 billion), a 19% drop from a year ago. Net losses totaled 4 billion kronor ($377.5 million) versus a net gain of 4.4 billion kronor ($415.3 million) a year ago. The outlook for the rest of this year and 2002 isn't particularly bright. The company revised its prediction that sales for the entire mobile systems industry would remain flat or show modest growth next year. It now expects the market to be down as much as 10%. Its own sales will track that industry trend, it said. The company's third quarter results were "weaker than expectations," and its fourth quarter guidance was "disappointing," said Jeffrey Schlesinger of UBS Warburg LLC. Moody's Investors Service, meanwhile, downgraded the company's long-term debt rating to "Baa-1" from "A-3." "There are still no signs of a recovery in the demand for mobile phone equipment," Moody's said. "On the contrary, Moody's expects more carriers to defer upgrades to the GPRS [general packet radio service] standard, to postpone installations of 3G networks, or to agree with partners on network sharing." "The rating downgrade is based on Ericsson's increasing reliance on wireless infrastructure equipment and on the anticipated further slowdown and heightened price competition in this segment as wireless operators are very carefully considering their complicated technology migration strategies," Moody's said. -- Tom Leithauser, tleithauser@tr.com **************************************************************** JDS UNIPHASE SEES DEMAND FALLING FURTHER, AFTER FIRST QUARTER SALES DROPPED 45% JDS Uniphase Corp., a bellwether in the optical networking equipment sector, late Thursday said it still couldn't see the bot- tom of the demand slump that sequentially trimmed its revenues by nearly half in the firm's fiscal first quarter ending Sept. 29. JDS's revenues in the quarter fell to $329 million, 45% below the $601 million reported for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001 ending June 30. During the first quarter of fiscal 2000, JDS racked up $786 million of revenues. The latest quarter was accompanied by a=20 $260 million net loss excluding some downsizing and other charges versus a $177 million profit in the year-ago quarter. "Our industry continues to be affected by declining carrier capital spending and a weak overall economic environment," commented Jozef Straus, co-chairman, president, and chief executive officer. In the short term at least, JDS executives expect neither of those trends to abate. "The company anticipates sales for the second quarter will be approximately 10%-15% below the first quarter as the downturn in the company's markets continues," JDS said in its earnings release late yesterday. Excluding charges related to cost-cutting measures, JDS expects to report a small net loss for the second quarter. The firm declined to offer any financial performance guidance beyond then. In the meantime, JDS said it would continue to reduce expenses while funding development of new products. "We believe these next- generation systems will be part of a future industry recovery and that we are well positioned to help our company and our customers return to growth," the firm said. JDS's cost-cutting measures thus far have produced $600 million of annual savings, with another $200 million of savings targeted.=20 Included in the downsizing have been substantial layoffs and closure of 17 manufacturing facilities. The cuts in operating expenses have not come cheaply. Through the end of September, JDS took $778 million of charges related to cost saving efforts. It expects up to $172 million in additional charges to complete the program. -- John Curran, jcurran@tr.com **************************************************************** MOODY's DOWNGRADES AT&T's DEBT RATINGS Moody's Investors Service reduced AT&T Corp.'s debt ratings and said it might issue further downgrades. The core telephony unit was downgraded to "A-3" from "A-2" and the less creditworthy broadband cable TV division was lowered to "Baa-1" from "A-3." The ratings on AT&T's short-term debt were lowered from "prime-1," the highest rating on such debt, to "prime-2." Moody's new ratings on AT&T are roughly equivalent to those of another big rating agency, Fitch. But they are one notch below where Standard & Poor's rates the company. AT&T's ratings are under review at S&P and might be lowered in the near future. The downgrades can add to AT&T's cost of raising funds in the debt market, but AT&T's debt securities still are considered "investment grade." Moody's said its downgrade reflected "the deterioration in the prospective performance of the company's telephony operations and concerns that debt reduction efforts from the sale or monetization of noncore assets are likely to fall short of previous expectations." "Moody's expects profitability to decline over the intermediate term as [Bell companies] are permitted to enter the long distance business in more and more states," the rating agency said. "There is not, at this time, a clear-cut growth area to offset this decline." Bear, Stearns & Co. debt-market analyst Marion Boucher Soper said "the downgrade should not come as a surprise given that [AT&T's] ratings have been under review for downgrade since the announcement of its restructuring" a year ago. -- Tom Leithauser, tleithauser@tr.com **************************************************************** TELECOM EARNINGS ROUNDUP=20 CommScope, Inc., a maker of broadband and other communications cables, said revenues for the third quarter fell to $177.7 million from $256.9 million in the comparable quarter last year. Net income fell to $6.3 million for the most recent quarter compared with $22.9 million last year. Alaska Communications Systems Group grew third quarter revenues to $82.8 million versus $74.9 million in the year-ago quarter. EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) grew to $33.3 million in the latest quarter compared to $23.3 million last year, while the firm's net loss narrowed to $1.3 million from $10.8 million. Symmetricom, Inc., a telecom network software provider, posted net sales of $18.5 million for its fiscal first quarter ended Sept. 30 and a net loss of $1.1 million. In the comparable quarter last year, the company reported revenues of $36.0 million and a $5.5 million profit.