SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-Q
[X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended December 31, 1999
OR
[ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from to
Commission File No.: 1-5270
SOFTNET SYSTEMS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware 11-1817252
-------------------------------- ---------------------------------
(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
incorporation or organization)
650 Townsend Street, Suite 225, San Francisco, CA 94103
- ------------------------------------------------- --------------
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (415) 365-2500
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required
to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during
the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was
required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing
requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes X No
--- ---
Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer's classes of
common stock, as of the latest practicable date.
Class Outstanding at January 31, 2000
------------------------------- --------------------------------
Common stock, par 26,717,707
value $.01 per share
<PAGE>
SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Index
PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION Page
Item 1. Financial Statements
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 1999
and September 30, 1999 2
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 and 1998 3
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 and 1998 4
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements 5
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations 8
Item 3 Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk 14
PART II- OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1 Legal Proceedings 15
Item 2 Changes in Securities 15
Item 3 Defaults Upon Senior Securities 15
Item 4 Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders 15
Item 5 Other Information 16
Item 6 Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K 33
<PAGE>
PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
Item 1. Financial Statements
SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands, except share data)
(Unaudited)
December 31, September 30,
1999 1999
---- ----
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents....................... $ 174,351 $ 89,499
Short-term investments.......................... 76,576 52,586
Accounts receivable, net........................ 1,150 935
Notes receivable................................ - 1,000
Inventory....................................... 2,244 1,991
Other current assets............................ 2,157 1,776
---------- ----------
Total current assets............................... 256,478 147,787
Restricted cash.................................... 922 922
Property and equipment, net........................ 33,305 26,743
Acquired technology and other intangibles, net..... 32,076 24,500
Other assets....................................... 6,542 5,872
---------- ----------
$ 329,323 $ 205,824
========== ==========
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable and accrued expenses........... $ 9,212 $ 15,545
Current portion of long-term debt............... 2,916 2,084
Current portion of capital lease obligation..... 3,813 1,760
---------- ----------
Total current liabilities.......................... 15,941 19,389
Long-term debt, net of current portion............. 6,820 17,281
Capital lease obligation, net of current portion... 5,457 1,945
Business acquisition liability..................... 3,500 3,500
Commitments and contingencies
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.10 par value, 3,970,000
shares designated, no shares issued and
outstanding................................... - -
Common stock, $0.01 par value, 100,000,000
shares authorized; 26,664,358 and 17,225,523
shares issued and outstanding, respectively... 235 172
Additional paid in capital...................... 475,533 327,445
Deferred stock compensation..................... (57,025) (63,346)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss............ (273) (315)
Accumulated deficit............................. (120,865) (100,247)
----------- ----------
Total stockholders' equity......................... 297,605 163,709
---------- ----------
$ 329,323 $ 205,824
========== ==========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these
condensed consolidated financial statements.
<PAGE>
SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share data)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended December 31,
1999 1998
---- ----
Net sales......................................... $ 1,276 $ 444
Cost of sales..................................... 1,510 407
---------- ---------
Gross profit (loss)............................ (234) 37
---------- ---------
Operating expenses:
Selling and marketing (exclusive of
non-cash compensation expense of
$1,388 for 1999 and no expense
for 1998).................................... 5,546 2,008
Engineering (exclusive of non-cash
compensation expense of $891 for
1999 and no expense for 1998)................ 4,121 739
General and administrative (exclusive
of non-cash compensation expense
of $3,885 for 1999 and $32 for 1998)......... 3,350 1,864
Depreciation................................... 1,915 399
Amortization................................... 1,055 711
Compensation related to stock options.......... 6,164 32
---------- ---------
Total operating expenses.......................... 22,151 5,753
---------- ---------
Loss from continuing operations before
other income (expense), income taxes
and discontinued operations, net of tax........ (22,385) (5,716)
Other income (expense):
Interest expense............................... (366) (519)
Interest income................................ 2,142 153
Other expense, net............................. (9) (3)
---------- ---------
Loss from continuing operations before
income taxes and discontinued
operations, net of tax......................... (20,618) (6,085)
Provision for income taxes........................ - -
---------- ---------
Loss from continuing operations................... (20,618) (6,085)
Loss from discontinued
operations, net of tax......................... - (138)
---------- ---------
Net loss.......................................... (20,618) (6,223)
Preferred dividends............................... - (243)
---------- ---------
Net loss applicable to common shares.............. $ (20,618) $ (6,466)
========== =========
Basic and diluted loss per common share:
Loss from continuing operations................ $ (1.08) $ (0.72)
Loss from discontinued operations.............. - (0.02)
Preferred dividends............................ - (0.03)
-----------------------
Net loss applicable to common shares........... $ (1.08) $ (0.77)
========== =========
Shares used to compute basic and diluted
loss per common share.......................... 19,164 8,374
========== =========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these
condensed consolidated financial statements.
<PAGE>
SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)
Three Months Ended December 31,
1999 1998
------------ ----------
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss........................................ $ (20,618) $ (6,223)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to
net cash used in operating activities:
Loss from discontinued operations............. - 137
Depreciation and amortization................. 2,970 1,110
Amortization of deferred stock
compensation................................ 6,164 32
Amortization of deferred debt
issuance costs.............................. 37 -
Interest paid with additional
convertible notes........................... 69 -
Provision for doubtful accounts............... 67 50
Provision for inventory losses................ 25 -
Changes in operating assets and
liabilities (net of effect of
acquisitions and
discontinued operations):
Increase in accounts
receivable, net......................... (282) (200)
Increase in inventory..................... (278) (173)
Increase in other current assets.......... (381) (824)
Increase (decrease) in accounts
payable and accrued expenses............ (6,332) 1,349
------------ ----------
Net cash used in operating activities of
continuing operations.......................... (18,559) (4,742)
----------- ----------
Net cash provided by operating activities
of discontinued operations..................... - 652
----------- ----------
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchase of short-term investments.............. (23,948) -
Purchase of property and equipment.............. (2,298) (3,114)
Payment received on note receivable............. 1,000 -
Acquired technology and other
intangibles................................... (100) -
Other assets.................................... (3,404) (100)
----------- ----------
Net cash used in investing activities of
continuing operations.......................... (28,750) (3,214)
----------- ----------
Net cash provided by investing activities
of discontinued operations..................... - 18
----------- ----------
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of long-term
debt, net of deferred financing costs......... 3,218 -
Borrowings under revolving
credit facility............................... - 8,697
Payments under revolving
credit facility............................... - (9,030)
Additional costs of issuance of
redeemable convertible preferred stock........ - (54)
Proceeds from sale of common stock,
net of selling costs.......................... 128,750 -
Proceeds from exercise of warrants.............. 280 190
Proceeds from exercise of options............... 826 -
Principal payments of long-term debt............ (298) (45)
Principal payments of capital
lease obligations............................. (615) (240)
----------- ----------
Net cash provided by (used in) financing
activities of continuing operations............ 132,161 (482)
----------- -----------
Net cash used in financing activities of
discontinued operations........................ - (407)
----------- ----------
Net increase (decrease) in cash and
cash equivalents............................... 84,852 (8,175)
Cash and cash equivalents,
beginning of period............................ 89,499 12,504
----------- ----------
Cash and cash equivalents,
end of period.................................. $ 174,351 $ 4,329
=========== ==========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these
condensed consolidated financial statements.
<PAGE>
SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
1. Basis of Presentation
The financial information included herein is unaudited; however, such
information reflects all adjustments (consisting solely of normal recurring
adjustments) which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair
presentation of the condensed consolidated statements of financial position,
results of operations and cash flows as of and for the interim periods ended
December 31, 1999 and 1998.
SoftNet Systems, Inc.'s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
September 30, 1999, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, should
be read in conjunction with the accompanying condensed consolidated financial
statements. The condensed consolidated balance sheet as of September 30, 1999
was derived from SoftNet Systems, Inc. and Subsidiaries (the "Company") audited
consolidated financial statements.
The results of operations for the three months ended December 31, 1999 are based
in part on estimates that may be subject to year-end adjustments and are not
necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year.
The condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended
December 31, 1998 have been restated for the effects of the discontinued
operations of the document management segment.
2. Notes Receivable
During November 1999, Convergent Communications Services, Inc. paid the Second
Convergent Note in the amount of $1,000,000.
3. Long-Term Debt and Debt Issuance Costs
On October 22, 1999, all of the 9% Senior Subordinated Convertible Notes,
related interest notes resulting from the Secondary Offering and accrued
interest, net of unamortized debt issuance costs of $2,732,000, were converted
into 765,201 shares of the Company's common stock valued at $9,886,000.
On December 30, 1999, the Company issued a promissory note to Finova Capital
Corporation for $3,218,000. The promissory note bears interest at 15.26%, and is
payable in 36 monthly installments of $110,000, consisting of principal and
interest, with the final payment due November 30, 2002.
Long-term debt is summarized as follows (in thousands):
December 31, September 30,
1999 1999
---- ----
Senior subordinated convertible notes $ - $ 12,549
Convertible subordinated debentures 3,461 $ 3,461
Promissory notes 6,114 3,194
Other 161 161
-------------- --------------
9,736 19,365
Less current portion (2,916) (2,084)
-------------- --------------
$ 6,820 $ 17,281
============== ==============
4. Common Stock
On November 4, 1999, the Company entered into various definitive agreements with
Mediacom LLC ("Mediacom"). Under the terms of the Affiliate Agreement, Mediacom
agrees to use the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, ISP Channel, Inc. ("ISP
Channel"), as the exclusive provider of Internet access to customers passed by
Mediacom's cable television systems for 10 years, with an option for Mediacom to
terminate the Affiliate Agreement at 5 years. In exchange for the signing of the
Affiliate Agreement by Mediacom, the Company issued a total of 3,500,000 common
stock shares, consisting of 350,000 unrestricted common stock shares and
3,150,000 restricted common stock shares. The conversion of the 3,150,000
restricted common stock shares to unrestricted common stock shares is contingent
upon Mediacom fulfilling the requirements of the Stockholder Agreement. Under
the terms of the Stockholder Agreement, Mediacom is required to deliver 900,000
two-way capable homes passed in groups of at least 150,000 homes every 6 months
commencing May 4, 2000, and upon delivery of each group of 150,000 homes passed,
525,000 restricted common stock shares become unrestricted. In the event
Mediacom fails to make available for ISP Channel services the 150,000 homes
passed within one year of any applicable delivery date, then Mediacom is
required to return 525,000 restricted common stock shares to the Company. In the
<PAGE>
event Mediacom delivers more than 900,000 two-way capable homes passed, the
Stock Purchase Agreement requires the Company to issue additional common stock
shares based on the calculation used for the original 900,000 two-way capable
homes passed. Additionally, Mediacom gained the right to nominate one member to
the Company's board of directors. The cable affiliate launch incentive resulting
from the issuance of the 350,000 unrestricted common stock shares on November 4,
1999 is valued at $8,531,000, and is being amortized on a straight-line basis
over the five year minimum life of the Affiliation Agreement. No value has been
assigned to the 3,150,000 restricted common stock shares due to the requirement
for Mediacom to earn the shares by delivering 900,000 two-way capable homes
passed in groups of at least 150,000 homes every 6 months commencing May 4,
2000. The 3,150,000 restricted common stock shares will be valued and recorded
as cable affiliate launch incentive upon conversion to unrestricted common stock
shares. Additionally, upon conversion of restricted common stock shares to
unrestricted common stock shares, the cable launch incentive will be amortized
on a straight-line basis over the remaining minimum life of the Affiliation
Agreement.
On October 12, 1999, the Company entered into memorandum of understanding with
Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("Pacific Century") to form a joint venture,
Pacific Century SoftNet, to market products and services to cable operators in
50 countries throughout Asia. On December 13, 1999 in conjunction with this
joint venture, the Company completed a private placement of 5,000,000 common
stock shares for $128,750,000 to Pacific Century, and entitled Pacific Century
to designate two persons for election to the Board of Directors. The Company is
in the process of drafting definitive agreements and establishing the strategy,
business plan and operational processes of this joint venture. As of December
31, 1999, the $128,750,000 is reflected in cash and cash equivalents.
