Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Metawave Bites the Dust (Too Bad)

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 00:35:55 -0500

-------- Original Message --------
From: Paul Rosa <[email-masked]>
Subject: Metawave Bites the Dust

This article heralds the demise of another innovative company, Metawave
from Seattle.  Their latest product was their SmartShare antennas that
allowed 1 cellular and 2 PCS companies to share a common antenna array
(and thus everybody enjoyed top position on a tower), while allowing
each to electronically tailor their antenna beams and other network
parameters.  An indicator that the technology works is that it was
licensed by Crown Castle which has been heavily promoting it with full
page ads in RCR and other industry publications.  For those of us who
quest for low-visibility infrastructure solutions for restrictive zoning
climates, this is a big loss.  Hopefully, Crown Castle or some other
savvy company will buy the rights to the technology and move it
forward.  At the same time, my thoughts go out to the Metawave employees
and their families who will suffer the larger loss.  It's a shame to see
people who give everything to push the technological envelope suffer
because they were ahead of their time and positioned in the wrong place
in an industry economic downturn.

Paul Rosa
Harpers Ferry, WV

01/25/03 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Layoffs signal the end for Metawave

Saturday, January 25, 2003

By JOHN COOK
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The telecommunications slump has claimed another Seattle-area company.

Metawave Communications Corp., whose antennas expand the capacity and
enhance the performance of wireless networks,
laid off the bulk of its staff yesterday and indicated that a bankruptcy
filing is imminent.

The Redmond company employed about 85 people in October, though
spokeswoman Loan Gordon declined to say how
many people were affected by the shutdown. Fewer than 10 employees will
stay through the bankruptcy proceedings, she said.

Employees were told of the closure in a companywide meeting yesterday
morning. They were given severance packages,
Gordon said.

"I am disappointed that the business climate unfavorably affected our
ability to sell our products to customers," Metawave Chief
Executive Officer Gary Flood said in a statement.

"The telecommunications equipment market has been extremely challenging
over the last year, and we have limited visibility into
when the market might improve."

The company reported sales of $14.3 million for the first nine months of
last year, a 40 percent drop compared with the same
period in 2001. The net loss during that period was $47.2 million.

Metawave, whose customers include Verizon Wireless and Alltel, suffered
multiple setbacks in the past 18 months. The
8-year-old company cut 146 employees last year as it tried to respond to
the slowdown in telecom spending. It also uncovered
accounting irregularities at its Asian operations in March, a situation
that brought a wave of shareholder lawsuits.

The stock, which debuted on the Nasdaq exchange on April 27, 2000, at
$10 a share, lost 91 percent of its value last year. It
closed yesterday at 18 cents, down 4 cents.

Gordon said the company, which held $7.3 million in cash and short-term
investments at the end of September, was
unsuccessful in its attempt to find a buyer.

"That is why we are where we are today," she said. "All the factors were
against us."

Metawave will vacate its 48,000-square-foot Redmond headquarters and
manufacturing plant at the end of the month.

It also will cancel its Feb. 4 earnings conference call.

The company's remaining assets, including patents, inventory and
finished products, will be sold to the highest bidder.

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