Hi, In order to settle any questions and to make clear my position, I am posting the following reply to David Huberman's message. First off, let me say that in no way were my statements intended as a negative against globalcrossing. I merely refferenced the company as a close associate of Exodus and, as a 20% shareholder in addition to other terms of the globalcenter sale as published by various sources, including globalcrossings own press releases that, for the time being, globalcrossing and exodus maintain a close relationship. I do not believe I implied (or at least I did not intend to) that globalcrossing relied on exodus for its future, just that exodus had considerable and not unimportant dealings with globalcrossing. I generaly have a positive outlook for the future of globalcrossing and know its technical staff is capable and qualified for the work they do. On Thu, Sep 27, 2001 at 09:53:50AM -0700, David R Huberman wrote:
Yesterday, Wayne Bouchard, a former employee of Global Crossing, posted erroneous, misleading, wholly inaccurate information about the state of Global Crossing and its finances.
(For the record, it has been just shy of two full years since I left globalcrossing. I left on good terms and still maintain a friendly relationship with many who work there.) To clarify globalcrossing's financial position, I refer you to the financial statements indicating globalcrossing losing billions of dollars each year with no projected positive pro-forma earnings for some time to come. This does not suggest they are in imminent danger of folding. It simply states that, although they do have good revenue streams and a farily diverse client base not just in the US but also in other parts of the globe, they have yet to turn a profit. As a 20% shareholder in exodus, the decline in exodus' stock means that globalcrossing has fewer resources to draw upon than it did before, should something unexpected occur. The changing landscape will, without doubt, have repercussions. I did not intend to imply that globalcrossing would not be able to cope with them.
Lets not forget that globalcrossing (who already laid off 13,000 people a couple of months ago)
Global Crossing currently employs approximately 11,000 employees. This summer, in an effort to cut costs and streamline our organizational structure, Global Crossing laid-off less than 2,000 employees.
Yes, this error was pointed out to me shortly thereafter. I publicly, and humbly appologize for the misquoted figures. My error, no one elses. It does not, however, change the fact that globalcrossing has been forced to layoff a percentage of employees in order to shave costs, which was the point I was trying to illustrate.
No doubt the bankruptcy will cause that company some considerable consternation which could adversely affect their end of the year results meaning yet MORE geeks could be living in cardboard boxes before the year is out.
Global Crossing has already recovered 100% of the bandwidth loss across our network realized by the extrication of Global Center traffic from our backbone.
In no way does the financial outlook of Global Crossing and its network rely on Exodus. Our revenue streams continue to grow at a steady clip, our quarterly earnings report continue to reflect an EBIDTA-positive organization, and each day we sign up more and more customers, large and small, who utilize our 101,000+ route-mile global fiber optic network.
Our network build was fully funded. With the sale of Frontier Communications by Global Crossing to Citizens Communications, Global Crossing was able to pay down more than 50% of its long-term debt.
Yes, globalcrossing's debt is all long term and not due for some time. This is a real positive for the company which will contribute to its survival. The debt does, however, remain as do the interest payments.
Global Crossing is in sound financial shape. Its long-term financial outlook is bright, our customers are happy, and we'll be here running one of the world's largest and fastest fiber optic networks long after many of our competitors close their doors.
My message was not intended to imply imminent problems with any network, merely to state that an action such as the bankruptcy/reorganization of a company the size of exodus could well have a ripple effect that might adversely affect those with which it does business, at least in the short term. If any of this was taken as negative statements against globalcrossing (a company which I do, personally, feel is in a better position than others to come out ahead when the economy comes back) then I again apologize. And I offer my personal appologies to Mr. Huberman if it was at all thought I was maliciously speaking ill of my former employer. That was in no way my intent. I intended to do no more than help those on the list be able to see that financial matters do, in fact, have a bearing on the internet by affecting decisions that companies may make. I am very sorry for any ill feeling I have caused and pray that this matter may be put to rest. -Wayne
/david
*--------------------------------* | Global Crossing API | | Manager, Global IP Addressing | | (703) 627-5800 | | huberman@gblx.net | *--------------------------------*
--- Wayne Bouchard web@typo.org Network Engineer http://www.typo.org/~web/resume.html