RISK FACTORS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS
Many of our competitors are better established and have resources
significantly greater than we have, which may make it difficult to
attract and retain subscribers.
We will
compete with other providers of telephony service, many of which
have substantially greater financial, technical and marketing
resources, larger customer bases, longer operating histories,
greater name recognition and more established relationships in the
industry. In addition, a number of these competitors may combine or
form strategic partnerships. As a result, our competitors may be
able to offer, or bring to market earlier, products and services
that are superior to our own in terms of features, quality, pricing
or other factors. Our failure to compete successfully with any of
these companies would have a material adverse effect on our
business and the trading price of our common stock.
The
market for broadband and VoIP services is highly competitive, and
we compete with several other companies within a single
market:
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cable
operators offering high-speed Internet connectivity services and
voice communications;
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incumbent
and competitive local exchange carriers providing DSL services over
their existing wide, metropolitan and local area
networks;
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3G
cellular, PCS and other wireless providers offering wireless
broadband services and capabilities, including developments in
existing cellular and PCS technology that may increase network
speeds or have other advantages over our services;
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internet
service providers offering dial-up Internet
connectivity;
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municipalities
and other entities operating free or subsidized WiFi
networks;
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providers
of VoIP telephony services;
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wireless
Internet service providers using licensed or unlicensed
spectrum;
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satellite
and fixed wireless service providers offering or developing
broadband Internet connectivity and VoIP telephony;
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electric
utilities and other providers offering or planning to offer
broadband Internet connectivity over power
lines; and
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resellers
providing wireless Internet service by “piggy-backing”
on DSL or WiFi networks operated by others.
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Moreover,
we expect other existing and prospective competitors, particularly
if our services are successful; to adopt technologies or business
plans similar to ours or seek other means to develop a product
competitive with our services. Many of our competitors are
well-established and have larger and better developed networks and
systems, longer-standing relationships with customers and
suppliers, greater name recognition and greater financial,
technical and marketing resources than we have. These competitors
can often subsidize competing services with revenues from other
sources, such as advertising, and thus may offer their products and
services at lower prices than ours. These or other competitors may
also reduce the prices of their services significantly or may offer
broadband connectivity packaged with other products or services. We
may not be able to reduce our prices or otherwise alter our
services correspondingly, which would make it more difficult to
attract and retain subscribers.
Our Acquisitions could result in operating difficulties, dilution
and distractions from our core business.
We have
evaluated, and expect to continue to evaluate, potential strategic
transactions, including larger acquisitions. The process of
acquiring and integrating a company, business or technology is
risky, may require a disproportionate amount of our management or
financial resources and may create unforeseen operating
difficulties or expenditures, including:
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difficulties
in integrating acquired technologies and operations into our
business while maintaining uniform standards, controls, policies
and procedures;
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increasing
cost and complexity of assuring the implementation and maintenance
of adequate internal control and disclosure controls and
procedures, and of obtaining the reports and attestations that are
required of a company filing reports under the Securities Exchange
Act;
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difficulties
in consolidating and preparing our financial statements due to poor
accounting records, weak financial controls and, in some cases,
procedures at acquired entities based on accounting principles not
generally accepted in the United States, particularly those
entities in which we lack control; and
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the
inability to predict or anticipate market developments and capital
commitments relating to the acquired company, business or
technology.
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Acquisitions of and joint ventures with companies organized outside
the United States often involve additional risks,
including:
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difficulties,
as a result of distance, language or culture differences, in
developing, staffing and managing foreign operations;
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lack of
control over our joint ventures and other business
relationships;
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currency
exchange rate fluctuations;
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longer
payment cycles;
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credit
risk and higher levels of payment fraud;
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foreign
exchange controls that might limit our control over, or prevent us
from repatriating, cash generated outside the United
States;
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potentially
adverse tax consequences;
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expropriation
or nationalization of assets;
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differences
in regulatory requirements that may make it difficult to offer all
of our services;
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unexpected
changes in regulatory requirements;
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trade
barriers and import and export restrictions; and
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political
or social unrest and economic instability.
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The
anticipated benefit of any of our acquisitions or investments may
never materialize. Future investments, acquisitions or dispositions
could result in potentially dilutive issuances of our equity
securities, the incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or
amortization expenses, or write-offs of goodwill, any of which
could harm our financial condition. Future investments and
acquisitions may require us to obtain additional equity or debt
financing, which may not be available on favorable terms, or at
all.