5. Supplemental Cash Flow Information
The supplemental cash flow information is as follows (in thousands):
Three Months
Ended December 31,
1999 1998
-------- --------
Cash paid during the period for:
Interest............................................ $ 349 $ 246
Income taxes........................................ - -
Non-cash investing and financing activities:
Common stock issued for-
Conversion of redeemable convertible
preferred stock................................ - 2,600
Conversion of subordinated notes.................. 9,886 -
Value assigned to intangible assets
in connection with common stock issued
for cable affiliate launch incentives............. 8,531 -
Value assigned to conversion feature of new debt.... 35 -
Equipment acquired by capital lease................. 6,179 717
Deferred compensation associated with the
issuance of common stock options.................. 157 146
Preferred dividends paid with the issuance of -
Additional redeemable convertible preferred stock. - 221
Common stock...................................... - 22
Unrealized loss on short-term investments........... 42 -
<PAGE>
6. Segment Information
The Company operates principally in two business segments: (i) cable-based
Internet services through its wholly owned subsidiary, ISP Channel and (ii)
satellite-based Internet services through its wholly owned subsidiary,
Intelligent Communications, Inc. ("Intellicom"). The Company entered the
Internet business in June 1996 with the purchase of the Internet services
business and only began offering cable-based Internet services in the fourth
quarter of fiscal 1997. In February 1999, the Company completed the purchase of
Intellicom and its operating results are included since it was acquired. Segment
information for continuing operations as of and for the three months ended
December 31, is as follows (in thousands):
Three Months Ended December 31,
1999 1998
----------- ---------
Net Sales:
Internet Services - cable based.............. $ 958 $ 444
Internet Services - satellite based.......... 318 -
----------- ---------
$ 1,276 $ 444
=========== =========
Loss from continuing operations
before income taxes and discontinued
operations, net of tax:
Internet Services - cable based.............. $ (11,078) $ (4,335)
Internet Services - satellite based.......... (2,268) -
Corporate.................................... (2,875) (1,349)
Compensations expense related to
stock options............................. (6,164) (32)
Other........................................ 1,767 (369)
----------- ---------
$ (20,618) $ (6,085)
=========== =========
7. Subsequent Events
On February 8, 2000, the Company entered into an agreement to purchase Laptop
Lane, Ltd. for 1,000,000 common stock shares and the assumption of $3.5 million
in debt. Additionally, in connection with acquisition, the Company has agreed to
provide up to $6,500,000 in working capital to Laptop Lane, Ltd. under a secured
promissory note prior to the close of the transaction. As of February 10, 2000,
the Company has funded $4,000,000 of this working capital.
In connection with the Company's proposed purchase of Laptop Lane, Ltd., the
Company announced on February 9, 2000 that it, together with CMGI, Inc. and
Compaq Computer Corporation, will provide equity funding and services to a new
initiative called SoftNet Zone, contingent on completing the Laptop Lane, Ltd.
acquisition and other customary closing conditions. In addition to its
contribution of funding and services, the Company also announced that it plans
to contribute its interest in Laptop Lane, Ltd. to this new venture. It is the
Company's intention to maintain a majority interest in SoftNet Zone. The
proposed strategy of SoftNet Zone is to offer mobile computing and Internet
services, both wired and wireless, to global business travelers.
<PAGE>
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results
of Operations
This Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. The actual results of SoftNet Systems, Inc. and its subsidiaries
could differ significantly from those set forth herein. Factors that could cause
or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those
discussed in "Factors Affecting the Company's Operating Results" as set forth in
the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 1999,
as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and "Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" as
well as those discussed elsewhere in this quarterly report. Statements contained
herein that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that are
subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Words such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "intends" and
similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, but are
not the exclusive means of identifying such statements. A number of important
factors could cause our actual results for fiscal 2000 and beyond to differ
materially from past results and those expressed or implied in any
forward-looking statements made by us, or on our behalf. We undertake no
obligation to release publicly the results of any revisions to these
forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances
after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
The following discussion of the financial condition and results of operations of
the Company should be read in conjunction with, and is qualified in its entirety
by reference to, the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company and the
related Notes thereto appearing in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended September 30, 1999, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
and our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and related Notes thereto
appearing elsewhere in this quarterly report. The Company's fiscal year ends on
September 30 of each year and the first quarter of the fiscal year ends December
31. "Fiscal 2000" refers to the twelve months ended September 30, 2000 with
comparable references for other twelve month periods ending September 30.
Overview
The Company currently operates through two subsidiaries. The first, ISP Channel,
Inc. ("ISP Channel") is a leading provider of high speed Internet access over
cable to both residential and commercial customers while the second, Intelligent
Communications, Inc. ("Intellicom"), provides two-way broadband satellite
connectivity utilizing very small aperture terminal ("VSAT") technology to a
wide variety of business customers, the majority of whom are rural Internet
service providers ("ISPs"), which use Intellicom's service to connect from
remote points of presence, through Intellicom's network operations center in
Livermore, California, to the Internet. ISP Channel is currently one of
Intellicom's larger customers and, as of December 31, 1999, 34 of the 73 systems
deployed by ISP Channel, utilized Intellicom's service in preference to
terrestrial lines such as T1s.
The revenue for ISP Channel comprises (i) monthly access fees received from
cable modem customers, (ii) one-off installation charges, (iii) revenue from
cable modem rental and sales, and (iv) revenue generated by traditional dial-up
ISP services and business services. Revenue generated through the cable modem
business is generally split equally with the cable operator (though ISP Channel
usually takes a higher split for the first 200 customers on any given system)
and is reported in our financial statements net of the portion paid to the cable
operator.
The revenue for Intellicom comprises (i) monthly fees paid by users of the
satellite service on a per VSAT basis, (ii) VSAT-related equipment sales, (iii)
revenue from sub-leasing of excess satellite transponder space and (iv) data
center processing fees. The last category represents legacy business that
Intellicom exited from on September 30, 1999, to focus on its core business of
providing high-speed Internet access using two-way satellite technology. While
Intellicom receives revenue from ISP Channel in return for satellite services,
such revenue is not reported as it is eliminated in the consolidated financial
statements.
Cost of sales is reported as a single line item and primarily consists of the
cost of connectivity for both ISP Channel and Intellicom. Within ISP Channel,
these costs include the links between the cable headends where it has systems
deployed and a central office of the public switched telephone network, links
between the central office and ISP Channel's network operations center in
Mountain View and, in the case of one-way cable systems where the return path
from the customer to the cable headend is through a dial-up connection, the cost
of telephone lines into the headend. It is ISP Channel's intention to minimize
further deployments of one-way systems, however, due to the higher cost to the
Company in providing such service and the fact that the customer offering is
substantially less compelling than in a two-way system. Intellicom's principal
cost of sales comprises satellite transponder fees. Currently, the Company has
transponder space on two satellites, GE-3 and SatMex 5, both of which provide
coverage over the continental United States and beyond.
<PAGE>
The Company reports operating expenses in several categories: (i) selling and
marketing, includes, in addition to the costs of selling and marketing the
Company's services to end users, customer care, content production, and cable
partnering costs; (ii) engineering, which includes the costs of maintaining and
manning the network operations center, field engineering and information
technology; and (iii) general and administrative costs. Also included in
operating expenses is depreciation and amortization. Amortization primarily
comprises the write off of the cost of launch incentives, which are paid to
cable operators, usually in the form of stock in the Company, as an enticement
to enter into long-term contracts with the Company. These payments are amortized
over the life of the contract between the cable operator and the Company.
Compensation expense primarily relates to stock options granted between October
1998 and March 1999. Although these options were granted at the then fair market
value of the Company's common stock at the time of grant, the stockholders of
the Company did not formally approve the underlying option plan until April 13,
1999, the date of the Company's annual meeting. Under APB 25, the Company must
recognize as a charge the difference between these various grant prices and
$59.875, the closing price on the date of stockholder approval of the stock
option plan. This charge, totaling approximately $79 million, will be recognized
as a non-cash charge amortized over a vesting period of approximately four
years.
Results of Operations for the Three Months Ended December 31, 1999 compared to
the Three Months Ended December 31, 1998
The condensed consolidated financial statements for the three months ended
December 31, 1998 have been restated for the effects of the discontinued
operations of the document management segment.
Net Sales. Consolidated net sales increased $832,000, or 187%, to $1,276,000 for
the three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $444,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1998. Net sales for ISP Channel increased $514,000, or
116%, to $958,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to
$444,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998, as a result of signing up
new cable affiliates and obtaining new subscribers. Net sales associated with
ISP Channel's subscriber fees increased $355,000, or 198%, to $534,000 for the
three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $179,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1998. Net sales associated with the installation of
cable modems to ISP Channel subscribers increased $135,000 to $226,000 for the
three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $91,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1998. The Company believes that subscriber fee and
cable modem installation revenues will continue to increase as ISP Channel
continues to rollout its business plan. Net sales associated with the segment's
non-cable based dial-up and business-to-business Internet access offerings
increased $24,000 to $198,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999, as
compared to $174,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998.
In addition to the net sales of ISP Channel, the Company's consolidated net
sales for the three months ended December 31, 1999 now include the results of
Intellicom, which the Company acquired on February 9, 1999. Intellicom's net
sales for the three months ended December 31, 1999, was $318,000. Of this total,
$207,000 represents net sales from Intellicom's core business of satellite-based
Internet services. The remaining $111,000 represents other sources of revenue,
which includes $59,000 from the sale and installation of VSAT related equipment.
Cost of Sales. Consolidated cost of sales increased $1,103,000, or 270%, to
$1,510,000 for the three months ended December 3l, 1999, as compared to $407,000
for the three months ended December 31, 1998. Cost of sales for ISP Channel
increased $465,000, or 114%, to $872,000 for the three months ended December 31,
1999, as compared to $407,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998, as a
result of the corresponding growth in net sales. The single largest component of
ISP Channel's cost of sales are telephony costs, which amounted to $935,000 for
the three months ended December 31, 1999 as compared to $330,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1998. The Company believes that these costs will
remain the same or decrease as a percentage of total net sales as ISP Channel
expects to realize some degree of cost savings in its telephony charges due to
the replacement of expensive T1 lines in certain areas with Intellicom's
satellite-based technology, which has a lower cost basis in most cases.
In addition to the cost of sales of ISP Channel, the Company's consolidated cost
of sales for the three months ended December 31, 1999 now include the results of
Intellicom, which the Company acquired on February 9, 1999. Intellicom's cost of
sales for the three months ended December 31, 1999 was $638,000. The single
largest component of Intellicom's cost of sales are the transponder fees that it
pays for leased satellite capacity, which amounted to $509,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1999. The Company believes that these costs will
increase as Intellicom has plans to lease segment space on additional satellites
in the future in anticipation of a more aggressive roll-out of Intellicom's
business plan.
Selling and Marketing. Consolidated selling and marketing expenses (exclusive of
non-cash compensation expense of $1,388,000 for 1999 and no expense for 1998)
increased $3,538,000 to $5,546,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999,
<PAGE>
as compared to $2,008,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998. Selling
and marketing expenses for ISP Channel increased $3,052,000 to $5,060,000 for
the three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $2,008,000 for the
three months ended December 31, 1998. The significant growth in ISP Channel's
selling and marketing expense is a result of the significant hiring that the
Company has done to properly staff these departments. In addition, ISP Channel
launched numerous national and regional marketing campaigns in an effort to add
subscribers, as well as to attract new cable affiliates. The Company believes
that these costs will continue to increase as ISP Channel continues to develop
its business and enhance its sales efforts with recurring nationwide marketing
campaigns.
In addition to the selling and marketing expenses of ISP Channel, the Company's
consolidated selling and marketing expenses for the three months ended December
31, 1999 now include the results of Intellicom, which the Company acquired on
February 9, 1999. Intellicom's selling and marketing expenses for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 were $486,000. The Company believes that these
costs will increase as Intellicom begins to staff these functions in
anticipation of rolling out its business plan to generate new customers.
Engineering. Consolidated engineering expenses (exclusive of non-cash
compensation expense of $891,000 for 1999 and no expense for 1998) increased
$3,382,000, or 458%, to $4,121,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999,
as compared to $739,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998.
Engineering expenses for ISP Channel increased $2,855,000, or 386%, to
$3,594,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $739,000
for the three months ended December 31, 1998. The growth in ISP Channel's
engineering expense is largely a result of round-the-clock staffing of the
Company's Network Operating Center and the introduction of field engineering
services. The Company believes that these costs will continue to increase as ISP
Channel continues to develop its business.
In addition to the engineering expenses of ISP Channel, the Company's
consolidated engineering expenses for the three months ended December 31, 1999
now include the results of Intellicom, which the Company acquired on February 9,
1999. Intellicom's engineering expenses for the three months ended December 31,
1999 was $527,000. The Company believes that these costs will increase as
Intellicom begins to staff these functions in anticipation of rolling out its
business plan to generate new customers.
General and Administrative. Consolidated general and administrative expenses
(exclusive of non-cash compensation expense of $3,885,000 for 1999 and $32,000
for 1998) increased $1,486,000, or 80%, to $3,350,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 1999, as compared to $1,864,000 for the three months ended December
31, 1998. The Company's corporate and ISP Channel general and administrative
expenses increased $1,213,000, or 65%, to $3,077,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 1999, as compared to $1,864,000 for the three months ended December
31, 1998. The growth in the Company's corporate and ISP Channel general and
administrative expenses are a result of the hiring that the Company has done to
properly staff the Company's administrative, executive and finance departments
as the Company continues to grow. The Company believes that these costs will
continue to increase as a result of the continued expansion of the Company's
administrative staff and facilities to support growing operations.
