Billionaires To Sell Marcellus Gas Stakes

The news came out Thursday that billionaires Trevor Rees-Jones and Phillip Anschutz had put their natural gas fields in the Marcellus Shale up for sale. We confirmed yesterday with a source close to the Anschutz Company that the acreage, thought to be roughly 500,000 acres is indeed on the block. Rees-Jones too has some 500,000 acres for sale.

It’s incontrovertible that these two men own more of the Marcellus than anyone other individuals. That they’re both looking to sell at the same time is fascinating. So why now?

Taxes, for one. The capital gains tax rate is set to rise from 15% to 20% next year. Ready buyers, for another. We’ve been watching the wave of consolidation in the Marcellus, including big buys by Shell and Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and anticipate even bigger deals to come for land-long, cash-short independents like Range Resources. When the ducks quack, feed them.

For Rees-Jones, the payday could very well equal or even surpass the $2.6 billion he grossed in 2006 selling his Barnett Shale acreage to Devon Energy. A source with some knowledge of Rees-Jones’s Marcellus investments says that he acquired some 650,000 acres on the order of $100 an acre, long before the land grab heated up.

Late last year he and JV partner Tug Hill did a deal with Enerplus, which farmed in on 165,000 acres for $400 million, including $160mm in cash up front and the rest to pay drilling costs. That implied a value of $2,500 per acre. That’s a lot less than deals since then, which have gone as high as $14,000 an acre. Ambani’s last deal was for $6,300 an acre.

If Rees-Jones can fetch $6,000 per acre for his remaining 500,000 acres, that’ll be $3 billion. Even if his costs were $1,000 per acre ($500 million), Rees-Jones’s hypothetical gain would be on the order of $2.5 billion.

That’s a lot of reasons to sell now. Considering that the federal capital gains tax is set to increase from 15% to 20% in 2011, by selling before the end of the year he could presumably hold on to something on the order of $125 million that would otherwise go to Uncle Sam. Now that’s a motivated seller.

DISH Network Ends Half-Cooked DTVPal DVR

If you’ve never heard of the DTVPal DVR – or DTVPal tuner, don’t worry, you’re not alone. TheDTVPal DVR was an interesting device that was a cross between a VCR and a DVR. VCR because it could record shows based on time – unlike the better TiVo model, where it records by show – and DVR because it was, well, digital.

It was one of the only OTA ATSC dual-tuning DVRs available at a reasonable price, but that’s right about where the novelty wore off. You see, it was never very buttoned-down in terms of stability. Users often experienced the same issues as with the antiquated video cassette (12:00..12:00..not exclusive). That and only a limited guide was available over-the-air from either PSIP or TVGOS. The kinks were never worked out and DISH’s little pet project gotscrapped.

You can still get them – and very cheaply – so look to AVS forums or anywhere on the internet. Normal price was ~$250, but now it wouldn’t be hard to find one for $129.99.

BSNL to hire 10,000 in two years

Pitroda panel had suggested BSNL to cut staff strength by 100,000.

State-run telecom major Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) is on a major recruitment drive to add 10,000 employees in its sales and marketing division. This will push the size of the division to 25,000.

It has already redeployed and trained about 10,000 people from other departments for the division and would hire about 10,000-15,000 people in the next one to two years, Chairman and Managing Director Kuldeep Goyal told Business Standard.

The move is contrary to the recommendation of the Sam Pitroda committee, which had suggested BSNL to reduce the number of employees by 100,000 from the current 350,000. The recommendation has been opposed by staff unions, who say they will go on strike it it is implemented.

BSNL is also in the process of integrating its operations across the country. The public sector undertaking would implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project at an estimated cost of Rs 400 crore to integrate all its segments — finance, personnel, marketing, real estate and others, Goyal said.

“The implementation of ERP will increase our productivity and efficiency. Further, we will be able to access information across all segments immediately, as all the processes will be automated,” he said.

The company had also started giving incentives to employees, specifically in the sales department, on achievement of targets within the stipulated time, he added. For the first time, BSNL has set up a sales division in each of its four business verticals — fixed line, mobile, enterprise and new businesses.

The company has started to focus more on marketing activities to regain its lost ground in the 2G mobile space. BSNL also wants to push aggressively for its 3G mobile and broadband services before the entry of private companies in this space early next year. It would also try to increase its retail and distribution footprint across the country.

Industry experts say BSNL has so far failed to make much of its first-mover advantage in the 3G space. The firm has launched its 3G mobile services in 450 cities and plans to take it to 750 cities by the end of this year, with a target of four million subscribers from 1.3 million presently.