Our substantial indebtedness and our current default status and any
restrictive debt covenants could limit our financing options and
liquidity position and may limit our ability to grow our
business.
Our
indebtedness could have important consequences to the holders of
our common stock, such as:
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we may
not be able to obtain additional financing to fund working capital,
operating losses, capital expenditures or acquisitions on terms
acceptable to us or at all;
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we may
be unable to refinance our indebtedness on terms acceptable to us
or at all;
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if
substantial indebtedness continues it could make us more vulnerable
to economic downturns and limit our ability to withstand
competitive pressures; and
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cash
flows from operations are currently negative and may continue to be
so, and our remaining cash, if any, may be insufficient to operate
our business.
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paying
dividends to our stockholders;
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incurring,
or cause certain of our subsidiaries to incur, additional
indebtedness;
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permitting
liens on or conduct sales of any assets pledged as
collateral;
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selling
all or substantially all of our assets or consolidate or merge with
or into other companies;
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repaying
existing indebtedness; and
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engaging
in transactions with affiliates.
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As of
September 30, 2019, the total debt or financing arrangements was
$13,694,015, of which $91,618 or less than 1% of total current
liabilities is past due. As of September 30, 2019, financing lease
arrangements are in the amount of $550,450, of which 101,815 is in
default. Our inability to renegotiate our indebtedness may cause
lien holders to obtain possession of a good portion of our assets
which would significantly alter our ability to generate revenues
and obtain any additional financing. There are some of our
derivative financial instruments which are being accounting for as
in default. These represent 4,708,524 or 15% of total liabilities
as of September 30, 2019.
We may experience difficulties in constructing, upgrading and
maintaining our network, which could adversely affect customer
satisfaction, increase subscriber turnover and reduce our
revenues.
Our
success depends on developing and providing products and services
that give subscribers a high-quality internet connectivity and VoIP
experience. If the number of subscribers using our network and the
complexity of our products and services increase, we will require
more infrastructure and network resources to maintain the quality
of our services. Consequently, we expect to make substantial
investments to construct and improve our facilities and equipment
and to upgrade our technology and network infrastructure. If we do
not implement these developments successfully, or if we experience
inefficiencies, operational failures or unforeseen costs during
implementation, the quality of our products and services could
decline.
We may
experience quality deficiencies, cost overruns and delays on
construction, maintenance and upgrade projects, including the
portions of those projects not within our control or the control of
our contractors. The construction of our network requires the
receipt of permits and approvals from numerous governmental bodies,
including municipalities and zoning boards. Such bodies often limit
the expansion of transmission towers and other construction
necessary for our business. Failure to receive approvals in a
timely fashion can delay system rollouts and raise the cost of
completing construction projects. In addition, we typically are
required to obtain rights from land, building and tower owners to
install our antennas and other equipment to provide service to our
subscribers. We may not be able to obtain, on terms acceptable to
us, or at all, the rights necessary to construct our network and
expand our services.
We also
face challenges in managing and operating our network. These
challenges include operating, maintaining and upgrading network and
customer premises equipment to accommodate increased traffic or
technological advances, and managing the sales, advertising,
customer support, billing and collection functions of our business
while providing reliable network service at expected speeds and
VoIP telephony at expected levels of quality. Our failure in any of
these areas could adversely affect customer satisfaction, increase
subscriber turnover, increase our costs, decrease our revenues and
otherwise have a material adverse effect on our business,
prospects, financial condition and results of
operations.
If we do not obtain and maintain rights to use licensed spectrum in
one or more markets, we may be unable to operate in these markets,
which could adversely affect our ability to execute our business
strategy.
Even
though we have established license agreements, growth requires that
we plan to provide our services obtaining additional licensed
spectrum both in the United States and internationally, we depend
on our ability to acquire and maintain sufficient rights to use
licensed spectrum by obtaining our own licenses or long-term
spectrum leases, in each of the markets in which we operate or
intend to operate. Licensing is the short-term solution to
obtaining the necessary spectrum as building out spectrum is a long
and difficult process that can be costly and require a
disproportionate amount of our management resources. We may not be
able to acquire, lease or maintain the spectrum necessary to
execute our business strategy.