In addition to the general and administrative expenses of ISP Channel and the
Company's corporate operations, the Company's consolidated general and
administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 1999 now include
the results of Intellicom, which the Company acquired on February 9, 1999.
Intellicom's general and administrative expenses for the three months ended
December 31, 1999 was $273,000. The Company believes that these costs will
increase as Intellicom begins to staff these functions to support growing
operations.
Depreciation and Amortization. Consolidated depreciation and amortization
expenses increased $1,860,000, or 168%, to $2,970,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 1999, as compared to $1,110,000 for the three months ended December
31, 1998. Depreciation and amortization for ISP Channel and corporate increased
$1,199,000, or 108%, to $2,309,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999,
as compared to $1,110,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1998 as a
result of increased depreciation on expanded property, plant and equipment as
well as amortization of costs associated with ISP Channel's Cable Affiliates
Incentive Program. The Company believes that these expenses will increase as the
Company continues to expand the Company's facilities and continues to offer
additional incentives to acquire new cable affiliates. In particular, the
Company expects the amortization of the intangible asset associated with ISP
Channel's Cable Affiliates Incentive Program to increase significantly as a
result of the agreement with Mediacom and other new cable affiliates.
Additionally, the Company believes depreciation expense will continue to
increase as additional headends and cable modems are deployed.
In addition to the depreciation and amortization expenses of ISP Channel and the
Company's corporate operations, the Company's consolidated depreciation and
amortization expenses for the three months ended December 31, 1999 now include
the results of Intellicom, which the Company acquired on February 9, 1999.
Intellicom's depreciation and amortization expenses for the three months ended
<PAGE>
December 31, 1999 was $661,000, of which $574,000 represents amortization of
acquired technology, the intangible asset created by the acquisition of
Intellicom. The Company believes that depreciation will increase as Intellicom
continues to expand its facilities, while amortization is expected to remain the
same.
Compensation Expense Related to Stock Options. For the three months ended
December 31, 1999, the Company recognized a non-cash compensation expense
related to stock options of $6,164,000, of which $5,764,000 related to employee
stock options and $400,000 to non-employees. Generally accepted accounting
principles require that options issued to non-employees be "marked-to-market"
until such time as the options have been earned. Therefore, the Company expects
this amount to either increase or decrease based on the fluctuations in the
trading price of the Company's common stock. The amount related to employee
stock options is also expected to increase in future periods as a result of the
Company starting to incur this expense in April 1999.
Interest Expense. Consolidated interest expense decreased $153,000, or 29%, to
$366,000 for the three months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $519,000
for the three months ended December 31, 1998. This decrease is primarily due to
the reduction of interest expense resulting from the conversion of the 9% senior
subordinated convertible notes, related interest notes resulting from the
Secondary Offering and accrued interest into 765,201 shares of the Company's
common stock offset by increased interest expense resulting from increased lease
financing associated with the capital expansion needs of ISP Channel.
Interest Income. Consolidated interest income was $2,142,000 for the three
months ended December 31, 1999, as compared to $153,000 for the three months
ended December 31, 1998. This increase was primarily due to the increased cash
and cash equivalent balances from the proceeds of the Secondary Offering and the
sale of 5,000,000 common stock shares for $128,750,000 to Pacific Century
CyberWorks Limited on December 13, 1999.
Other Income (Expense). Other expense was $9,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 1999, as compared to $3,000 for the three months ended December 31,
1998.
Income Taxes. The Company made no provision for income taxes for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 and the three months ended December 31, 1998, as
a result of the Company's continuing losses.
Loss from Discontinued Operations. The Company recognized a net loss of $138,000
for the three months ended December 31, 1998. This consisted of a net loss from
the Company's document management segment of $277,000 and net income from the
Company's telecommunications segment of $139,000 for the three months ended
December 31, 1998. There is no income from discontinued operations for the three
months ended December 31, 1999, due to the sale of substantially all of the
assets of the Company's telecommunications segment, Kansas Communications, Inc.,
on February 12, 1999 and the sale of the Company's document management segment,
Micrographic Technology Corporation, on September 30, 1999.
Preferred Dividends. The Company paid aggregate dividends of $243,000 during the
three months ended December 31, 1998 on its outstanding 5% Redeemable
Convertible Preferred Stock.
Net Loss. For the three months ended December 31, 1999, the Company had a net
loss applicable to common shares of $20,618,000, or a loss per share of $1.08,
compared to a net loss of $6,466,000 for the three months ended December 31,
1998, or a loss per share of $0.77.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Since September 1998, the Company has funded the significant negative cash flows
from its operating activities and the associated capital expenditures through a
combination of public and private equity sales, convertible debt issues and
equipment leases. On October 12, 1999, the Company entered into memorandum of
understanding with Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("Pacific Century") to
form a joint venture, Pacific Century SoftNet, to market products and services
to cable operators in 50 countries throughout Asia. On December 13, 1999 in
conjunction with this joint venture, the Company completed a private placement
of 5,000,000 common stock shares for $128,750,000 to Pacific Century, and
entitled Pacific Century to designate two persons for election to the Board of
Directors. To date, the Company has procured an aggregate of $25.7 million in
capital lease lines and credit facilities from various equipment vendors and
financial sources, of which, approximately $7.5 million remains unutilized. As
of December 31, 1999, the Company had $250,927,000 in cash, cash equivalents and
short-term investments compared with $4,329,000 one year prior.
Net cash used in operating activities of continuing operations for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 was $18,559,000. Of this amount, approximately
$20,618,000 million stemmed from the Company's net loss from continuing
operations as reduced by approximately $9,332,000, for non-cash charges,
primarily depreciation ($1,915,000), amortization ($1,055,000) and compensation
<PAGE>
expense related to stock options ($6,164,000). This was offset in part by
approximately $7,273,000, which was generated from an increase in operating
assets and decrease in operating liabilities.
Net cash used in investing activities of continuing operations for the three
months ended December 31, 1999 was approximately $28,750,000. Of this amount,
$23,948,000 was used to purchase net short-term investments and $2,298,000 was
used to purchase property, plant and equipment. Gross purchases of property,
plant and equipment amounted to $8,477,000, the difference being funded through
capital lease lines and credit facilities from various equipment vendors and
financial sources.
Net cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended December
31, 1999 was $132,161,000 primarily through the private placement sale of
5,000,000 common stock shares to Pacific Century Cyberworks Limited for
$128,750,000, and issuance of promissory note for $3,218,000.
The Company believes it has sufficient cash and unutilized lease facilities to
meet its presently anticipated business requirements over the next twelve months
including the funding of net operating losses, working capital requirements,
capital investments and strategic investments.
Year 2000 Issues
Many computer programs have been written using two digits rather than four to
define the applicable year. This poses a problem at the end of the century
because such computer programs would not properly recognize a year that begins
with "20" instead of "19". This, in turn, could result in major system failures
or miscalculations that could disrupt the Company's business. The Company has
formulated a year 2000 ("Y2K") plan (the "Y2K Plan") to address the Company's
Y2K issues and have created a Y2K Task Force headed by the Director of
Information Systems and Data Services to implement the plan. The Company's Y2K
Plan has six phases:
1. Organizational Awareness: educate the Company's employees, senior
management, and the board of directors about the Y2K issue.
2. Inventory: complete inventory of internal business systems and their
relative priority to continuing business operations. In addition, this
phase includes a complete inventory of products and services, critical
vendors, suppliers and services providers and their Y2K compliance status.
3. Assessment: assessment of internal business systems and external customers
(including cable affiliates), critical vendors, suppliers and service
providers and their Y2K compliance status.
4. Planning: preparing the individual project plans and project teams and
other required internal and external resources to implement the required
solutions for Y2K compliance.
5. Execution: implementation of the solutions and fixes.
6. Validation: testing the solutions for Y2K compliance.
The Company's Y2K Plan will apply to two areas:
1. Internal business systems
2. Compliance by external customers and providers
During the course of addressing all Y2K issues, the Company also added
remediation and contingency planning processes.
Internal Business Systems
The Company's internal business systems and workstation business applications
will be a primary area of focus. The Company is in completing the implementation
of new enterprise-wide business solutions to replace existing manual processes
and/or "home grown" applications during 1999. These solutions are represented by
their vendors as being fully Y2K compliant. The Company has few, if any,
"legacy" applications that needed to be evaluated for Y2K compliance.
The Company completed all phases for substantially all critical internal
business systems. The Company believes it was Y2K compliant on all critical
internal business systems by December 31, 1999. But in any event, the Company
will have contingency plans in place to continue critical business operations
should some part of the internal business systems fail.
Some non-critical systems may not be addressed until after March 2000. However,
the Company believes such systems will not cause significant disruptions in the
Company's operations.
Compliance by External Customers and Providers
The Company has substantially completed the inventory phase and are in the final
stages of the assessment phase with the Company's critical suppliers, service
<PAGE>
providers and contractors to determine the extent to which the interface systems
are susceptible to those third parties' failure to remedy their own Y2K issues.
To the extent that responses to Y2K readiness responses have been
unsatisfactory, the Company is working with these parties to remediate the
issues.
The Company has been in discussions with the Company's cable affiliates with
regard to the status of their Y2K readiness. Cable affiliates representing over
50% of our cable based Internet customers have provided written or verbal
assurances of their Y2K readiness. However, there can be no guarantee that the
Y2K compliance efforts of any of the Company's cable affiliates will be fully
successful.
Risks Associated with Y2K
The Company believes a major risk associated with the Y2K issue is the ability
of the Company's key business partners and vendors to resolve their own Y2K
issues. The Company has spent a great deal of time over the past several months
working closely with suppliers and vendors to assure their compliance. However,
should any problems occur the Company may lose significant revenue and incur
unanticipated expenses to remedy the problem and such problems could divert
management's time and attention, any of which could have a material effect on
the Company's business, results of operation and financial condition.
To the extent any of our cable affiliates experience Y2K failures, the Company's
Internet service customers could experience an interruption or total or partial
failure of service. Should this occur, the Company could lose significant
revenue as a direct result of the Y2K failure or indirectly due to the loss of
customers, either of which could have material effect on the Company's business
results of operations and financial condition.
Costs to Address Y2K issues
Because the Company is implementing new enterprise-wide business solutions to
replace existing manual processes and/or "home grown" applications, there will
be little, if any, Y2K changes required to existing business applications. All
of the new business applications implemented (or in the process of being
implemented in 1999) are represented as being Y2K compliant.
The Company does not separately track the internal costs incurred for the Y2K
project, which costs are principally related to payroll costs for the Company's
information systems staff. The external costs, primarily consultants, has been
approximately $300,000 through December 31, 1999 and it is estimated that the
Company will spend an additional $50,000 on its remediation and contingency
plans.
Contingency Plan
The Company has formulated a contingency plan, which includes maintaining
staffing during the most critical times during which the Company might
experience Y2K failures. In addition, the Company will have field personnel on
standby to assist cable affiliates and VSAT customers should assistance be
required if the interface systems fail. However, the Company's contingency plan
cannot address problems should its cable affiliates fail to be Y2K compliant.
Summary
There can be no assurance, that the systems of the Company's customers, other
companies or government entities, on which the Company rely for supplies, cash
payments, and future business, will be timely converted, or that a failure to
convert by the Company's customers, other companies or government entities,
would not have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position or
results of operations. Further, if, due to Y2K issues, third-party suppliers,
service providers and contractors fail to provide the Company with components,
materials, or services which are necessary to deliver the Company's service and
product offerings, with sufficient electrical power and transportation
infrastructure to deliver the Company's service and product offerings, then any
such failure could have a material adverse effect on the Company's ability to
conduct business, as well as the Company's financial position and results of
operations.
The Company is continuing to seek verification from the Company's cable
affiliates, critical suppliers, service providers and contractors that they are
Y2K compliant. To the extent that any of these business partners fail to be Y2K
compliant, it may have a significant impact on the Company's business. Should
the Company's Internet service customers or VSAT customers fail to be Y2K
compliant, it may have a significant impact on the Company's revenues. The
Company's inability to correct a significant Y2K problem, if one exists, could
result in an interruption in or a failure of, certain of the Company's normal
business activities and operations. In addition, a significant Y2K problem
concerning the Company's cable modem Internet services or the Company's VSAT
services could cause the Company's users to consider seeking alternate providers
of Internet services. Any significant Y2K problem could require the Company to
incur significant unanticipated expenses to remedy the problem and could divert
management's time and attention, either of which could have a material effect on
the Company's business, results of operation and financial condition.
