Unwired Short-circuits Losses
The Age
Friday February 23, 2007
WIRELESS broadband provider Unwired has posted a $14.7 million loss for the second half of last year but remains confident the emerging WiMAX technology will be its saviour.
The $14.7 million loss was, however, a 20 per cent improvement on the same period in 2005.Unwired's customer base across its Sydney and fledgling Melbourne networks rose 19 per cent to just under 64,000, while revenue was up 40 per cent to $16.1 million compared with the same period in 2005.Unwired's cash reserves fell by a third to $10.5 million from where they were in the first half, although chief executive David Spence said the increase in its subscriber base should ensure the trend did not continue into the current half."We don't expect to be burning what we've been burning on a quarterly basis in the past, and we're quite confident that we have sufficient funds for our existing business," he said.Since the start of 2007, two of Unwired's major investors, Mitsui and Intel, have waived penalties for the company's failure to secure multimillion-dollar funding injections.The extra funding is essential to Unwired's plan to convert its wireless network to WiMAX, which is based on the common Wi-Fi wireless internet technology but which operates over much greater distances. Unwired shares were down 1.5? to 33?. The company will not pay a dividend for the period.LINK? Listen to a replay of Unwired's webcast at geobay.com/da00d3
© 2007 The Age