Using
licensed spectrum, whether owned or leased, poses additional risks
to us, including:
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inability
to satisfy build-out or service deployment requirements upon which
our spectrum licenses or leases are, or may be,
conditioned;
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increases
in spectrum acquisition costs;
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adverse
changes to regulations governing our spectrum rights;
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the
risk that spectrum we have acquired or leased will not be
commercially usable or free of harmful interference from licensed
or unlicensed operators in our or adjacent bands;
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with
respect to spectrum we will lease in the United States, contractual
disputes with or the bankruptcy or other reorganization of the
license holders, which could adversely affect our control over the
spectrum subject to such license;
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failure
of the FCC or other regulators to renew our spectrum licenses as
they expire; and
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invalidation
of our authorization to use all or a significant portion of our
spectrum, resulting in, among other things, impairment charges
related to assets recorded for such spectrum.
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If we fail to establish and maintain an effective system of
internal control, we may not be able to report our financial
results accurately or to prevent fraud. Any inability to report and
file our financial results accurately and timely could harm our
business and adversely impact the trading price of our common
stock.
Effective
internal control is necessary for us to provide reliable financial
reports and prevent fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial
reports or prevent fraud, we may not be able to manage our business
as effectively as we would if an effective control environment
existed, and our business, brand and reputation with investors may
be harmed.
In
addition, reporting a material weakness may negatively impact
investors’ perception of us. We have allocated, and will
continue to allocate, significant additional resources to remedy
any deficiencies in our internal control.
There
can be no assurances that our remedial measures will be successful
in curing the any material weakness or that other significant
deficiencies or material weaknesses will not arise in the
future.
Interruption or failure of our information technology and
communications systems could impair our ability to provide our
products and services, which could damage our reputation and harm
our operating results.
We have
experienced service interruptions in some markets in the past and
may experience service interruptions or system failures in the
future. Any unscheduled service interruption adversely affects our
ability to operate our business and could result in an immediate
loss of revenues. If we experience frequent or persistent system or
network failures, our reputation and brand could be permanently
harmed. We may make significant capital expenditures to increase
the reliability of our systems, but these capital expenditures may
not achieve the results we expect.
Our
products and services depend on the continuing operation of our
information technology and communications systems. Any damage to or
failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our
service. Interruptions in our service could reduce our revenues and
profits, and our brand could be damaged if people believe our
network is unreliable. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or
interruption from earthquakes, terrorist attacks, floods, fires,
power loss, telecommunications failures, computer viruses, computer
denial of service attacks or other attempts to harm our systems,
and similar events. Some of our systems are not fully redundant,
and our disaster recovery planning may not be adequate. The
occurrence of a natural disaster or unanticipated problems at our
network centers could result in lengthy interruptions in our
service and adversely affect our operating results.
The industries in which we operate are continually evolving, which
makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and increases
the risk of your investment. Our products and services may become
obsolete, and we may not be able to develop competitive products or
services on a timely basis or at all.
The
markets in which we and our customers compete are characterized by
rapidly changing technology, evolving industry standards and
communications protocols, and continuous improvements in products
and services. Our future success depends on our ability to enhance
current products and to develop and introduce, in a timely manner,
new products that keep pace with technological developments,
industry standards and communications protocols, compete
effectively on the basis of price, performance and quality,
adequately address end-user customer requirements and achieve
market acceptance. There can be no assurance that the deployment of
wireless networks will not be delayed or that our products will
achieve widespread market acceptance or be capable of providing
service at competitive prices in sufficient volumes. In the event
that our products are not timely and economically developed or do
not gain widespread market acceptance, our business, results of
operations and financial condition would be materially adversely
affected. There can also be no assurance that our products will not
be rendered obsolete by the introduction and acceptance of new
communications protocols.
The
broadband services industry is characterized by rapid technological
change, competitive pricing, frequent new service introductions and
evolving industry standards and regulatory requirements. We believe
that our success depends on our ability to anticipate and adapt to
these challenges and to offer competitive services on a timely
basis. We face a number of difficulties and uncertainties
associated with our reliance on technological development, such
as:
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competition
from service providers using more traditional and commercially
proven means to deliver similar or alternative
services;
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competition
from new service providers using more efficient, less expensive
technologies, including products not yet invented or
developed;
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uncertain
consumer acceptance;
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realizing
economies of scale;
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responding
successfully to advances in competing technologies in a timely and
cost-effective manner;
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migration
toward standards-based technology, requiring substantial capital
expenditures; and
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existing,
proposed or undeveloped technologies that may render our wireless
broadband and VoIP telephony services less profitable or
obsolete.