<PAGE>
Item 3. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk
Interest Rate Risk
The Company's exposure to market risk for changes in interest rates relates
primarily to the increase or decrease in the amount of interest income the
Company can earn on its investment portfolio and on the increase or decrease in
the amount of interest expense the Company must pay with respect to its various
outstanding debt instruments. The risk associated with fluctuating interest
expense is limited, however, to the exposure related to those debt instruments
and credit facilities, which are tied to market rates. The Company does not use
derivative financial instruments in its investment portfolio. The Company
ensures the safety and preservation of its invested principal funds by limiting
default risks, market risk and reinvestment risk. The Company mitigates default
risk by investing in safe and high-credit quality securities.
We had short-term investments of $76,576,000 at December 31, 1999. These
short-term investments consist of highly liquid investments with original
maturities at the date of purchase of between three and eighteen months. These
investments are subject to interest rate risk and will fall in value if market
interest rates increase. The Company believes a hypothetical increase in market
interest rates by 10 percent from levels at December 31, 1999 would cause the
fair value of these short-term investments to fall by an immaterial amount.
Since we are not required to sell these investments before maturity, we have the
ability to avoid realizing losses on these investments due to a sudden change in
market interest rates. On the other hand, declines in the interest rates over
time will reduce our interest income.
We had outstanding convertible debt instruments of approximately $3,461,000 at
December 31, 1999. These instruments have fixed interest rates ranging from 5.0%
to 9.0%. Because the interest rates of these instruments are fixed, a
hypothetical 10 percent decrease in interest rates will not have a material
effect on us. Increases in interest rates, however, increase the interest
expense associated with future borrowing by us, if any. We do not hedge against
interest rate fluctuations.
Equity Price Risk
We own 24,925 shares of common stock of Convergent Communications, Inc. These
shares were obtained as partial consideration with respect to the sale of our
wholly owned subsidiary, Kansas Communications, Inc. At December 31, 1999, the
closing price of Convergent Communications, Inc.'s common stock was $15.875, as
listed on the NASDAQ National Market. As a result, we valued this investment on
our balance sheet at December 31, 1999 at its market value of $396,000.
Unrealized gains and losses are excluded from earnings and are reported in the
"Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income" component of stockholders' equity. We
do not hedge against equity price changes.
<PAGE>
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
The Company has no material pending litigation
Item 2. Changes in Securities
On November 4, 1999, the Company entered into various definitive agreements with
Mediacom LLC ("Mediacom"). Under the terms of the Affiliate Agreement, Mediacom
agrees to use the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, ISP Channel, Inc. ("ISP
Channel"), as the exclusive provider of Internet access to customers passed by
Mediacom's cable television systems for 10 years, with an option for Mediacom to
terminate the Affiliate Agreement at 5 years. In exchange for the signing of the
Affiliate Agreement by Mediacom, the Company issued a total of 3,500,000 common
stock shares, consisting of 350,000 unrestricted common stock shares and
3,150,000 restricted common stock shares. The conversion of the 3,150,000
restricted common stock shares to unrestricted common stock shares is contingent
upon Mediacom fulfilling the requirements of the Stockholder Agreement. Under
the terms of the Stockholder Agreement, Mediacom is required to deliver 900,000
two-way capable homes passed in groups of at least 150,000 homes every 6 months
commencing May 4, 2000, and upon delivery of each group of 150,000 homes passed,
525,000 restricted common stock shares become unrestricted. In the event
Mediacom fails to make available for ISP Channel services the 150,000 homes
passed within one year of any applicable delivery date, then Mediacom is
required to return 525,000 restricted common stock shares to the Company. In the
event Mediacom delivers more than 900,000 two-way capable homes passed, the
Stock Purchase Agreement requires the Company to issue additional common stock
shares based on the calculation used for the original 900,000 two-way capable
homes passed. Additionally, Mediacom gained the right to nominate one member to
the Company's board of directors. The cable affiliate launch incentive resulting
from the issuance of the 350,000 unrestricted common stock shares on November 4,
1999 is valued at $8,531,000, and is being amortized on a straight-line basis
over the five year minimum life of the Affiliation Agreement. No value has been
assigned to the 3,150,000 restricted common stock shares due to the requirement
for Mediacom to earn the shares by delivering 900,000 two-way capable homes
passed in groups of at least 150,000 homes every 6 months commencing May 4,
2000. The 3,150,000 restricted common stock shares will be valued and recorded
as cable affiliate launch incentive upon conversion to unrestricted common stock
shares. Additionally, upon conversion of restricted common stock shares to
unrestricted common stock shares, the cable launch incentive will be amortized
on a straight-line basis over the remaining minimum life of the Affiliation
Agreement.
On October 12, 1999, the Company entered into memorandum of understanding with
Pacific Century CyberWorks Limited ("Pacific Century") to form a joint venture,
Pacific Century SoftNet, to market products and services to cable operators in
50 countries throughout Asia. On December 13, 1999 in conjunction with this
joint venture, the Company completed a private placement of 5,000,000 common
stock shares for $128,750,000 to Pacific Century, and entitled Pacific Century
to designate two persons for election to the Board of Directors. The Company is
in the process of drafting definitive agreements and establishing the strategy,
business plan and operational processes of this joint venture.
Item 3. Defaults upon Senior Securities
None
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
None
<PAGE>
Item 5. Other Information
Factors Affecting The Company's Operating Results
The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones that the
Company face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to the
Company or that the Company currently deems immaterial may also impair the
Company's business operations. If any of the following risks actually occur, the
Company's business, financial condition or results of operations could be
materially adversely affected. In such case, the trading price of the Company's
common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
The Company Cannot Assure You That The Company Will Be Profitable Because The
Company Has Operated The Company's Internet Services Business Only For A Short
Period Of Time
The Company acquired ISP Channel, Inc. ("ISP Channel") on June 21, 1996, and
Intelligent Communications, Inc. ("Intellicom") on February 9, 1999. As such,
the Company has very limited operating history and experience in the Internet
services business and the Company cannot assure you that the Company's ability
to develop or maintain strategies and business operations for the Company's
Internet services will achieve positive cash flow and profitability. The
successful expansion of both the ISP Channel and Intellicom services will
require strategies and business operations that differ from those the Company
has historically employed. To be successful, the Company must develop and market
products and services that are widely accepted by consumers and businesses at
prices that provide cash flow sufficient to meet the Company's debt service,
capital expenditures and working capital requirements.
The Company's ISP Channel And Intellicom Businesses May Fail If Their Industries
As A Whole Fails Or The Company's Products And Services Do Not Gain Commercial
Acceptance
It has become feasible to offer Internet services over existing cable lines and
equipment and satellites on a broad scale only recently. There is no proven
commercial acceptance of cable-based or satellite-based Internet services and
none of the companies offering such services are currently profitable. It is
currently very difficult to predict whether providing cable-modem or satellite
Internet services will become a viable industry.
The success of ISP Channel and Intellicom will depend upon the willingness of
new and existing cable subscribers to pay the monthly fees and installation
costs associated with the service and to purchase or lease the equipment
necessary to access the Internet. Accordingly, the Company cannot predict
whether the Company's pricing model will prove to be viable, whether demand for
the Company's services will materialize at the prices the Company expect to
charge, or whether current or future pricing levels will be sustainable. If the
Company does not achieve or sustain such pricing levels or if the Company's
services do not achieve or sustain broad market acceptance, then the Company's
business, financial condition, and prospects will be materially adversely
affected.
The Company's Continued Negative Cash Flow And Net Losses May Depress Stock
Prices
The Company's continued negative cash flow and net losses may result in
depressed market prices for the Company's common stock. The Company cannot
assure you that the Company will ever achieve favorable operating results or
profitability. The Company has sustained substantial losses over the last five
fiscal years. For the three months ended December 31, 1999, the Company had a
net loss of $20,618,000. As of December 31, 1999, the Company had an accumulated
deficit of $120,865,000. The Company expects to incur substantial additional
losses and experience substantial negative cash flows as the Company expands the
Company's Internet service offerings. The costs of expansion will include
expenses incurred in connection with:
o inducing cable affiliates to enter into exclusive multi-year contracts with
the Company;
o the amount and timing of capital expenditures and other costs related to
the Company's operations;
o research and development of new product and service offerings;
o the continued development of the Company's direct and indirect selling and
marketing efforts; and
o possible charges related to acquisitions, divestitures, business alliances
or changing technologies.
In addition, the Company's expense levels are based in part on expectations of
future revenues and, to a large extent, are fixed. The Company may be unable to
adjust spending quickly enough to compensate for any unexpected revenue
shortfall. The Company's revenues will be dependent upon the growth rates of ISP
Channel's subscribers and Intellicom's customers.
<PAGE>
If The Company Does Not Achieve Cash Flows Sufficient To Support The Company's
Operations, The Company May Be Unable To Implement The Company's Business Plan
The development of the Company's business will require substantial capital
infusions as a result of:
o the Company's need to enhance and expand product and service offerings
to maintain the Company's competitive position and increase market
share; and
o the substantial investment in equipment and corporate resources
required by the continued national launching of the ISP Channel and
Intellicom services.
In addition, the Company anticipates that the majority of cable affiliates with
one-way cable systems will eventually upgrade their cable infrastructure to
two-way cable systems, at which time the Company will have to upgrade the
Company's equipment on any affected cable system to handle two-way
transmissions. The Company cannot accurately predict whether or when the Company
will ultimately achieve cash flow levels sufficient to support the Company's
operations, development of new products and services, and expansion of the
Company's Internet services. Unless the Company reaches such cash flow levels,
the Company may require additional financing to provide funding for operations.
If the Company is required to raise capital through a long-term debt financing,
the Company will be highly leveraged and such debt securities may have rights or
privileges senior to those of the Company's current stockholders. If the Company
is required to raise capital by issuing equity securities, the percentage
ownership of the Company's stockholders will be reduced, stockholders may
experience additional dilution and such securities may have rights, preferences
and privileges senior to those of the Company's common stock. In the event that
the Company cannot generate sufficient cash flow from operations, or is unable
to borrow or otherwise obtain additional funds on favorable terms to finance
operations when needed, the Company's business, financial condition, and
prospects would be materially adversely affected.
The Unpredictability Of The Company's Quarter-To-Quarter Results May Adversely
Affect The Trading Price Of The Company's Common Stock
The Company cannot predict with any significant degree of certainty the
Company's quarter-to-quarter operating results. As a result, the Company
believes that period-to-period comparisons of the Company's revenues and results
of operations are not necessarily meaningful and should not be relied upon as
indicators of future performance. It is likely that in one or more future
quarters the Company's results may fall below the expectations of analysts and
investors. In such event, the trading price of the Company's common stock would
likely decrease. Many of the factors that cause the Company's quarter-to-quarter
operating results to be unpredictable are largely beyond the Company's control.
These factors include, among others:
o the number of ISP Channel subscribers and Intellicom customers;
o the Company's ability to coordinate timely and effective
marketing strategies;
o the rate at which ISP Channel and its cable affiliates, and Intellicom
can complete the installations required to initiate service;
o the amount and timing of capital expenditures and other costs related
to the expansion and provision of ISP Channel and Intellicom services;
o competition in the Internet or cable industries; and
o changes in law and regulation.
Existing Contractual Obligations Allow For Additional Issuances Of Common Stock
Upon A Market Price Decline, Which Could Further Adversely Affect The Market
Price For The Company's Common Stock
As of December 31, 1999, the total number of shares of the Company's common
stock underlying all of the Company's convertible securities, including common
stock underlying unvested stock options and grants made under the Company's 1998
Stock Incentive Plan and 1999 Supplemental Stock Incentive Plan, was
approximately 4,628,000 shares. This would have been 14.8% of the Company's
outstanding common stock as of December 31, 1999, assuming such shares would
have been issued as of such date. The issuance of common stock as a result of
these obligations could result in immediate and substantial dilution to the
holders of the Company's common stock. To the extent any of these shares of
common stock are issued, the market price of the Company's common stock may
decrease because of the additional shares on the market.
<PAGE>
The Company May Not Be Able To Successfully Implement The ISP Channel's Business
Plan If The Company's Cable Affiliates Are Adversely Impacted
The success of the Company's business depends upon the Company's relationship
with the Company's cable affiliates. Therefore, the Company's success and future
business growth will be substantially affected by economic and other factors
affecting the Company's cable affiliates.
The Company does not have direct contact with the Company's customers
Because customers to the ISP Channel service must subscribe through a cable
affiliate, in many cases the cable affiliate (and not the Company) will
substantially control the customer relationship with the end-user customers. For
example, under some of the Company's existing contracts, cable affiliates are
responsible for important functions, such as billing for and collecting ISP
Channel subscription fees and providing the labor and costs associated with
distribution of local marketing materials.
Failure or delay by cable operators to upgrade their systems may adversely
affect subscription levels
Certain ISP Channel services are dependent on the quality of the cable networks
of the Company's cable affiliates. Currently, some cable systems are capable of
providing only information from the Internet to the subscribers, and require a
telephone line to carry information from the subscriber back to the Internet.