=20 GSI Lumonics, Inc., booked third quarter sales of $41.3 million, down from $76.5 million in the second quarter of the year and $97.6 million in the third quarter of 2000. GSI, whose product line includes precision optics for telecom networks, suffered a net loss of $8.5 million in the most recent quarter versus a $7.2 million profit in the year-ago quarter.=20 P-Com, Inc., a provider of wireless access services for telecom markets, said third quarter sales plummeted to $10.3 million from $61.0 million in the year-ago quarter. Net loss for the most recent quarter amounted to $37.3 million versus a loss of $0.9 million in the comparable quarter last year.=20 Corvis Corp., which makes optical networking software, posted third quarter revenues of $24.1 million and a net loss of $80.6 million.=20 During the comparable period last year, Corvis generated $22.9 million in revenue with a net loss of $66.3 million.=20 **************************************************************** TELECOM SECTOR WEEKLY FUNDING ROUNDUP Following are highlights from this week's telecom sector corporate financing deals, with recipients listed in alphabetical order: 2Wire, Inc., secured an additional $61 million of venture capital financing from funders including Technology Crossover Ventures and Oak Investment Partners. 2Wire is a provider of broadband delivery through residential gateways. Avaya, Inc., sold $400 million of zero-coupon convertible bonds, market sources confirmed. The communications equipment maker has slated proceeds from the offering to reduce short-term debt. Bell Canada announced an offering of $200 million Canadian (US$127 million) of medium-term debentures due 2031. BellSouth Corp. sold $2.75 billion of notes with maturity dates ranging from 2006 to 2031. CENiX, Inc., a maker of optical communications equipment, raised $52 million in equity and debt financing from funders including Posdata Co. and AK Investments. Citizens Communications Co. completed a new $1 billion financing agreement, including an $800 million revolving credit facility and a $200 million term loan. The new facilities replace Citizens's previous standby credit facility.=20 Fairchild Semiconductor International arranged a private sale of $200 million of convertible senior subordinated notes due 2008.=20 The notes will be convertible into Fairchild common stock at $30 per share. Proceeds from the offering may be used to buy back outstanding debt and fund acquisitions, Fairchild said. The offering is expected to close by Oct. 31. Global Locate, Inc., closed on $12 million of venture capital financing from funders including Firsthand Capital Management and GC Investments LLC. Based in San Jose, Calif., Global Locate pro- vides Global Positioning System technology for wireless devices. Inktomi Corp. announced plans for a public offering of 12.5 million shares of common stock, with an option to sell another 1.8 million shares. The network software maker said it would use proceeds for general corporate purposes. IntelliSpace, a provider of Ethernet broadband services, closed on $10 million of additional venture financing with funders including Halpern Denny & Co. L-3 Communications completed the sale of $350 million of senior subordinated convertible contingent debt securities due 2011. The securities are convertible into common stock at $107.62 per share. Proceeds from the offering are slated for acquisitions, among other uses. Level 3 Communications, Inc., closed on bond buyback offerings that resulted in the repurchase of $1.7 billion of outstanding bonds in exchange for $720 million in cash.=20 Loral Space & Communications Ltd. said its Loral CyberStar unit would launch an exchange offer for up to $927 million of outstand- ing bonds, offering to swap them for $675 million of new Loral CyberStar bonds and warrants to buy 6.7 million shares of Loral common stock. The new notes to be issued in the exchange offer are guaranteed by Loral, which is not the case with the bonds now outstanding. Lytek Corp., a maker of optical communications equipment, secured $3.8 million of venture financing from funders including Wasatch Venture Fund and Intel Capital.=20 Motorola, Inc., raised $1.6 billion through the sale of $1.05 billion of convertible preferred securities and $600 million of bonds, market sources confirmed. Motorola has said proceeds from the offering will be used to reduce short-term debt.=20 Q Comm International, a prepaid wireless technology concern, signed an agreement to sell 11.4 million shares of its common stock to American Payment Systems, Inc., for $5.7 million. American Payment will also extend $600,000 of loans to Q Comm and up to $1 million of equipment lease financing. Quintessant Communications, Inc., a maker of telecom interconnec- tion software, secured an increase to $7 million in its working capital credit facilities with Silicon Valley Bank. RCN Corp. completed the repurchase of $593 million of outstanding bonds in exchange for $161 million in cash. Telesat Canada filed with Canadian regulators for a proposed offering of up to $100 million Canadian (US$63.5 million) of senior unsecured notes. Proceeds will be used for capital expenditures and debt reduction, among other uses.=20 TELUS Corp. said it received $147 million of cash proceeds from the sale of its equipment leasing business. The transaction closed earlier this month. Teradyne, Inc., a maker of communications test equipment, completed an offering of $400 million of convertible senior notes due 2006.