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As the
products and services offered by us and our competitors develop,
businesses and consumers may not accept our services as a
commercially viable alternative to other means of delivering
wireless broadband and VoIP telephony services.
If we are unable to successfully develop and market additional
services and/or new generations of our services offerings or market
our services and product offerings to a broad number of customers,
we may not remain competitive.
Our
future success and our ability to increase net revenue and earnings
depend, in part, on our ability to develop and market new
additional services and/or new generations of our current services
offerings and market our existing services offerings to a broad
number of customers. However, we may not be able to, among other
things:
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successfully
develop or market new services or product offerings or enhance
existing services offerings;
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educate
third-party sales organizations adequately for them to promote and
sell our services offerings;
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develop,
market and distribute existing and future services offerings in a
cost-effective manner; or
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operate
the facilities needed to provide our services
offerings.
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If we
fail to develop new service offerings, or if we incur unexpected
expenses or delays in product development or integration, we may
lose our competitive position and incur substantial additional
expenses or may be required to curtail or terminate all or part of
our present planned business operations.
Our
failure to do any of the foregoing could have a material adverse
effect on our business, financial condition and results of
operations. In addition, if any of our current or future services
offerings contain undetected errors or design defects or do not
work as expected for our customers, our ability to market these
services offerings could be substantially impeded, resulting in
lost sales, potential reputation damage and delays in obtaining
market acceptance of these services offerings. We cannot assure you
that we will continue to successfully develop and market new or
enhanced applications for our services offerings. If we do not
continue to expand our services offerings portfolio on a timely
basis or if those products and applications do not receive market
acceptance, become regulatory restricted, or become obsolete, we
will not grow our business as currently expected.
We operate in a very competitive environment.
There
are three types of competitors for our service
offerings.
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(1)
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The
value-added resellers and other vendors of hardware and software
for on-site installation do not typically have an offering similar
to our cloud-based services. However, they are the primary historic
service suppliers to our targeted customers and will actively work
to defend their customer base.
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(2)
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There
are a number of providers offering services, but they typically
offer only one or two applications of their choosing instead of our
offering which bundles customer’s chosen
services.
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There
are a few providers that offer more than two applications from the
cloud. However currently, these providers typically offer only
those applications they have chosen.
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Our
industry is characterized by rapid change resulting from
technological advances and new services offerings. Certain
competitors have substantially greater capital resources, larger
customer bases, larger sales forces, greater marketing and
management resources, larger research and development staffs and
larger facilities than we do and have more established reputations
with our target customers, as well as distribution channels that
are entrenched and may be more effective than ours. Competitors may
develop and offer technologies and products that are more
effective, have better features, are easier to use, are less
expensive and/or are more readily accepted by the marketplace than
our offerings. Their products could make our technology and service
offerings obsolete or noncompetitive. Competitors may also be able
to achieve more efficient operations and distribution than ours may
be able to and may offer lower prices than we could offer
profitably. We may decide to alter or discontinue aspects of our
business and may adopt different strategies due to business or
competitive factors or factors currently unforeseen, such as the
introduction by competitors of new products or services
technologies that would make part or all of our service offerings
obsolete or uncompetitive.
In
addition, the industry could experience some consolidation. There
is also a risk that larger companies will enter our
markets.
If we fail to maintain effective relationships with our major
vendors, our services offerings and profitability could
suffer.
We use
third party providers for services. In addition, we purchase
hardware, software and services from external suppliers.
Accordingly, we must maintain effective relationships with our
vendor base to source our needs, maintain continuity of supply, and
achieve reasonable costs. If we fail to maintain effective
relationships with our vendor base, this may adversely affect our
ability to deliver the best products and services to our customers
and our profitability could suffer.
Any failure of the physical or electronic security that resulted in
unauthorized parties gaining access to customer data could
adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
We use
commercial data networks to service customers cloud based services
and the associated customer data. Any data is subject to the risk
of physical or electronic intrusion by unauthorized parties. We
have a multi-homed firewalls and Intrusion Detection / Prevention
systems to protect against electronic intrusion and two physical
security levels in our networks. Our policy is to close all
external ports as a default. Robust anti-virus software runs on all
client servers. Systems have automated monitoring and alerting for
unusual activity. We also have a Security Officer who monitors
these systems. We have better security systems and expertise than
our clients can afford separately but any failure of these systems
could adversely affect our business growth and financial
condition.