These systems are called "one-way" cable systems. Several cable operators have
announced and begun making upgrades to their systems to increase the capacity of
their networks and to enable traffic both to and from the Internet over their
networks, so-called "two-way capability". However, cable system operators have
limited experience with implementing such upgrades. These investments have
placed a significant strain on the financial, managerial, operational and other
resources of cable system operators, many of which already maintain a
significant amount of debt.
Further, cable operators must periodically renew their franchises with city,
county or state governments. These governmental bodies may impose technical and
managerial conditions before granting a renewal, and these conditions may
adversely affect the cable operator's ability or willingness to implement such
upgrades.
In addition, many cable operators may emphasize increasing television
programming capacity to compete with other forms of entertainment delivery
systems, such as direct broadcast satellite, instead of upgrading their networks
for two-way Internet capability. Such upgrades have been, and the Company
expects will continue to be, subject to change, delay or cancellation. Cable
operators' failure to complete these upgrades in a timely and satisfactory
manner, or at all, would adversely affect the market for the Company's products
and services in any such operators' franchise area. In addition, cable operators
may rollout Internet access systems that are incompatible with the Company's
high-speed Internet access services. Any of these actions could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition, and prospects.
If The Company Does Not Obtain Exclusive Access To Cable Customers, The Company
May Not Be Able To Sustain Any Meaningful Growth
The success of the ISP Channel service is dependent, in part, on the Company's
ability to gain exclusive access to cable consumers. The Company's ability to
gain exclusive access to cable customers depends upon the Company's ability to
develop exclusive relationships with cable operators that are dominant within
their geographic markets. The Company cannot assure you that affiliated cable
operators will not face competition in the future or that the Company will be
able to establish and maintain exclusive relationships with cable affiliates.
Currently, a number of the Company's contracts with cable operators do not
contain exclusivity provisions. Even if the Company is able to establish and
maintain exclusive relationships with cable operators, the Company cannot assure
the ability to do so on favorable terms or in sufficient quantities to be
profitable. In addition, the Company will be excluded from providing
Internet-over-cable in those areas served by cable operators with exclusive
arrangements with other Internet service providers. The Company's contracts with
cable affiliates typically range from three to seven years, and the Company
cannot assure you that such contracts will be renewed on satisfactory terms. If
the exclusive relationship between either the Company and the Company's cable
affiliates or between the Company's cable affiliates and their cable subscribers
is impaired, if the Company does not become affiliated with a sufficient number
of cable operators, or if the Company is not able to continue the Company's
relationship with a cable affiliate once the initial term of its contract has
expired, the Company's business, financial condition and prospects could be
materially adversely affected.
<PAGE>
Failure To Increase Revenues From New Products And Services, Whether Due To Lack
Of Market Acceptance, Competition, Technological Change Or Otherwise, Would Have
A Material Adverse Effect On The Company's Business, Financial Condition And
Prospects
The Company expects to continue extensive research and development activities
and to evaluate new product and service opportunities. These activities will
require the Company's continued investment in research and development and sales
and marketing, which could adversely affect the Company's short-term results of
operations. The Company believes that future revenue growth and profitability
will depend in part on the Company's ability to develop and successfully market
new products and services. Failure to increase revenues from new products and
services, whether due to lack of market acceptance, competition, technological
change or otherwise, would have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business financial condition and prospects.
The Company's Purchase Of Intellicom Subjects The Company To Risks In A New
Market
The purchase of Intellicom involves other risks including potential negative
effects on the Company's reported results of operations from acquisition-related
charges and amortization of acquired technology and other intangible assets. As
a result of the Intellicom acquisition, the Company recorded approximately
$16,075,000 of intangible assets, which will adversely affect the Company's
earnings and profitability for the foreseeable future. If the amount of such
recorded intangible assets is increased or if the Company has future losses and
is unable to demonstrate the Company's ability to recover the amount of
intangible assets recorded during such time periods, the period of amortization
could be shortened, which may further increase annual amortization charges. In
such event, the Company's business and financial condition could be materially
and adversely affected. In addition, the Intellicom acquisition was structured
as a purchase by the Company of all of the outstanding stock of Intellicom. As a
result, the Company could be adversely affected by direct and contingent
liabilities of Intellicom. It is possible that the Company is not aware of all
of the liabilities of Intellicom and that Intellicom has greater liabilities
than the Company expected.
In addition, the Company has very little experience in the markets and
technology in which Intellicom is focused. As such, the Company is faced with
risks that are new to the Company, including the following:
Dependence on Very Small Aperture Terminal ("VSAT") market
One of the reasons the Company purchased Intellicom was to be able to
provide two-way satellite Internet access options to the Company's
customers using VSAT satellite technology. However, the market for VSAT
communications networks and services may not continue to grow or VSAT
technology may be replaced by an alternative technology. A significant
decline in this market or the replacement of the existing VSAT technology
by an alternative technology could adversely affect the Company's business,
financial condition and prospects.
Risk of damage, loss or malfunction of satellite
The loss, damage or destruction of any of the satellites used by
Intellicom, or a temporary or permanent malfunction of any of these
satellites, would likely result in interruption of Internet services the
Company provides over the satellites which could adversely affect the
Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
In addition, use of the satellites to provide Internet services requires a
direct line of sight between the satellite and the cable headend and is
subject to distance and rain attenuation. In certain markets that
experience heavy rainfall, transmission links must be engineered for
shorter distances and greater power to maintain transmission quality. Such
engineering changes may increase the cost of providing service. In
addition, such engineering changes may require FCC approval, and the
Company cannot assure you that the FCC would grant such approval.
Equipment failure and interruption of service
The Company's operations will require that the Company's network, including
the satellite connections, operate on a continuous basis. It is not unusual
for networks, including switching facilities and satellite connections, to
experience periodic service interruption and equipment failures. It is
therefore possible that the network facilities the Company uses may from
time to time experience interruptions or equipment failures, which would
negatively affect consumer confidence as well as the Company's business
operations and reputation.
Dependence on leases for satellites
Intellicom currently leases satellite space from GE Americom and Satmex. If
for any reason, the leases were to be terminated, the Company cannot assure
you that the Company could renegotiate new leases with GE Americom, Satmex
<PAGE>
or another satellite provider on favorable terms, if at all. The Company
has not identified alternative providers and believes that any new leases
would probably be more costly to the Company. In any case, the Company
cannot assure you that an alternative provider of satellite services would
be available, or, if available, would be available on terms favorable to
the Company.
Competition
The market for Internet access services is extremely competitive.
Intellicom believes that its ability to compete successfully depends upon a
number of factors, including: market presence; the capacity, reliability,
and security of its network infrastructure; the pricing policies of its
competitors and suppliers; and the timing and release of new products and
services by Intellicom and its competitors. The Company cannot assure you
that Intellicom will be able to successfully compete with respect to these
factors.
Government regulation
The VSAT satellite industry is a highly regulated industry. In the United
States, operation and use of VSAT satellites requires licenses from the
FCC; and Satmex is licensed by the Mexican government. As a lessee of
satellite space, the Company could in the future be indirectly subject to
new laws, policies or regulations or changes in the interpretation or
application of existing laws, policies or regulations that modify the
present regulatory environment.
While the Company believes that the Company's lessors will be able to
obtain all licenses and authorizations necessary to operate effectively,
the Company cannot assure you that the Company's lessors will be successful
in doing so. The Company's failure to indirectly obtain some or all
necessary licenses or approvals could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
If The Company Fails To Manage The Company's Expanding Business Effectively, The
Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects Could Be Adversely
Affected
To exploit fully the market for the Company's products and services, the Company
must rapidly execute the Company's sales strategy while managing anticipated
growth through the use of effective planning and operating procedures. To manage
the Company's anticipated growth, the Company must, among other things:
o continue to develop and improve the Company's operational, financial and
management information systems;
o hire and train additional qualified personnel;
o continue to expand and upgrade core technologies; and
o effectively manage multiple relationships with various customers, suppliers
and other third parties.
Consequently, such expansion could place a significant strain on the Company's
services and support operations, sales and administrative personnel and other
resources. The Company may, in the future, also experience difficulties meeting
demand for the Company's products and services. Additionally, if the Company is
unable to provide training and support for the Company's products, it will take
longer to install the Company's products and customer satisfaction may be lower.
The Company cannot assure that the Company's systems, procedures or controls
will be adequate to support the Company's operations or that management will be
able to exploit fully the market for the Company's products and services. The
Company's failure to manage growth effectively could have a material adverse
effect on the Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
The Company's Limited Experience With International Operations May Prevent The
Company From Growing The Company's Business Outside The United States
A key component of the Company's strategy is to expand into international
markets and offer broadband services in those markets. The Company has limited
experience in developing localized versions of the Company's products and
services and in developing relationships with international cable system
operators. The Company may not be successful in expanding the Company's product
and service offerings into foreign markets. In addition to the uncertainty
regarding the Company's ability to generate revenues from foreign operations and
expand the Company's international presence, the Company faces specific risks
related to providing broadband services in foreign jurisdictions, including:
o regulatory requirements, including the regulation of Internet access;
o legal uncertainty regarding liability for information retrieved and
replicated in foreign jurisdictions; and
o lack of a developed cable infrastructure in many international markets.
<PAGE>
If Cable Affiliates Are Unable To Renew Their Franchises Or The Company is
Unable To Affiliate With Replacement Operators, The Company's Business,
Financial Condition And Prospects Could Be Materially Adversely Affected
Cable television companies operate under non-exclusive franchises granted by
local or state authorities that are subject to renewal and renegotiation from
time to time. A franchise is generally granted for a fixed term ranging from
five to 15 years, but in many cases the franchise may be terminated if the
franchisee fails to comply with the material provisions of the franchise. The
Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992 (the "Cable
Act") prohibits franchising authorities from granting exclusive cable television
franchises and from unreasonably refusing to award additional competitive
franchises. The Cable Act also permits municipal authorities to operate cable
television systems in their communities without franchises. The Company cannot
assure that cable television companies having contracts with the Company will
retain or renew their franchises. Non-renewal or termination of any such
franchises would result in the termination of the Company's contract with the
applicable cable operator. If an affiliated cable operator were to lose its
franchise, the Company would seek to affiliate with the successor to the
franchisee. The Company cannot, however, assure that ISP Channel will be able to
affiliate with such successor. In addition, affiliation with a successor could
result in additional costs to the Company. If the Company cannot affiliate with
replacement cable operators, the Company's business, financial condition and
prospects could be materially adversely affected.
The Company May Lose Cable Affiliates Through Their Acquisition Which Could Have
A Material Adverse Effect On The Company's Business, Financial Condition And
Prospects
Under many of the Company's contracts, if a cable affiliate is acquired and the
acquiring company chooses not to enter into a contract with the Company, the
Company may lose the Company's ability to offer Internet services in the area
served by such former cable affiliate entirely or on an exclusive basis. Such a
loss could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and prospects.
The Company Depends On Third-Party Technology To Develop And Introduce
Technology The Company Uses And The Absence Of Or Any Significant Delay In The
Replacement Of Third-Party Technology Would Have A Material Adverse Effect On
The Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects The markets for the
products and services the Company uses are characterized by the following:
o intense competition;
o rapid technological advances;
o evolving industry standards;
o changes in subscriber requirements;
o frequent new product introductions and enhancements; and
o alternative service offerings.
Because of these factors, the Company has chosen to rely upon third parties to
develop and introduce technologies that enhance the Company's current product
and service offerings. If the Company's relationship with such third parties is
impaired or terminated, then the Company would have to find other developers on
a timely basis or develop the Company's own technology. The Company cannot
predict whether the Company will be able to obtain the third-party technology
necessary for continued development and introduction of new and enhanced
products and services or whether such technology will gain market acceptance. In
addition, the Company cannot predict whether the Company will obtain third-party
technology on commercially reasonable terms or replace third-party technology in
the event such technology becomes unavailable, obsolete or incompatible with
future versions of the Company's products or services. The absence of or any
significant delay in the replacement of third-party technology would have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
prospects.
The Company Depends On Third-Party Suppliers For Certain Key Products And
Services And Any Inability To Obtain Sufficient Key Components Or To Develop
Alternative Sources For Such Components Could Result In Delays Or Reductions In
The Company's Product Shipments
The Company currently depends on a limited number of suppliers for certain key
products and services. In particular, the Company depends on General Instrument
Corporation, 3Com Corporation and Com21, Inc. for headend and cable modem
equipment, Cisco Systems, Inc. for specific network routing and switching
equipment, and, among others, MCIWorldCom, Inc. for national Internet backbone
services. Additionally, certain of the Company's cable modem and headend
equipment suppliers are in litigation over their patents. The Company could
<PAGE>
experience disruptions in the delivery or increases in the prices of products
and services purchased from vendors as a result of this intellectual property
litigation. The Company cannot predict when delays in the delivery of key
components and other products may occur due to shortages resulting from the
limited number of suppliers, the financial or other difficulties of such
suppliers or the possible limited availability in the suppliers' underlying raw
materials. In addition, the Company may not have adequate remedies against such
third parties as a result of breaches of their agreements with the Company. The
inability to obtain sufficient key components or to develop alternative sources
for such components could result in delays or reductions in the Company's
product shipments. If that were to happen, it could have a material adverse
effect on the Company's customer relationships, business, financial condition,
and prospects.
