Freedom4 Comm. Share Discussion Threads

[donkeystone] 22/4/2008 11:14

stevi111

Too kind and thank you very much. I had a go at them twice and then gave up. They sold 58% of my total holding so am left with 42%. Must say that their original letter setting out "and/or option 1/option 2" was confusing, it confused their "front" office too.

I'm putting this one down to experience and won't be taking AIM again. Going to revert to my usual approach buy low in undervalued ftse100/250 companies that look like takeover targets sit back and wait for it to happen even if it takes years. Worked OK in cs. and ici still waiting on isys and cksn.

Thanks again and good luck.

ttfn

[stevi1111] 22/4/2008 10:30

donkeystone - 16 Apr'08 - 14:05 - 763 of 798

steve111 am with Barclays they could only sell 58% of my holding, have had a couple of conversations with them about "unused" allocation in their nominee account ... they insist 58% is it. Must say I found their and/or option1/option2 letter confusing, they did too when I rang them.

.............

Hi Donkeystone.....I've made a formal complaint about the above as clearly Barclays stockbrokers customers were not treated equal to customers with other brokers....

It should have been MAX 58% for everybody as clearly stated in the tender offer...OR...Everybody should have had the opportunity to take a % share of any tenders not claimed.

All gonna take a bit of time but I'll let you know when I hear more....

[jasey] 22/4/2008 08:39

0.7p. I hate to say as I still hold 13% as well

[spights] 21/4/2008 20:17

After the way we have been treated ......... expect the worst Zero
I still hold 13%

[ps0u3165] 21/4/2008 18:01

Take it the prediction from all must be zilch then.

[ps0u3165] 21/4/2008 13:32

Jasey

Could well be the case.

How about a prediction of how much the share price will be when they decide what to do with the proceeds of the Loan Notes.

[jasey] 21/4/2008 12:59

F4 will be worth F all

[ps0u3165] 21/4/2008 11:59

VOB

Yes thanks for clarifying that , 18 months seems like a long way off and its hard to say where F4 will be by then.

[spights] 21/4/2008 09:51

VOB thankyou.....you are a treasure x

[veryoldbob] 21/4/2008 09:49

"is it on the total of the shares that we had 10.39p for ie in my case approx 87%?"

I'm guessing it will be on shares held when the loan is repaid (in a year and a half's time). This is the only statement on the matter (from the tender document):

"It is the Company's intention to distribute to its Shareholders the proceeds of the redemption of the Loan Notes, which are to be repaid by the Issuer to the Company no later than 18 months after the date of their issue."

The loan was reduced to 17.5M and there's 1,070.54M shares in issue now, which works out as 1.6p a share: today's price (which tells you all you need to know about the value of the WiMAX business!)

Note the word "intention" though - I suspect the loan proceeds will get sucked into the business (or the Director's pockets...)

[ps0u3165] 21/4/2008 09:46

spights

Is that money (£20 million) not due to go back into f4? It did not seem to clear to me where it was going.

[jasey] 21/4/2008 09:31

psOu3165

Probably 2 I would think

[spights] 21/4/2008 08:39

VOB the money that is due back to us next year(2p)....is it on the total of the shares that we had 10.39p for ie in my case approx 87%?

[ps0u3165] 21/4/2008 07:56

My thoughts at this time are, why did they not sell this 'Wimax' part as well, could it be,

1, Intel would not let them.
2, No interest, because license is worthless.
3, There are no customers signing up.
4, They need money to branch out.
5, Setting up the Wimax network is to slow.

or on the +ve side, It's to good to sell because?

1, Answers on a post card please, I'm lost.

[troys] 21/4/2008 06:33

WiMax in Milton Keynes - not at that price, thank you!

Last year, I wrote a post about free Wi-Fi provision in central Milton Keynes. I wasn't very impressed (although I'd like to see the service prosper) but have to admit that I haven't tried it since. In the same post, I also mentioned that there was a WiMax trial planned for Milton Keynes and a few weeks back, after hearing nothing for over a year, I received an e-mail to tell me that it is now available in my area.