Demand for our service offerings may decrease if new government
regulations substantially increase costs, limit delivery or change
the use of Internet access and other products on which our service
offerings depend.
We are
dependent on Internet access to deliver our service offerings. If
new regulations are imposed that limit the use of the Internet or
impose significant taxes on services delivered via the Internet it
could change our cost structure and/or affect our business model.
The significant changes in regulatory costs or new limitations on
Internet use could impact our ability to operate as we anticipate,
could damage our reputation with our customers, disrupt our
business or result in, among other things, decreased net revenue
and increased overhead costs. As a result, any such failure could
harm our business, financial condition and results of
operations.
Our
securities, as offered hereby, are highly speculative and should be
purchased only by persons who can afford to lose their entire
investment in us. Each prospective investor should carefully
consider the following risk factors, as well as all other
information set forth elsewhere in this prospectus, before
purchasing any of the shares of our common stock.
Increasing regulation of our Internet-based products and services
could adversely affect our ability to provide new products and
services.
On
February 26, 2015, the FCC adopted a new "network neutrality"
or Open Internet order (the "2015 Order") that:
(1) reclassified broadband Internet access service as a Title
II common carrier service, (2) applied certain existing Title
II provisions and associated regulations; (3) forbore from
applying a range of other existing Title II provisions and
associated regulations, but to varying degrees indicated that this
forbearance may be only temporary and (4) issued new rules
expanding disclosure requirements and prohibiting blocking,
throttling, paid prioritization and unreasonable interference with
the ability of end users and edge providers to reach each other.
The 2015 Order also subjected broadband providers' Internet traffic
exchange rates and practices to potential FCC oversight and created
a mechanism for third parties to file complaints regarding these
matters. The 2015 Order could limit our ability to efficiently
manage our cable systems and respond to operational and competitive
challenges. In December 2017, the FCC adopted an order (the "2017
Order") that in large part reverses the 2015 Order. The 2017 Order
has not yet gone into effect, however, and the 2015 Order will
remain binding until the 2017 Order takes effect. The 2017 Order is
expected to be subject to legal challenge that may delay its effect
or overturn it. Additionally, Congress and some states are
considering legislation that may codify "network neutrality"
rules.
Offering telephone services may subject us to additional regulatory
burdens, causing us to incur additional costs.
We
offer telephone services over our broadband network and continue to
develop and deploy interconnected VoIP services. The FCC has
required that competitive telephone companies that support VoIP
services, such as those that we offer to our customers, are
entitled to interconnect with incumbent providers of traditional
telecommunications services, which ensures that our VoIP services
can operate in the market. However, the scope of these
interconnection rights is being reviewed in a current FCC
proceeding, which may affect our ability to compete in the
provision of telephony services or result in additional costs. It
remains unclear precisely to what extent federal and state
regulators will subject VoIP services to traditional telephone
service regulation. Expanding our offering of these services may
require us to obtain certain authorizations, including federal and
state licenses. We may not be able to obtain such authorizations in
a timely manner, or conditions could be imposed upon such licenses
or authorizations that may not be favorable to us. The FCC has
already extended certain traditional telecommunications
requirements, such as E911 capabilities, Universal Service Fund
contribution, Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act
("CALEA"), measures to protect Customer Proprietary Network
Information, customer privacy, disability access, number porting,
battery back-up, network outage reporting, rural call completion
reporting and other regulatory requirements to many VoIP providers
such as us. If additional telecommunications regulations are
applied to our VoIP service, it could cause us to incur additional
costs and may otherwise materially adversely impact our operations.
In 2011, the FCC released an order significantly changing the rules
governing intercarrier compensation for the origination and
termination of telephone traffic between interconnected carriers.
These rules have resulted in a substantial decrease in interstate
compensation payments over a multi-year period. The FCC is
currently considering additional reforms that could further reduce
interstate compensation payments. Further, although the FCC
recently declined to impose additional regulatory burdens on
certain point to point transport ("special access") services
provided by cable companies, that FCC decision has been appealed by
multiple parties. If those appeals are successfully, there could be
additional regulatory burdens and additional costs placed on these
services.
We may engage in acquisitions and other strategic transactions and
the integration of such acquisitions and other strategic
transactions could materially adversely affect our business,
financial condition and results of operations.
