Chapter 1007： Cut off the waist

Looking at the dark display screen, Eric’s mood was not relaxed at all.

In the original information industry alliance program, Eric hopes that Cisco, AOL and Yahoo will be the Internet equipment providers, Internet service providers and Internet content providers, respectively, forming a Wintel alliance similar to the PC industry Intel-Microsoft. Strong joint camp.

Now, the loss of AOL, the original information industry alliance plan, was cut off by the waist.

This is the biggest setback that Eric has encountered in recent years. Even if it can use the AOL stock to cash out one or two billion dollars in cash, it will not be able to make up for the loss of the information industry alliance plan.

If you can successfully merge one of the three major operators in North America and consolidate its market position in communications and network services, even if the Internet bubble bursts, with the advent of mobile communications and the Internet era, AOL will The market value can still easily reach the scale of one or two hundred billion dollars.

But now, although AOL is temporarily the largest Internet service provider in North America, the rise of AOL is entirely a matter of the chances that several traditional operators have neglected this part of the business.

At the beginning, major telecom operators in North America were not optimistic that users would spend dozens of dollars a month to purchase high-speed broadband access services, which made AOL take the lead.

However, the flaws of AOL are also very obvious. It is not bound to have any development prospects. It is just an Internet media business with a bubble technology concept. The basic telecommunication service involved is very simple, only one high-speed broadband access service. The fixed-line, mobile communications, cable TV and other services, AOL has not yet had time to get involved, at the same time, AOL's layout in infrastructure construction is also very weak, some access equipment and line networks even rent AT-T traditions Operator's.

It is conceivable that once the traditional telecom operators such as AT-T, Verizon and even Sprint are reacting, with their own strong user base and far beyond the AOL infrastructure network, they only need to adopt some disguised bundles. With measures, it is easy to grab network users from AOL.

In this process, the only opportunity for AOL is to take advantage of the high stock price and anti-customer to use the equity merger method to annex one of the old telecom operators, so that it can maintain its own industry in the context of the bursting of the Internet bubble in the next few years. status.

However, all these plans are now doomed to be a bubble.

AOL chose to follow the development path of Internet media companies. In the next two years, once the Internet bubble bursts, the company is destined to fall into the abyss.

Although AOL and Yahoo will still maintain cooperation in the next two years, such a deep gap has already formed, and the two sides are destined to be inseparable.

It is difficult for Yahoo to find a partner who can cooperate in the basic service field in a short time.

But in any case, some things still have to be done.

Traditional telecom operators in North America have a history of tens of hundreds of years. The big companies are very sick. The speed of promotion of new technology and services is slow and horrible. Otherwise, AOL has no chance to reach the current market position. .

The only way to get these traditional operators to keep up with the pace of Yahoo's new technology company is to put it all in the hands.

Pick up the folder on the desktop, in addition to the files that have just been used for video conferencing, there are several documents of the three North American telecom operators such as AT-T, Verizon and Sprint.

Looking at it silently for a while, Eric’s attention finally fell on Sprint.

AT-T and Verizon are actually the companies that split the Bell system.

With Eric's current capital accumulation, AT-T is not to think about it at all.

The current market value of this veteran telecommunications giant has exceeded 100 billion US dollars, compared with the Internet companies blown up by the new technology bubble, it seems not too high, but in the next few years, with the rise of mobile communications and Internet business The market value of AT-T will increase rapidly. Even if the Internet bubble bursts, the market has already formed, and the market value of AT-T will not fall too much.

Moreover, because it has occupied nearly 70% of the telecom market share in North America for a long time, AT-T will encounter an anti-monopoly investigation almost every once in a while, and it is very unlikely that it can be approved by the regulatory authorities.

What's more, AT-T's diversification is very serious. Its business ranges from mobile phones to communication base stations from fixed telephones to cable TV. Such companies do not meet Eric's needs.

Although Verizon's strength is a lot behind AT-T, its current share price and profitability are very bright. When a company is operating very well, the company's board of directors and management will agree to accept mergers or acquisitions. The possibility is very low. Moreover, Verizon also has the drawback of being overly diversified similar to AT-T.

In comparison, among the three traditional telecom operators, the possibility of winning the Sprint is the highest.

First, Firefly Investment already owns 10% of Sprint's shares. In the future acquisition process, as a shareholder, Firefly can directly influence the Sprint Board.

Secondly, because of the initial bet on mobile communications, Sprint spent huge sums of money from the US Federal Communications Commission to photograph more than half of the mobile communication spectrum in North America. The company’s future business development focus is also in line with Eric’s expectations. Being able to focus on the business development of mobile communication and broadband services, even if you can't catch up with AT-T, it is not too difficult to surpass Verizon.

Finally, because of the bet on mobile communication services, Sprint's initial investment was too large. In recent years, the operating conditions have been unsatisfactory, and the company's share price has often fluctuated.

With the stock prices of new technology companies rising sharply, Sprint's current market value has just reached $30.2 billion.

Moreover, the mobile communication business wants to rise completely, it will take several years, which also gives Eric enough preparation time. Eric also needs to wait another year or two to get the shot. After all, in recent years, it has received new technology. With the influence of the wave, all the companies that are in contact with the new technology field are outrageously high.

Eric did not intend to acquire any company until the new technology bubble burst.

After the Internet bubble burst, it will be easier to acquire Sprint. Winning Sprint will not only re-establish the information industry alliance plan, but also take into account Eric's layout of the mobile communications industry.

Both Nokia and Qualcomm have already begun testing the third-generation mobile communication network, which is later 3G. According to the progress of all aspects, it is expected that around 3 years, the 3G networks of European and American countries will enter the practical application stage, even if it is planned. Smartphones will take years to promote, but Firefly Electronics can use the Sprint network to try out a 3G version of the tablet.