=20 The notes are convertible into common stock at $26 per share. XEMICS SA, which makes semiconductors for short-range wireless connectivity, secured $6 million of venture capital financing from funders including TAT Investments and Banexi Ventures. **************************************************************** NEWS IN BRIEF G. William Ruhl has been named chief executive officer of D&E Communications, Inc., a local exchange carrier based in Ephrata, Penn. He was senior vice president. He succeeds Anne B. Sweigart, who will remain chairman and president. Robert M. Lauman was named vice chairman and senior executive VP. He was EVP and chief operating officer.... Luigi Gasparollo has been named vice president-European operations for QUALCOMM, Inc. He was managing director of Elsacom, a Dutch international telecom carrier.... Earthlink, Inc., has added Robert M. Metcalfe, a venture partner at Polaris Venture Partners, and Marce Fuller, chief executive officer of power and natural gas marketer Mirant, Inc., to its board.=20 Philip W. Schiller, vice president-worldwide marketing at Apple Computer, has resigned from the board.... President Bush today signed antiterrorism legislation that gives law enforcement officials sweeping new wiretap and electronic surveillance authority. The House voted 357-66 Oct. 24 in favor of the legislation (HR 3162), while the Senate passed it 98-1 yesterday. Under a provision inserted by the House, the wiretap and electronic surveillance portions of the legislation expire at the end of 2005 unless renewed by Congress.... The federal government's process for allocating spectrum is inefficient, with too many frequencies reserved for low-value uses and too few dedicated to high-value purposes, according to an analysis funded by the wireless industry. "The bottom line is that inefficient spectrum allocation imposes costs on the economy by discouraging innovation, raising costs to consumers, and otherwise reducing the benefits that consumers and businesses would have obtained from new wireless technologies," said the analysis, which was commissioned by the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and prepared by Sebago Associates, Inc., an economic policy consulting firm. More spectrum should be allocated for commercial wireless services, and the FCC should permit licensees to trade spectrum in secondary markets, the analysis said. Among the authors of the study was Martin N. Baily, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington and former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.... CommScope, Inc., a maker of broadband communication cables, is in talks with Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd. of Japan to restructure a venture formed between the firms to acquire an interest in the fiber-optic cable business of Lucent Technologies, Inc. CommScope said it planned to reduce its investment and participation in the venture. In announcing the move, CommScope cited "the uncertain economic environment and severe downturn in the telecommunications market as well as associated difficulties in the financing markets following the Sept. 11 tragedy"... Focal Communications Corp. closed on its $430 million recapital- ization transaction that included a $150 million equity infusion and a debt-for-equity swap that cut Focal's junk bond debt load by $295 million. Focal said it expected to have sufficient funding until it becomes free cash flow positive during the second half of 2003.... Crown Castle International said Italian regulators had declined to authorize Crown Castle's purchase of a 49% stake in RaiWay SpA.=20 Crown Castle last April had contracted to buy the RaiWay stake and had put $380 million in escrow pending government approval.... Netia Holdings SA, a Polish alternative telecom service provider, said it would cut employee headcount by an additional 10% on top of an earlier 10% workforce reduction in March.... Broadwing Communications signed a multiyear agreement with Allegiance Telecom, Inc., to provide 2.5 gigabit lightwave services that will connect eight of Allegiance's major metropolitan markets.=20 Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.... AES Corp. extended its unsolicited tender offers for Compania Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV) to Nov. 23. As reported, CANTV is resisting the offers and has approved payment of special stock dividends, as well as share buybacks, in an attempt to thwart the AES bids.... Applied Materials, Inc., has created a venture capital fund, Applied Materials Ventures I L.P., to invest in start-up firms in the optical communications components sector....=20 360networks announced that four additional operating subsidiaries in Canada and England have filed for bankruptcy protection. The parent company sought bankruptcy protection in June in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, while U.S. units filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.... P-Com, Inc., a maker of wireless access systems, announced a preliminary agreement to settle outstanding securities class action litigation in the Santa Clara County, Calif., Superior Court.=20 Terms of the proposed settlement were not spelled out, but P-Com said the deal would be funded entirely from the firm's liability insurance.... HearMe, a developer of Internet telephony technologies, said its shareholders had approved a resolution to liquidate the company's assets and distribute any remaining capital to shareholders. ******************************************************** TR DAILY Copyright 2001 Telecommunications Reports International, Inc., (ISSN 1082-9350) is transmitted weekdays, except for holidays. Visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.tr.com.=20 Published by the Business & Finance Group of CCH INCORPORATED. Editor: John Curran Associate Editor: Tom Leithauser Associate Editor: Ryan Oremland Associate Editor: Ed Rovetto Publisher: Stephen P. Munro 1333 H Street, NW, 1st Floor-East Tower, Washington, DC 20005 Editorial Information: Telephone: (202) 312-6060 Fax: (202) 312-6111 Email: jcurran@tr.com tleithauser@tr.com Customer Service: Telephone: (202) 312-6050 (877) 874-8737 Fax: (202) 312-6116 Email: customerservice@tr.com Federal copyright law prohibits duplication or reproduction in any form, including electronic, without permission of the publisher.=1A
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