Our
business has grown significantly as a result of acquisitions,
including the Acquisitions, which entail numerous risks
including:
●distraction
of our management team in identifying potential acquisition
targets, conducting due diligence and negotiating acquisition
agreements;
●difficulties
in integrating the operations, personnel, products, technologies
and systems of acquired businesses;
●difficulties
in enhancing our customer support resources to adequately service
our existing customers and the customers of acquired
businesses;
●the
potential loss of key employees or customers of the acquired
businesses;
●unanticipated
liabilities or contingencies of acquired
businesses;
●unbudgeted
costs which we may incur in connection with pursuing potential
acquisitions which are not consummated;
●failure
to achieve projected cost savings or cash flow from acquired
businesses, which are based on projections that are inherently
uncertain;
●fluctuations
in our operating results caused by incurring considerable expenses
to acquire and integrate businesses before receiving the
anticipated revenues expected to result from the acquisitions;
and
●difficulties
in obtaining regulatory approvals required to consummate
acquisitions.
We also
participate in competitive bidding processes, some of which may
involve significant cable systems. If we are the winning bidder in
any such process involving significant cable systems or we
otherwise engage in acquisitions or other strategic transactions in
the future, we may incur additional debt, contingent liabilities
and amortization expenses, which could materially adversely affect
our business, financial condition and results of operations. We
could also issue substantial additional equity which could dilute
existing stockholders.
If our
acquisitions, including the Acquisitions and the integration of the
Optimum and Suddenlink businesses, do not result in the anticipated
operating efficiencies, are not effectively integrated, or result
in costs which exceed our expectations, our business, financial
condition and results of operations could be materially adversely
affected.
Significant unanticipated increases in the use of
bandwidth-intensive Internet-based services could increase our
costs.
The
rising popularity of bandwidth-intensive Internet-based services
poses risks for our broadband services. Examples of such services
include peer-to-peer file sharing services, gaming services and the
delivery of video via streaming technology and by download. If
heavy usage of bandwidth-intensive broadband services grows beyond
our current expectations, we may need to incur more expenses than
currently anticipated to expand the bandwidth capacity of our
systems or our customers could have a suboptimal experience when
using our broadband service. In order to continue to provide
quality service at attractive prices, we need the continued
flexibility to develop and refine business models that respond to
changing consumer uses and demands and to manage bandwidth usage
efficiently. Our ability to undertake such actions could be
restricted by regulatory and legislative efforts to impose
so-called "net neutrality" requirements on broadband communication
providers like us that provide broadband services. For more
information, see "Regulation—Broadband."
We operate
in a highly competitive business environment
which could materially adversely affect our business, financial
condition, results of operations and liquidity.
We
operate in a highly competitive, consumer-driven industry and we
compete against a variety of broadband, pay television and
telephony providers and delivery systems, including broadband
communications companies, wireless data and telephony providers,
satellite-delivered video signals, Internet-delivered video content
and broadcast television signals available to residential and
business customers in our service areas. Some of our competitors
include AT&T and its DirecTV subsidiary, CenturyLink, DISH
Network, Frontier and Verizon. In addition, our pay television
services compete with all other sources of leisure, news,
information and entertainment, including movies, sporting or other
live events, radio broadcasts, home-video services, console games,
print media and the Internet.
In some
instances, our competitors have fewer regulatory burdens, easier
access to financing, greater resources, greater operating
capabilities and efficiencies of scale, stronger brand-name
recognition, longstanding relationships with regulatory authorities
and customers, more subscribers, more flexibility to offer
promotional packages at prices lower than ours and greater access
to programming or other services. This competition creates pressure
on our pricing and has adversely affected, and may continue to
affect, our ability to add and retain customers, which in turn
adversely affects our business, financial condition and results of
operations. The effects of competition may also adversely affect
our liquidity and ability to service our debt. For example, we face
intense competition from Verizon and AT&T, which have network
infrastructure throughout our service areas. We estimate that
competitors are currently able to sell a fiber-based triple play,
including broadband, pay television and telephony services, and may
expand these and other service offerings to our potential
customers.
Our
competitive risks are heightened by the rapid technological change
inherent in our business, evolving consumer preferences and the
need to acquire, develop and adopt new technology to differentiate
our products and services from those of our competitors, and to
meet consumer demand. We may need to anticipate far in advance
which technology we should use for the development of new products
and services or the enhancement of existing products and services.