Eric sat in the study room and considered these things. In the living room downstairs in the villa, Caroline sat down on the sofa and looked through a magazine casually, looking up at the stairs from time to time.

Meyer walked out of a living room next to him, holding a folder in his hand and coming to the living room, just to see Caroline turning his head and looking at the stairs.

Sitting down next to Caroline, Meyer also glanced at Caroline's gaze and said: "I will be at nine o'clock, is Eric still not down?"

Caroline nodded and saw the blue folder in Mayer’s hand and asked, “Last week’s North American box office data?”

“Yeah,” Meyer handed the folder over and said, “Well, you go up and give it to Eric.”

Caroline took it over and opened the folder with a few pages of bound data files.

After three days of the first weekend and $86.65 million in the midnight game, the workday, "Matrix 2" four days to receive another 30.11 million US dollars at the box office, and finally the first week of the box office reached $11.13 million.

Although barely surpassing the $11.17 million box office in the first week of "The Day After Tomorrow" two weeks ago, the "Day of Matrix 2" workday box office is nearly $7 million lower than "The Day After Tomorrow", which is probably also "Matrix 2". The disadvantage of strong fan attributes. With the support of a large number of fans, the midnight game of "Matrix 2" and the three-day box office of the first weekend were very strong, but on the working day, the box office boom quickly cooled down.

Considering the word-of-mouth of "Matrix 2", in the next few weeks, the film's decline will definitely exceed "the day after tomorrow." Since the first week did not open a clear gap, then the North American total box office of "Matrix 2" wants to exceed "the day after tomorrow", but it is not so easy.

After reading the documents in his hands and thinking about it, Caroline said: "Today, I still don't want to see this for Eric. He is in a bad mood."

Meyer also acknowledged that in recent days, Eric has not lost his temper to anyone, but everyone can feel the strong anger and disappointment of Eric.

Meyer personally even faintly admired Eric. He is such a person who is in a high position and should be young and prosperous. He can keep restraining and not anger anyone. This is definitely not ordinary people. Do it.

Of course, I always think of the night in London, and then I can’t help but hate it.

Damn guy.

In my heart, once again, Meyer looked at Caroline again, although the frustrating result of that night was caused by the girl in front of her, but Meyer could not anger her to Caroline, she fell. It’s not that I have the restraint power of Eric. It’s just that such a girl who is so convinced that there is no one who will be willing to blame any mistakes on her.

The two women sat in the living room talking about the sky. After a while, the footsteps finally came on the stairs. Eric walked down and they stood up together.

Eric did not say anything to the two women and said directly: "Let's go, Peter should be waiting for us."

Today is Saturday, but New Zealand is far from the harsh labor protection laws of California. The weekend has not stopped. Of course, after all, the crew did not have a location on the weekend. Instead, they shot some of the main shooting bases in Queenstown. The fragmented interior scene of the character.

A few days ago, the crew had been out of the scene. Because of AOL’s affairs, Eric couldn’t get time to go to the location with the crew to visit, just waiting for Peter Jackson to return to Queenstown in the evening, Eric discussed with the other party. A trilogy of filming progress, and held a small party with some of the "Lord of the Rings" actors in New Zealand.

The "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has nearly 40 locations, covering the north and south of New Zealand.

At the moment, the North Island scene has been basically completed, and the crew moved from Wellington to Queenstown last month.

Although it happened to be the winter of New Zealand at this time, because of the temperate maritime climate facing the sea, the low temperature of the South Island did not affect the shooting. The entire South Island does not see much signs of winter. In addition to the snow-capped mountains that have been covered with snow all year round, the plains of Queenstown are still green.

The crew set up several studios in Queenstown that were not too large as the shooting base, mainly to match some scenes in the South Island. The film's main shooting base is also in Wellington, North Island, including the New Zealand branch of the digital field set up by Firefly in Wellington.

The special effects of The Lord of the Rings are mainly handled by the Australian branch of the digital field and the New Zealand branch. The Australian branch mainly produces CG special effects. The New Zealand branch is mainly responsible for a large number of props and models for the film. As for the former Vita Digital, it will naturally not appear again. However, the Australian branch in the digital field and the New Zealand branch basically enjoy the treatment that Vita Digital can enjoy.

The reason why Vita Digital in the original time and space can be side by side with industrial light and magic, digital field, etc., is not how good the special effects technology of this company is, mainly because Vita Digital is cheap enough, and the cost performance is very high on the basis of ensuring the quality of special effects. .

Eric left Carolyn and Meyer to leave the resort's home, and arrived in the studio of Queenstown in less than ten minutes by car.

Entering the busy studio, Peter Jackson is directing a shooting fight between the Guards Squad and the Orcs. The studio is surrounded by a set of green screens and props.

The "Lord of the Rings" series is actually very focused on real shots. The crew is not in a hurry. Basically, it will not use CG special effects. This can be easily distinguished from the content of the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Eric can't understand why Many people like to ridicule Peter Jackson's CG.

What's more, as long as it is good enough, CG is more able to give people a shocking visual sense.

Didn't bother Peter Jackson, who was busy, Eric and Ian McLean, the British actor who played Gandalf, chatted freely, and several other resting actors gradually came over, just Nicole and Diane K. The scenes of the two women of Ruger have already been completed, and now they are not in New Zealand. Most of the crew are male.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Peter Jackson ended the filming and announced a short break and walked over to Eric.

After greeting, Peter Jackson asked with concern: "Eric, what's the situation there?"

"It's a temporary solution," Eric didn't want to talk about. It should be a simple one.

The Eric people in New Zealand, the United States online things have been well known, Eric is in New Zealand, Peter Jackson is focused on the "Lord of the Rings" shooting, but it is impossible to notice this.