If New Data Over Cable System Interface Specifications ("DOCSIS")-Compliant
Cable Modems Are Not Deployed Timely And Successfully, The Company's Subscriber
Growth Could Be Constrained
Each of the Company's subscribers currently obtains a cable modem from the
Company to access the ISP Channel. The North American cable industry has
recently adopted interface standards known as DOCSIS for hardware and software
to support the delivery of data services over the cable infrastructure utilizing
compatible cable modems. If the Company is not able to obtain a sufficient
quantity of DOCSIS-compliant modems, the Company's growth will be limited.
The Company also believes that in order to meet the Company's subscriber goals,
two-way cable modems must also become widely available in other channels, such
as through personal computer manufacturers and through retail outlets.
Currently, this widespread availability has not yet occurred. In addition, these
modems must be easy for consumers to install themselves, rather than requiring a
customer service representative to perform the installation. If two-way cable
modems do not become quickly available in outlets other than through cable
television companies, or if they cannot be installed easily by consumers, it
would be difficult for the Company to attract large numbers of additional
subscribers and the Company's business would be harmed.
The Company Depends On Third-Party Carriers To Maintain Their Cable Systems
Which Carry The Company's Data And Any Interruption Of The Company's Operations
Due To The Failure To Maintain Their Cable Systems Would Have A Material Adverse
Effect On The Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects
The Company's success will depend upon the capacity, reliability and security of
the network used to carry data between the Company's subscribers and the
Internet. A significant portion of such network is owned by third parties, and
accordingly the Company has no control over its quality and maintenance. The
Company relies on cable operators to maintain their cable systems. In addition,
the Company relies on other third parties to provide a connection from the cable
system to the Internet. Currently, the Company has transit agreements with
MCIWorldCom, Sprint, and others to support the exchange of traffic between the
Company's network operations center, cable system and the Internet. The failure
of any other link in the delivery chain resulting in an interruption of the
Company's operations would have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and prospects.
Any Increase In Competition Could Reduce The Company's Gross Margins, Require
Increased Spending By The Company On Research And Development And Sales And
Marketing, And Otherwise Materially Adversely Affect The Company's Business,
Financial Condition And Prospects
The markets for the Company's products and services are intensely competitive,
and the Company expects competition to increase in the future. Many of the
Company's competitors and potential competitors have substantially greater
financial, technical and marketing resources, larger subscriber bases, longer
operating histories, greater name recognition and more established relationships
with advertisers and content and application providers than the Company does.
Such competitors may be able to undertake more extensive marketing campaigns,
adopt more aggressive pricing policies and devote substantially more resources
to developing Internet services or online content than the Company can. The
Company's ability to compete may be further impeded if, as evidenced by the
acquisitions of TCI and MediaOne by AT&T, competitors utilizing different or the
same technologies seek to acquire or merge to enhance their competitive
strengths. The Company cannot predict whether the Company will be able to
compete successfully against current or future competitors or that competitive
pressures faced by the Company will not materially adversely affect the
Company's business, financial condition, prospects or ability to repay the
Company's debts. Any increase in competition could reduce the Company's gross
margins, require increased spending by the Company on research and development
and sales and marketing, and otherwise materially adversely affect the Company's
business, financial condition and prospects.
<PAGE>
ISP Channel face competition from many sources, which include:
o other cable-based access providers;
o telephone-based access providers; and
o alternative technologies.
Cable-based access providers
In the cable-based segment of the Internet access industry, the Company competes
with other cable-based data services that are seeking to contract with cable
system operators. These competitors include:
o systems integrators such as Excite@Home, Roadrunner and High Speed Access
Corp.; and
o Internet service providers such as Earthlink Network, Inc. and MindSpring
Enterprises, Inc. (which two companies are in the process of merging), and
IDT Corporation.
Most cable system operators have begun to provide high-speed Internet access
services over their existing networks. The largest of these cable system
operators are Adelphia, CableVision, Charter, Comcast, Cox, MediaOne, TCI and
Time Warner. Comcast, Cox and TCI market through Excite@Home, while Time Warner
plans to market the RoadRunner service through Time Warner's own cable systems
as well as to other cable system operators nationwide. Adelphia provides high
speed Internet access through a wholly owned subsidiary called Powerlink. In
particular, Excite@Home has announced its intention to compete directly in the
small- to medium-sized cable system market, where High Speed Access Corp., an
affiliate of Charter, currently competes as well.
Telephone-based access providers
Some of the Company's most direct competitors in the access markets are
telephone-based access providers, including incumbent local exchange carriers,
national interexchange or long distance carriers, fiber-based competitive local
exchange carriers, ISPs, online service providers, wireless and satellite data
service providers, and local exchange carriers that use digital subscriber line
technologies. Some of these competitors are among the largest companies in the
country, including AT&T, MCIWorldCom, Sprint and Qwest. Other competitors
include BBN, Earthlink/Mindspring, Netcom, Concentric Network, and PSINet. The
result is a highly competitive and fragmented market.
Some of the Company's potential competitors are offering diversified packages of
telecommunications services to residential customers. If these companies also
offer Internet access service, then the Company would be at a competitive
disadvantage. Many of these companies are offering (or may soon offer)
technologies that will attempt to compete with some or all of the Company's
Internet data service offerings. The bases of competition in these markets
include:
o transmission speed;
o security of transmission;
o reliability of service;
o ease of access and use;
o ratio of price to performance;
o quality of presentation and content;
o timeliness of content;
o customer support;
o brand recognition; and
o operating experience and revenue sharing.
Alternative technologies
In addition, the market for high-speed data transmission services is
characterized by several competing technologies that offer alternatives to
cable-modem service and conventional dial-up access. Competitive technologies
include telecom-related wireline technologies, such as integrated services
digital network and digital subscriber line technologies, and wireless
technologies such as local multipoint distribution service, multichannel
multipoint distribution service and various types of satellite services. The
Company's prospects may be impaired by FCC rules and regulations, which are
designed, at least in part, to increase competition in video and related
services. The FCC has also created a General Wireless Communications Service in
which licensees are afforded broad latitude in defining the nature and service
area of the communications services they offer. The full impact of the General
Wireless Communications Service remains to be seen. Nevertheless, all of these
new technologies pose potential competition to the Company's business.
Significant market acceptance of alternative solutions for high-speed data
transmission could decrease the demand for the Company's services.
<PAGE>
The Company cannot predict whether and to what extent technological developments
will have a material adverse effect on the Company's competitive position. The
rapid development of new competing technologies and standards increases the risk
that current or new competitors could develop products and services that would
reduce the competitiveness of the Company's products and services. If that were
to happen, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
financial condition and prospects.
A Perceived Or Actual Failure By The Company To Achieve Or Maintain High Speed
Data Transmission Could Significantly Reduce Consumer Demand For The Company's
Services And Have A Material Adverse Effect On The Company's Business, Financial
Condition And Prospects
Because the ISP Channel and Intellicom services have been operational for a
relatively short period of time, the Company's ability to connect and manage a
substantial number of online subscribers at high transmission speeds is unknown.
In addition, the Company face risks related to the Company's ability to scale up
to expected subscriber levels while maintaining superior performance. The actual
downstream data transmission speeds for each subscriber will be significantly
slower and will depend on a variety of factors, including:
o actual speed provisioned for the subscriber's modem;
o quality of the server used to deliver content;
o overall Internet traffic congestion;
o the number of active subscribers on a given channel at the same time;
o the capability of modems used; and
o the service quality of the cable networks of ISP Channel's cable affiliates
and the networks of Intellicom's customers.
As the number of subscribers increases, it may be necessary for the Company's
cable affiliates to add additional 6 MHz channels in order to maintain adequate
data transmission speeds from the Internet. These additions would render such
channels unavailable to such cable affiliates for video or other programming.
The Company cannot assure you that the Company's cable affiliates will provide
additional capacity for this purpose. On two-way cable systems, the transmission
data channel to the Internet (or return path) is located in a range not used for
broadcast by traditional cable networks and is more susceptible to interference
than the transmission data channel from the Internet, resulting in a slower peak
transmission speed to the Internet. In addition to the factors affecting data
transmission speeds from the Internet, the interference level in the cable
affiliates' data broadcast range to the Internet can materially affect actual
data transmission speeds to the Internet. The actual data delivery speeds
realized by subscribers will be significantly lower than peak data transmission
speeds and will vary depending on the subscriber's hardware, operating system
and software configurations. The Company cannot assure you that the Company will
be able achieve or maintain data transmission speeds high enough to attract and
retain the Company's planned numbers of subscribers, especially as the number of
subscribers to the Company's services grows. Consequently, a perceived or actual
failure by the Company to achieve or maintain high speed data transmission could
significantly reduce consumer demand for the Company's services and have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and
prospects.
Any Damage Or Failure That Causes Interruptions In The Company's Operations
Could Have A Material Adverse Effect On The Company's Business, Financial
Condition And Prospects
The Company's operations are dependent upon the Company's ability to support a
highly complex network and avoid damages from fires, earthquakes, floods, power
losses, telecommunications and satellite failures, network software flaws,
transmission cable cuts and similar events. The occurrence of any one of these
events could cause interruptions in the services the Company provides. In
addition, the failure of an incumbent local exchange carrier or other service
provider to provide the communications capacity the Company requires, as a
result of a natural disaster, operational disruption or any other reason, could
cause interruptions in the services the Company provides. Any damage or failure
that causes interruptions in the Company's operations could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
The Company May Be Vulnerable To Unauthorized Access, Computer Viruses And Other
Disruptive Problems, Which May Result In The Company's Liability To The
Company's Subscribers And May Deter Others From Becoming Subscribers
While the Company has taken substantial security measures, the Company's
networks or those of the Company's cable affiliates may be vulnerable to
unauthorized access, computer viruses and other disruptive problems. Internet
service providers and online service providers have experienced in the past, and
<PAGE>
may experience in the future, interruptions in service as a result of the
accidental or intentional actions of Internet users. Unauthorized access by
current and former employees or others could also potentially jeopardize the
security of confidential information stored in the Company's computer systems
and those of the Company's subscribers. Such events may result in the Company's
liability to the Company's subscribers and may deter others from becoming
subscribers, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, financial condition and prospects. Although the Company intends to
continue using industry-standard security measures, such measures have been
circumvented in the past, and the Company cannot assure you that these measures
will not be circumvented in the future. Moreover, the Company has no control
over the security measures that the Company's cable affiliates adopt.
Eliminating computer viruses and alleviating other security problems may cause
the Company's subscribers delays due to interruptions or cessation of service.
Such delays could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
financial condition and prospects.
If The Market For High-Quality Content Fails To Develop, Or Develops More Slowly
Than Expected, The Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects Will Be
Materially Adversely Affected
A key part of the Company's strategy is to provide Internet users a more
compelling interactive experience than the one currently available to customers
of dial-up Internet service providers and online service providers. The Company
believes that, in addition to providing high-speed, high-performance Internet
access, to be successful the Company must also develop and aggregate
high-quality multimedia content. The Company's success in providing and
aggregating such content will depend in part on:
o the Company's ability to develop a customer base large enough to justify
investments in the development of such content;
o the ability of content providers to create and support high-quality
multimedia content; and
o the Company's ability to aggregate content offerings in a manner
subscribers find attractive.
The Company cannot assure you that the Company will be successful in these
endeavors. In addition, the market for high-quality multimedia Internet content
has only recently begun to develop and is rapidly evolving, and there is
significant competition among Internet service providers and online service
providers for obtaining such content. If the market fails to develop, or
develops more slowly than expected, or if competition increases, or if the
Company's content offerings do not achieve or sustain market acceptance, the
Company's business, financial condition and prospects will be materially
adversely affected.
The Company's Failure To Attract Advertising Revenues In Quantities And At Rates
That Are Satisfactory To The Company Could Have A Material Adverse Effect On The
Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects
The success of the ISP Channel service depends in part on the Company's ability
to draw advertisers to the ISP Channel. The Company expects to derive
significant revenues from advertisements placed on co-branded and ISP Channel
web pages and "click through" revenues from products and services purchased
through links from the ISP Channel to vendors. The Company believes that the
Company can leverage the ISP Channel to provide demographic information to
advertisers to help them better target prospective customers. Nonetheless, the
Company has not generated any significant advertising revenue yet and the
Company cannot assure you that advertisers will find such information useful or
will choose to advertise through the ISP Channel. Therefore, the Company cannot
assure you that the Company will be able to attract advertising revenues in
quantities and at rates that are satisfactory to the Company. The failure to do
so could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial
condition and prospects.