The failure to accurately anticipate such changes may adversely
affect our ability to attract and retain customers, which in turn
could adversely affect our business, financial condition and
results of operations. Consolidation and cooperation in our
industry may allow our competitors to acquire service capabilities
or offer products that are not available to us or offer similar
products and services at prices lower than ours. For example,
Comcast and Charter Communications have agreed to jointly explore
operational efficiencies to speed their respective entries into the
wireless market, including in the areas of creating common
operating platforms and emerging wireless technology platforms. In
addition, changes in the regulatory and legislative environments
may result in changes to the competitive landscape.
In
addition, certain of our competitors own directly or are affiliated
with companies that own programming content or have exclusive
arrangements with content providers that may enable them to obtain
lower programming costs or offer exclusive programming that may be
attractive to prospective subscribers. For example, DirecTV has
exclusive arrangements with the National Football League that give
it access to programming we cannot offer. AT&T also has an
agreement to acquire Time Warner, which owns a number of cable
networks, including TBS, CNN and HBO, as well as Warner Bros.
Entertainment, which produces television, film and home-video
content. AT&T's and DirecTV's potential access to Time Warner
programming could allow AT&T and DirecTV to offer competitive
and promotional packages that could negatively affect our ability
to maintain or increase our existing customers and revenues. DBS
operators such as DISH Network and DirecTV also have marketing
arrangements with certain phone companies in which the DBS
provider's pay television services are sold together with the phone
company's broadband and mobile and traditional phone
services.
Most
broadband communications companies, which already have wired
networks, an existing customer base and other operational functions
in place (such as billing and service personnel), offer DSL
services. We believe DSL service competes with our broadband
service and is often offered at prices lower than our Internet
services. However, DSL is often offered at speeds lower than the
speeds we offer. In addition, DSL providers may currently be in a
better position to offer Internet services to businesses since
their networks tend to be more complete in commercial areas. They
may also increasingly have the ability to combine video services
with telephone and Internet services offered to their customers,
particularly as broadband communications companies enter into
co-marketing agreements with other service providers. In addition,
current and future fixed and wireless Internet services, such as
3G, 4G and 5G fixed and wireless broadband services and Wi-Fi
networks, and devices such as wireless data cards, tablets and
smartphones, and mobile wireless routers that connect to such
devices, may compete with our broadband services.
Our
telephony services compete directly with established broadband
communications companies and other carriers, including wireless
providers, as increasing numbers of homes are replacing their
traditional telephone service with wireless telephone service. We
also compete against VoIP providers like Vonage, Skype, GoogleTalk,
Facetime, WhatsApp and magicJack that do not own networks but can
provide service to any person with a broadband connection, in some
cases free of charge. In addition, we compete against ILECs, other
CLECs and long-distance voice-service companies for large
commercial and enterprise customers. While we compete with the
ILECs, we also enter into interconnection agreements with ILECs so
that our customers can make and receive calls to and from customers
served by the ILECs and other telecommunications providers. Federal
and state law and regulations require ILECs to enter into such
agreements and provide facilities and services necessary for
connection, at prices subject to regulation. The specific price,
terms and conditions of each agreement, however, depend on the
outcome of negotiations between us and each ILEC. Interconnection
agreements are also subject to approval by the state regulatory
commissions, which may arbitrate negotiation impasses. These
agreements, like all interconnection agreements, are for limited
terms and upon expiration are subject to renegotiation, potential
arbitration and approval under the laws in effect at that
time.
We also
face competition for our advertising sales from traditional and
non-traditional media outlets, including television and radio
stations, traditional print media and the Internet.
We face significant risks as a result of rapid changes in
technology, consumer expectations and behavior.