Due to increased competition, BSNL’s market share has come down to 12 per cent, in fourth position. The company is also under severe financial strain, as it has given Rs 3,700 crore in pay arrears and may end 2009-10 (it is yet to declare results) with losses. At the end of December 2009, BSNL had a net profit of Rs 175 crore, but due to the payout of arrears on wages of around Rs 3,700 crore, is expected to post losses. It has also asked for refund of 3G and BWA spectrum fees of about Rs 18,500 crore.

Saudi Networks Complete Interconnection for 3G Video Calls

Saudi Arabia's STC and Mobily (Etihad Etisalat) have jointly announced the completion of the technical Interconnect Link of their two networks, a step towards exchanging video calling services and MMS between the two networks.

Eng. Saud Al Daweesh, CEO of STC Group said that the recent Interconnect Link operation came as part of STC's strategic plans to identify various connectivity options for STC customers for local telecommunications services, reinforcing the 3G network and beyond with advanced technologies that make use of the 3G services with other telecommunications operators.

Al Daweesh also confirmed that STC is keen to enable its customers to benefit from video calling services by making and receiving video calls using their mobile phones in addition to making use of MMS by sending audio and video messages and video files with a capacity of 400 kb in each message using various networks in the kingdom.

Etihad Etisalat CEO expressed his deepest appreciation to STC for its cooperation in making the Interconnect Link of 3G services a success.

Senate panel backs space shuttle extension

NASA bill would boost big-rocket project, slow down commercialization

A key Senate committee on Thursday approved an authorization bill that would allow NASA to add one more space shuttle mission before retiring the fleet, and press forward with ambitious plans to send astronauts to an asteroid and on to Mars.

After months of debate and criticism, the Senate's Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee passed the NASA authorization bill by a unanimous vote. The bill will now move up to the full Senate for review.

"NASA is an agency in transition. We've had to take a clear, hard look at what we want from our space agency in the years and decades to come," committee chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., said in a statement. "I've made my views on this matter very clear: NASA's role cannot stay static. It must innovate and move in a new direction."

The extra shuttle mission would fly in 2011, after two more flights currently planned for November 2010 and February 2011.

In addition, the new authorization bill directs NASA to begin work immediately on a huge, heavy-lift rocket — which would be vital for any asteroid or Mars missions by astronauts — instead of waiting until 2015 as proposed by President Barack Obama in the space vision he announced earlier this year.

The bill would also advance the development of spacecraft for deep space missions to as early as 2016, rather than 2025 — the goal that Obama set for the first crewed mission to arrive at an asteroid.

It also allows the extension of the International Space Station's program through at least 2020, as Obama previously proposed.

 

NASA

The external fuel tank for the shuttle Endeavour's launch, scheduled for no earlier than Feb. 26, arrives at the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. Endeavour's mission is the last shuttle flight currently on NASA's schedule, but a bill approved by a key Senate panel would provide for one more flight in mid-2011.

 

Apple Calls News Briefing On iPhone 4

Apple has announced a special press conference about its problematic iPhone 4 prompting speculation of a recall.

An Apple spokesman declined to give further details, including whether the conference will address the new model's reception problems.

But Apple watchers speculated that the company will offer a solution.

"Given the intense pressure and scrutiny Apple has come under on the problem with the iPhone 4, it's going to be about some kind of fix or compensation for the owners of the phone," said Ed Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research.

Apple launched the phone last month to great fanfare as it boasted of a design that put the antenna in a stainless steel band around the phone's frame.

But it has been plagued with user complaints about dropped calls when the phone is held in a way that covers part of the antenna.

Antenna-design experts have said that the phone design, while cutting-edge, was risky because it exposes the antenna to touch.

What started out as a small number of users complaining about reception has now ballooned into a full-scale public-relations issue.

Critics say Apple has created a public relations headache for itself by appearing to dismiss or ignore the problem, allowing a minor issue to be turned into headline news.

On Monday America's Consumer Reports magazine - America's equivalent to Which? - said it could not recommend the iPhone 4 and suggested it had a hardware defect.

It was the first time the product-quality watchdog failed to recommend an Apple phone.

A recall of the device is unlikely, because since the problem does not affect safety and only occurs for some users in certain situations.

But there are rumours Apple could give away its £19 rubber 'bumper' case, which it believes could solve the reception problem.

The press conference will be held on Friday at 6pm UK time.

 

Download-the-windows-7-sp1-public-beta-right-now

It’s hard to imagine that Windows 7 could get even better but Microsoft is steadily working towards the first service pack. The beta of course comes first and is now available for public consumption. The 1.2GB pack fixes a bunch of bugs along with adding a few new features geared towards enterprise users.

Of course since SP1 is still in beta, you’re kind of on your own as far as technical support goes. Well, there’s always Google, but Microsoft isn’t going to help much. So if you’re curious what Microsoft has improved and don’t mind installing a beta service pack on your machine, hit up the link and let the fun begin.