If The Company Is Unsuccessful In Establishing And Maintaining The ISP Channel
Brand, Or If The Company Incurs Excessive Expenses In Promoting And Maintaining
The ISP Channel's Brand, The Company's Business, Financial Condition And
Prospects Would Be Materially Adversely Affected
The Company believes that establishing and maintaining the ISP Channel brand are
critical to attract and expand the Company's subscriber base. Promotion of the
ISP Channel brand will depend on several factors, including:
o the Company's success in providing high-speed, high-quality consumer and
business Internet products, services and content;
o the marketing efforts of the Company's cable affiliates; and
o the reliability of the Company's cable affiliates' networks and services.
<PAGE>
The Company cannot assure you that any of these factors will be achieved. The
Company has little control over the Company's cable affiliates' marketing
efforts or the reliability of their networks and services.
If consumers and businesses do not perceive the Company's existing products and
services as high quality or the Company introduces new products or services or
enter into new business ventures that are not favorably received by consumers
and businesses, then the Company will be unsuccessful in building brand
recognition and brand loyalty in the marketplace. In addition, to the extent
that the ISP Channel service is unavailable, the Company risks frustrating
potential subscribers who are unable to access the Company's products and
services.
Furthermore, the Company may need to devote substantial resources to create and
maintain a distinct brand loyalty among customers, to attract and retain
subscribers, and to promote and maintain the ISP Channel brand in a very
competitive market. If the Company is unsuccessful in establishing or
maintaining the ISP Channel brand or if the Company incurs excessive expenses in
promoting and maintaining the Company's brand, the Company's business, financial
condition and prospects would be materially adversely affected.
If The Company Encounters Significant Problems With The Company's Billing And
Collections Process, The Company's Business, Financial Condition And Prospects
Could Be Materially Adversely Affected
The Company is in the process of designing and implementing the Company's
billing and collections system for the ISP Channel service. The Company intends
to bill for the Company's services primarily over the Internet and, in most
cases, to collect these invoices through payments initiated via the Internet.
Such invoices and payments have security risks. Given the complexities of such a
system, the Company cannot assure you that the Company will be successful in
developing and launching the system in a timely manner or that the Company will
be able to scale the system quickly and efficiently if the number of subscribers
requiring such a billing format increases. Currently, many of the Company's
cable affiliates are responsible for billing and collection for the Company's
Internet access services. As a result, the Company has little or no control over
the accuracy and timeliness of the invoices or over collection efforts.
Given the Company's relatively limited history with billing and collection for
Internet services, the Company cannot predict the extent to which the Company
may experience bad debts or the Company's ability to minimize such bad debts. If
the Company encounters significant problems with the Company's billing and
collections process, the Company's business, financial condition and prospects
could be materially adversely affected.
The Company May Face Potential Liability For Defamatory Or Indecent Content,
Which May Cause The Company To Modify The Way The Company Provides Services
Any imposition of liability on the Company for information carried on the
Internet could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
financial condition and prospects. The law relating to liability of Internet
service providers and online service providers for information carried on or
disseminated through their networks is currently unsettled. A number of lawsuits
have sought to impose such liability for defamatory speech and indecent
materials. Congress has attempted to impose such liability, in some
circumstances, for transmission of obscene or indecent materials. In one case, a
court has held that an online service provider could be found liable for
defamatory matter provided through its service, on the ground that the service
provider exercised active editorial control over postings to its service.
Because of the potential liability for materials carried on or disseminated
through the Company's systems, the Company may have to implement measures to
reduce the Company's exposure to such liability. Such measures may require the
expenditure of substantial resources or the discontinuation of certain products
or services.
The Company May Face Potential Liability For Information Retrieved And
Replicated That May Not Be Covered By The Company's Insurance
The Company's liability insurance may not cover potential claims relating to
providing Internet services or may not be adequate to indemnify the Company for
all liability that may be imposed. Any liability not covered by insurance or in
excess of insurance coverage could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, financial condition and prospects. Because subscribers
download and redistribute materials that are cached or replicated by the Company
in connection with the Company's Internet services, claims could be made against
the Company or the Company's cable affiliates under both U.S. and foreign law
for defamation, negligence, copyright or trademark infringement, or other
theories based on the nature and content of such materials. You should know that
these types of claims have been successfully brought against online service
providers. In particular, copyright and trademark laws are evolving both
domestically and internationally, and it is uncertain how broadly the rights
provided under these laws will be applied to online environments. It is
impossible for the Company to determine who the potential rights holders may be
with respect to all materials available through the Company's services. In
addition, a number of third-party owners of patents have claimed to hold patents
that cover various forms of online transactions or online technology. As with
other online service providers, patent claims could be asserted against the
Company based upon the Company's services or technologies.
<PAGE>
The Company's Success Depends Upon The Development Of New Products And Services
In The Face Of Rapidly Evolving Technology
The Company's products and services may not be commercially successful
The Company's future development efforts may not result in commercially
successful products and services or the Company's products and services may be
rendered obsolete by changing technology, new industry standards or new product
announcements by competitors.
For example, the Company expects digital set-top boxes capable of supporting
high-speed Internet access services to be commercially available in the next 12
months. Set top boxes will enable subscribers to access the Internet without a
computer. Although the widespread availability of set-top boxes could increase
the demand for the Company's Internet service, the demand for set-top boxes may
never reach the level the Company and industry experts have estimated. Even if
set-top boxes do reach this level of popularity, the Company cannot assure you
that the Company will be able to capitalize on such demand. If this scenario
occurs or if other technologies or standards applicable to the Company's
products or services become obsolete or fail to gain widespread commercial
acceptance, then the Company's business, financial condition and prospects will
be materially adversely affected.
The Company's ability to adapt to changes in technology and industry standards,
and to develop and introduce new and enhanced products and service offerings,
will determine whether the Company can maintain or improve the Company's
competitive position and the Company's prospects for growth. However, the
following factors may hinder the Company's efforts to introduce and sell new
products and services:
o rapid technological changes in the Internet and telecommunications
industries;
o the lengthy product approval and purchase process of the Company's
customers; and
o the Company's reliance on third-party technology for the development of new
products and services.
The Company's suppliers' products may become obsolete, requiring the Company to
purchase additional inventory or replacement equipment
The technology underlying the Company's capital equipment, such as headends and
cable modems, continues to evolve and, accordingly, the Company's equipment
could become out-of-date or obsolete prior to the time the Company originally
intended to replace it or sell it. If this occurs, the Company may need to
purchase substantial amounts of new capital equipment or inventory, which could
have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition
and prospects.
The Company's competitors' products may make the Company's products less
commercially viable
The introduction by the Company's competitors of products or services embodying,
or purporting to embody, new technology could also render the Company's existing
products and services, as well as products or services under development,
obsolete and unmarketable. Internet, telecommunications and cable technologies
are evolving rapidly. Many large corporations, including large
telecommunications providers, regional Bell operating companies and
telecommunications equipment providers, as well as large cable system operators,
regularly announce new and planned technologies and service offerings that could
impact the market for the Company's services. The announcements can delay
purchasing decisions by the Company's customers and confuse the marketplace
regarding available alternatives. Such announcements could, in the future,
adversely impact the Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
In addition, the Company cannot assure you that the Company will have the
financial and technical resources necessary to continue successful development
of new products or services based on emerging technologies. Moreover, due to
intense competition, there may be a time-limited market opportunity for the
Company's cable- based consumer and business Internet services. The Company's
services may not achieve widespread acceptance before competitors offer products
and services with speed and performance similar to the Company's current
offerings. In addition, the widespread adoption of new Internet or telecommuting
technologies or standards, cable-based or otherwise, could require substantial
and costly modifications to the Company's equipment, products and services and
could fundamentally alter the character, viability and frequency of
Internet-based advertising, either of which could have a material adverse effect
on the Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
<PAGE>
If The Company Is Unable To Successfully Integrate Future Acquisitions Into The
Company's Operations, Then The Company's Results And Financial Condition May Be
Adversely Affected
In addition to the recent acquisition of Intellicom, the Company may acquire
other businesses that the Company believes will complement the Company's
existing businesses. The Company cannot predict if or when any prospective
acquisitions will occur or the likelihood that they will be completed on
favorable terms. Acquiring a business involves many risks, including:
o potential disruption of the Company's ongoing business and diversion of
resources and management time;
o potential dilution to existing stockholders if the Company uses equity
securities to finance acquisitions;
o incurrence of unforeseen obligations or liabilities;
o possible inability of management to maintain uniform standards, controls,
procedures and policies;
o difficulty assimilating the acquired operations and personnel;
o risks of entering markets in which the Company has little or no direct
prior experience; and
o potential impairment of relationships with employees or customers as a
result of changes in management.
The Company cannot assure that the Company will make any acquisitions or that
the Company will be able to obtain additional financing for such acquisitions,
if necessary. If any acquisitions are made, the Company cannot assure that the
Company will be able to successfully integrate the acquired business into the
Company's operations or that the acquired business will perform as expected.
The Company's Equity Investments In Other Companies May Not Yield Any Returns
The Company has made equity investments in several Internet-related companies,
including joint ventures in other countries. In most instances, these
investments are in the form of illiquid securities of private companies. These
companies typically are in an early stage of development and may be expected to
incur substantial losses. The Company's investments in these companies may not
yield any return. Furthermore, if these companies are not successful, the
Company could incur charges related to the write-down or write-off of assets.
The Company also records and continues to record a share of the net losses in
these companies, up to the Company's cost basis, if they are the Company's
affiliates. The Company intends to continue to make significant additional
investments in the future. Losses or charges resulting from these investments
could harm the Company's operating results.
Loss Of Key Personnel May Disrupt The Company's Operations
The loss of key personnel may disrupt the Company's operations. The Company's
success depends, in large part, on the Company's ability to attract and retain
qualified technical, marketing, sales and management personnel. With the
expansion of the ISP Channel and Intellicom services, the Company is currently
seeking new employees. However, competition for such personnel is intense in the
Company's business, and thus, the Company may be unsuccessful in its hiring
efforts. To launch the ISP Channel service concept on a large-scale basis, the
Company has recently assembled a new management team, many of whom have been
with the Company for less than twelve months. The loss of any member of the new
team, or failure to attract or retain other key employees could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, financial condition and prospects.
Direct And Indirect Government Regulation Can Significantly Impact The Company's
Business
Currently, neither the FCC nor any other federal or state communications
regulatory agency directly regulates Internet access services provided by the
Company's cable systems. However, any changes in law or regulation relating to
Internet connectivity, cable operators or telecommunications markets could
affect the nature, scope and prices of the Company's services. Such changes
include those that directly or indirectly affect costs, limit usage of
subscriber- related information or increase the likelihood or scope of
competition from telecommunications companies or other Internet access
providers.
Possibility of changes in law or regulation
Because the provision of Internet access services using cable networks is a
relatively recent development, the regulatory classification of such services
remains unsettled. Some parties have argued that providing Internet access
services over a cable network is a "telecommunications service" and that,
therefore, Internet access service providers should be subject to regulation
which, under the Communications Act of 1934, apply to telephone companies. Other
parties have argued that Internet access services over the cable system is a
cable service under the Communications Act, which would subject such services to
a different set of laws and regulations. It is unclear at this time whether
<PAGE>
federal, state, or local governing bodies will adopt one classification over
another, or adopt another regulatory classification altogether, for Internet
access services provided over cable systems. The FCC recently decided to address
Internet access issuers in its February 17, 1999 order approving the merger
between AT&T and TCI, which was announced by the two companies on June 24, 1998.
A number of parties had opposed the merger unless the FCC required the AT&T/TCI
combination to provide unaffiliated ISPs with unbundled, open access to the
cable platform whenever that platform is being used by an AT&T/TCI affiliate to
provide Internet service. Other parties argued that the FCC should examine
industry-wide issues surrounding open access to cable-provided Internet service
in a generic rulemaking, rather than in the specific, adjudicatory context of a
merger evaluation. The FCC decided that it would be imprudent to grant either
request for action at this time given the nascent stage in the development and
deployment of high-speed Internet access services. Certain local jurisdictions
that approved the AT&T/TCI merger have imposed open access conditions on such
approval, while other such local jurisdictions have rejected such conditions or
have reserved the right to impose such conditions in the future. At least one
federal district court has upheld the local jurisdiction's decision to mandate
open access. The Company cannot predict the ultimate outcome or scope of the
local approval process. Nor can the Company predict the impact, if any, that
future federal, state or local legal or regulatory changes, including open
access conditions, might have on the Company's business.