This sounded good - I have "up to 8Mbps" ADSL at home and my router tells me that I get about 7.2Mbps downstream with about 448Kbps upstream, but if I could get good upstream bandwidth too then that would be an advantage. Then I noticed two things that put me off.

Firstly, the service is provided by Connect MK - who claim to be:

"A Council company created to provide better broadband services for Milton Keynes"

WTF! Milton Keynes Council appears to me to be incapable of managing anything of any substance (of course, that is purely a personal opinion, based on my experience as a Council Tax payer). In the small town where I live (under the control of the unitary authority that is Milton Keynes Council) we have: a secondary school that opened 8 months late and £3m over budget [source: political propaganda for the upcoming local elections], with design changes that mean it stands out like a blot on our (pleasant) landscape; a backlog of road repairs; short-sighted planning decisions with councillors supporting further expansion without any of the supporting infrastructure (including the grid road system that has worked so well for the last 30 years in urban Milton Keynes); etc., etc. (my list could go on and on, but let's stop here - you get the idea). Now the same council wants to provide network infrastructure services. It's not 1 April is it? Not according to my calendar anyway.

Secondly, the price: a 1Mbps downstream/512Kbps upstream package with a 10GB download limit is advertised for £20 a month; 2Mbps down and 512Kbps up with a 20GB allowance is £25; but 2Mbps down and 1Mbps up with a 40GB allowance is a staggering £50 a month! Are they joking?

I pay around £30 for my small business ADSL service and I have no issues with bandwidth allowances (my current ISP operates a system of peak and off-peak usage, and the off-peak usage really is unlimited, with peak usage rates depending upon the tariff). If I wanted a residential service I could pay a lot less than that. For that matter, I can get HSPA mobile broadband Internet for £15 a month on an £18 month contract.

As it happens, Connect MK is a reseller for the infrastructure provided by FREEDOM4 (formerly Pipex Communications). Interestingly, despite having supplied my home address and postcode details to Pipex and Connect MK having e-mailed me to say "Great news - You can now receive a WiMAX Broadband Service", neither the current FREEDOM4 coverage map nor the coverage checker on their website indicates that I can receive the service - at this time it only seems to cover urban areas of Milton Keynes. It's not a very good indictment of Connect MK's ability to provide a reliable service when they haven't even worked out that I live 10 miles outside their coverage area.

Regardless of the network coverage, I fail to see who would even consider the Connect MK WiMax service as an alternative to ADSL or cable. At the prices quoted, I can't imagine much of Milton Keynes' population getting connected with Connect MK.

[roxeth] 20/4/2008 12:07

Thanks, spights and VeryOldBob

[roxeth] 20/4/2008 12:04

I wish i left my money under the bed

[lippe] 19/4/2008 10:41

Perfidious Dubens, your day will come.

[veryoldbob] 19/4/2008 06:53

"it was in to this wifi business and had some sort of monopoly over the technology."

The links in Spights' posts tell the story. As to a "monopoly", that's never exactly been the case. Pipex as was held a national fixed access spectrum license in the 3.6-4.2GHz range. PCCW (via UK Broadband) hold a national license for both fixed and mobile WiMAX in the 3.5GHz range. Urban WiMAX in London is using unlicensed spectrum to cover the city. In the summer, the 2.5GHz chunk of spectrum (perfect for WiMAX) will be auctioned on a tecnhology neutral basis, so whoever buys that can offer UK wide mobile WiMAX. So not exactly a monopoly, but potentially useful all the same.

The Pipex license was made over to Pipex Wireless (a joint venture (52% PXC) with Intel). Pipex Wireless subsequently rebranded to Freedom4. Freedom4 Comms is now just the parent company holding that 52% of Freedom4.

So, it's not really a monopoly and only owns just over half of the single business left in the group.

There are payments from the disposals coming in over the next year and a half, but with no other income and the potentially huge costs of setting up a network and buying licenses, you can see why the market values this as it does...

[spights] 18/4/2008 20:02

Just one other thing this was a big rip off by Dubens.They just feathered their nests and left shareholders out in the cold.