Regulations affecting the cable industry may discourage cable operators from
upgrading their systems
Regulation of cable television may affect the speed at which the Company's cable
affiliates upgrade their cable infrastructures to two-way cable. Currently, the
Company's cable affiliates have generally elected to classify the distribution
of the Company's services as "additional cable services" under their respective
franchise agreements, and accordingly pay franchise fees. However, the election
by cable operators to classify Internet access as an additional cable service
may be challenged before the FCC, the courts or Congress, and any change in the
classification of service could have a potentially adverse impact on the
Company.
The Company's cable affiliates may be subject to multiple franchise fees for
distributing the Company's services
Another possible risk is that local franchise authorities may subject the cable
affiliates to higher or additional franchise fees or taxes or otherwise require
them to obtain additional franchises in connection with distribution of the
Company's services. There are thousands of franchise authorities in the United
States alone, and thus it will be difficult or impossible for the Company or the
Company's cable affiliates to operate under a unified set of franchise
requirements.
Possible negative consequences if cable operators are classified as common
carriers
If the FCC or another governmental agency classifies cable system operators as
"common carriers" or "telecommunications carriers" because they provide Internet
services, or if cable system operators themselves seek such classification as a
means of limiting their liability, the Company could lose the Company's rights
as the exclusive ISP for some of the Company's cable affiliates and the Company
or the Company's cable affiliates could be subject to common carrier regulation
by federal and state regulators.
Import restrictions may affect the delivery schedules and costs of supplies from
foreign shippers
In addition, the Company obtains some of the components for the Company's
products and services from foreign suppliers, which may be subject to tariffs,
duties and other import restrictions. Any changes in law or regulation including
those discussed above, whether in the United States or elsewhere, could
materially adversely affect the Company's business, financial condition and
prospects.
The Company Does Not Intend To Pay Dividends
The Company has not historically paid any cash dividends on the Company's common
stock and do not expect to declare any such dividends in the foreseeable future.
Payment of any future dividends will depend upon the Company's earnings and
capital requirements, the Company's debt obligations and other factors the board
of directors deems relevant. The Company currently intends to retain its
earnings, if any, to finance the development and expansion of the ISP Channel
service.
The Company's Stock Price Is Volatile
The volatility of the Company's stock price may make it difficult for holders of
the common stock to transfer their shares at the prices they want. The market
price for the Company's common stock has been volatile in the past, and several
factors could cause the price to fluctuate substantially in the future. These
factors include:
<PAGE>
o announcements of developments related to the Company's business;
o fluctuations in the Company's results of operations;
o sales of substantial amounts of the Company's securities into
the marketplace;
o general conditions in the Company's industries or the worldwide economy;
o an outbreak of war or hostilities;
o a shortfall in revenues or earnings compared to securities
analysts' expectations;
o changes in analysts' recommendations or projections;
o announcements of new products or services by the Company or
the Company's competitors; and
o changes in the Company's relationships with the Company's
suppliers or customers.
The market price of the Company's common stock may fluctuate significantly in
the future, and these fluctuations may be unrelated to the Company's
performance. General market price declines or market volatility in the future
could adversely affect the price of the Company's common stock, and thus, the
current market price may not be indicative of future market prices.
Prospective Anti-Takeover Provisions Could Negatively Impact The Company's
Stockholders
The Company is a Delaware corporation. The Delaware General Corporation Law
contains certain provisions that may discourage, delay or make a change in
control of the Company more difficult or prevent the removal of incumbent
directors. In addition, the Company's certificate of incorporation and bylaws
have certain provisions that have the same effect. These provisions may have a
negative impact on the price of the Company's common stock and may discourage
third-party bidders from making a bid for the Company or may reduce any premiums
paid to stockholders for their common stock.
The Year 2000 Issue Could Harm The Company's Operations
Many computer programs have been written using two digits rather than four to
define the applicable year. This poses a problem at the end of the century
because such computer programs would not properly recognize a year that begins
with "20" instead of "19". This, in turn, could result in major system failures
or miscalculations that could disrupt the Company's business. The Company has
formulated a year 2000 ("Y2K") plan (the "Y2K Plan") to address the Company's
Y2K issues and has created a Y2K Task Force headed by the Director of
Information Systems and Data Services to implement the plan. The Company's Y2K
Plan has six phases:
1. Organizational Awareness: educate the Company's employees, senior
management, and the board of directors about the Y2K issue.
2. Inventory: complete inventory of internal business systems and their
relative priority to continuing business operations. In addition, this
phase includes a complete inventory of products and services, critical
vendors, suppliers and services providers and their Y2K compliance
status.
3. Assessment: assessment of internal business systems and external
customers (including cable affiliates), critical vendors, suppliers and
service providers and their Y2K compliance status.
4. Planning: preparing the individual project plans and project teams and
other required internal and external resources to implement the
required solutions for Y2K compliance.
5. Execution: implementation of the solutions and fixes.
6. Validation: testing the solutions for Y2K compliance.
The Company's Y2K Plan will apply to two areas:
1. Internal business systems
2. Compliance by external customers and providers
During the course of addressing all Y2K issues, the Company also added
remediation and contingency planning processes.
Internal Business Systems
The Company's internal business systems and workstation business applications
will be a primary area of focus. The Company is completing the implementation of
new enterprise-wide business solutions to replace existing manual processes
and/or "home grown" applications during 1999. These solutions are represented by
their vendors as being fully Y2K compliant. The Company has few, if any,
"legacy" applications that needed to be evaluated for Y2K compliance.
<PAGE>
The Company completed all phases for substantially all critical internal
business systems. The Company believes it was Y2K compliant on all critical
internal business systems by December 31, 1999. But in any event, the Company
will have contingency plans in place to continue critical business operations
should some part of the internal business systems fail.
Some non-critical systems may not be addressed until after March 2000. However,
the Company believes such systems will not cause significant disruptions in the
Company's operations.
Compliance by External Customers and Providers
The Company has substantially completed the inventory phase and is in the final
stages of the assessment phase with the Company's critical suppliers, service
providers and contractors to determine the extent to which the interface systems
are susceptible to those third parties' failure to remedy their own Y2K issues.
To the extent that responses to Y2K readiness responses have been
unsatisfactory, the Company is working with these parties to remediate the
issues.
The Company has been in discussions with its cable affiliates with regard to the
status of their Y2K readiness; Cable affiliates representing over 50% of our
cable-based Internet customers have provided written or verbal assurances of
their Y2K readiness. However, there can be no guarantee that the Y2K compliance
efforts of any of the Company's cable affiliates will be successful.
Risks Associated with Y2K
The Company believes a major risk associated with the Y2K issue is the ability
of its key business partners and vendors to resolve their own Y2K issues. The
Company has spent a great deal of time over the past several months, working
closely with suppliers and vendors to assure their compliance. However, should
any problems occur the Company may lose significant revenue and incur
unanticipated expenses to remedy the problem, and such problems could divert
management's time and attention, any of which could have a material effect on
the Company's business, results of operation and financial condition.
To the extent any of our cable affiliates experience Y2K failures, the Company's
Internet service customers could experience an interruption or total or partial
failure of service. Should this occur, the Company could lose significant
revenue as a direct result of the Y2K failure or indirectly due to the loss of
customers, either of which could have material effect on the Company's business
results of operations and financial condition.
Costs to Address Y2K issues
Because the Company is implementing new enterprise-wide business solutions to
replace existing manual processes and/or "home grown" applications, there will
be little, if any, Y2K changes required to existing business applications. All
of the new business applications implemented (or in the process of being
implemented in 1999) are represented as being Y2K compliant.
The Company does not separately track the internal costs incurred for the Y2K
project, which costs are principally related to payroll costs for the Company's
information systems staff. The external costs, primarily consultants, has been
approximately $300,000 through December 31, 1999 and is estimated that the
Company will spend an additional $50,000 on its remediation and contingency
plans.
Contingency Plan
The Company has formulated a contingency plan, which includes maintaining
staffing during the most critical times during which the Company might
experience Y2K failures. In addition, the Company will have field personnel on
standby to assist cable affiliates and VSAT customers should assistance be
required if the interface systems fail. However, the Company's contingency plan
cannot address problems should its cable affiliates fail to be Y2K compliant.
Summary
There can be no assurance that the systems of the Company's customers, other
companies or government entities, on which the Company rely for supplies, cash
payments, and future business, will be timely converted, or that a failure to
convert by the Company's customers, other companies or government entities,
would not have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position or
results of operations. Further, if, due to Y2K issues, third-party suppliers,
service providers and contractors fail to provide the Company with components,
materials, or services which are necessary to deliver the Company's service and
product offerings, with sufficient electrical power and transportation
infrastructure to deliver the Company's service and product offerings, then any
such failure could have a material adverse effect on the Company's ability to
conduct business, as well as the Company's financial position and results of
operations.
<PAGE>
The Company is continuing to seek verification from the Company's cable
affiliates, critical suppliers, service providers and contractors that they are
Y2K compliant. To the extent that any of these business partners fail to be Y2K
compliant, it may have a significant impact on the Company's business. Should
the Company's Internet service customers or VSAT customers fail to be Y2K
compliant, it may have a significant impact on the Company's revenues. The
Company's inability to correct a significant Y2K problem, if one exists, could
result in an interruption in or a failure of, certain of the Company's normal
business activities and operations. In addition, a significant Y2K problem
concerning the Company's cable modem Internet services or the Company's VSAT
services could cause the Company's users to consider seeking alternate providers
of Internet services. Any significant Y2K problem could require the Company to
incur significant unanticipated expenses to remedy the problem and could divert
management's time and attention, either of which could have a material effect on
the Company's business, results of operation and financial condition.
<PAGE>
Item 6. Exhibits and Reports on Form 8-K.
(a) Exhibits
Exhibit No.
Description of Document
3.1 Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the
Registrant. Incorporated by reference to the Company's
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30,
1999.
3.2 By-Laws of the Company. Incorporated by reference to the
Company's Registration Statement on Form S-3/A dated April 22,
1999.
10.1 Stock Purchase Agreement by and between SoftNet Systems, Inc
and Pacific Century Cyberworks Limited, dated October 12,
1999. Incorporated by reference to the Company's Form 8-K,
dated October 21, 1999.
10.2 Stock Purchase Agreement by and between SoftNet Systems, Inc.
and Mediacom, LLC, dated November 4, 1999. Incorporated by
reference to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
December 29, 1999.
10.3 Registration Rights Agreement by and between SoftNet Systems,
Inc. and Mediacom, LLC, dated November 4, 1999. Incorporated
by reference to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
December 29, 1999.
10.4 Stockholder Agreement by and between SoftNet Systems, Inc, and
Mediacom, LLC, date November 4, 1999. Incorporated by
reference to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
December 29, 1999.
10.5 Employment letter agreement dated October 29, 1999 from Ronald
Simon, Vice Chairman of SoftNet Systems, Inc. to Lawrence
Brilliant, Chairman and CEO of SoftNet Systems, Inc.
27 Financial Data Schedule
(b) Reports on Form 8-K
Current report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on October 15, 1999.
Current report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on October 21, 1999.
Current report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on December 30, 1999.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange
Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
SOFTNET SYSTEMS, INC.
/s/ Douglas S. Sinclair Date: February 14, 2000
- ---------------------------------------- -----------------
Douglas S. Sinclair
Chief Financial Officer
/s/ Susan Dolce Date: February 14, 2000
- ---------------------------------------- -----------------
Susan Dolce
Controller
SOFTNET SYSTEMS, INC.
650 Townsend Street, Suite 225
San Francisco, CA 94103
October 29, 1999
Lawrence B. Brilliant
8 Ralston Avenue
Mill Valley, CA 94941
Dear Dr. Brilliant:
This will serve to confirm our conversation relative to the April 7, 1998 letter
agreement between you and SoftNet Systems, Inc. ("SoftNet"). We have agreed as
follows:
The paragraph commencing on the bottom of the second page and which continues on
the third page of the letter agreement (which begins: "If your employment is
terminated...") is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the
following provision:
"If there is a Corporate Transaction (as such term is defined in SoftNet's 1998
Stock Incentive Plan) in which the SoftNet common stock is valued in excess of
$12 per share (before any splits), SoftNet will pay you $1.1 million in cash."
It is further understood that any involuntary termination of your employment
will be handled pursuant to SoftNet's normal practices and procedures for such
situations.
Yours,
/s/ Ronald I. Simon
Ronald I. Simon
Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors
Accepted and Agreed to this 29th day of October, 1999
/s/ Lawrence B. Brilliant
Lawrence B. Brilliant
<TABLE> <S> <C>
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<LEGEND>
This schedule contains summary information extracted from Form 10-Q for the
quarterly period ended December 31, 1999 and is qualified in its entirety by
reference to such Form 10-Q.
</LEGEND>
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