The
broadband communications industry has undergone significant
technological development over time and these changes continue to
affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Such changes have had, and will continue to have, a profound impact
on consumer expectations and behavior. Our video business faces
technological change risks as a result of the continuing
development of new and changing methods for delivery of programming
content such as Internet-based delivery of movies, shows and other
content which can be viewed on televisions, wireless devices and
other developing mobile devices. Consumers' video consumption
patterns are also evolving, for example, with more content being
downloaded for time-shifted consumption. A proliferation of
delivery systems for video content can adversely affect our ability
to attract and retain subscribers and the demand for our services
and it can also decrease advertising demand on our delivery
systems. Our broadband business faces technological challenges from
rapidly evolving wireless Internet solutions. Our telephony service
offerings face technological developments in the proliferation of
telephony delivery systems including those based on Internet and
wireless delivery. If we do not develop or acquire and successfully
implement new technologies, we will limit our ability to compete
effectively for subscribers, content and advertising. We cannot
provide any assurance that we will realize, in full or in part, the
anticipated benefits we expect from the introduction of our home
communications hub, or that it will be rolled out across our
footprint in the timeframe we anticipate. In addition, we may be
required to make material capital and other investments to
anticipate and to keep up with technological change. These
challenges could adversely affect our business, financial condition
and results of operations.
Our revenues and growth may be constrained due to demand exceeding
capacity of our systems or our inability to develop
solutions.
We
anticipate generating revenues in the future from broadband
connectivity, other Internet services, and broadband and in the
cloud services. Demand and market acceptance for these recently
introduced services and products delivered over the Internet is
uncertain. Critical issues concerning the use of the Internet, such
as ease of access, security, reliability, cost and quality of
service, exist and may affect the growth of Internet use or the
attractiveness of conducting commerce online. In addition, the
Internet and online services may not be accepted as viable for a
number of reasons, including potentially inadequate development of
the necessary network infrastructure or delayed development of
enabling technologies and performance improvements. To the extent
that the Internet and online services continue to experience
significant growth, there can be no assurance that the
infrastructure of the Internet and online services will prove
adequate to support increased user demands. In addition, the
Internet or online services could lose their viability due to
delays in the development or adoption of new standards and
protocols required to handle increased levels of Internet or online
service activity. Changes in, or insufficient availability of,
telecommunications services to support the Internet or online
services also could result in slower response times and adversely
affect usage of the Internet and online services generally and us
in particular. If use of the Internet and online services does not
continue to grow or grows more slowly than expected, if the
infrastructure for the Internet and online services does not
effectively support growth that may occur, or if the Internet and
online services do not become a viable commercial marketplace, our
business could be adversely affected.
Certain
aspects of our VoIP telephony services differ from traditional
telephone service. The factors that may have this effect
include:
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our
subscribers may experience lower call quality than they experience
with traditional wireline telephone companies, including static,
echoes and transmission delays;
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our
subscribers may experience higher dropped-call rates than they
experience with traditional wireline telephone
companies; and
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a power
loss or Internet access interruption causes our service to be
interrupted.
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Additionally,
our VoIP emergency calling service is significantly more limited
than the emergency calling services offered by traditional
telephone companies. Our VoIP emergency calling service can only
transmit to a dispatcher at a public safety answering point, or
PSAP, the location information that the subscriber has registered
with us, which may at times be different from the actual location
at the time of the call. As a result, our emergency calling systems
may not assure that the appropriate PSAP is reached and may cause
significant delays, or even failures, in callers’ receipt of
emergency assistance. Our failure to develop or operate an adequate
emergency calling service could subject us to substantial
liabilities and may result in delays in subscriber adoption of our
VoIP telephony services or all of our services, abandonment of our
services by subscribers, and litigation costs, damage awards and
negative publicity, any of which could harm our business,
prospects, financial condition or results of
operations.
If our
subscribers do not accept the differences between our VoIP
telephony services and traditional telephone service, they may not
adopt or keep our VoIP telephony services or our other services or
may choose to retain or return to service provided by traditional
telephone companies. Because VoIP telephony services represent an
important aspect of our business strategy, failure to achieve
subscribers’ acceptance of our VoIP telephony services may
adversely affect our prospects, results of operations and the
trading price of our shares.
We rely on contract manufacturers and a limited number of
third-party suppliers to produce our network equipment and to
maintain our network sites. If these companies fail to perform, we
may have a shortage of components and may be required to suspend
our network deployment and our product and service
introduction.
We
depend on contract manufacturers, to produce and deliver
acceptable, high quality products on a timely basis. We also depend
on a limited number of third parties to maintain our network
facilities. If our contract manufacturer or other providers do not
satisfy our requirements, or if we lose our contract manufacturers
or any other significant provider, we may have an insufficient
network services for delivery to subscribers, we may be forced to
suspend portions of our wireless broadband network, enrollment of
new subscribers, and product sales and our business, prospects,
financial condition and operating results may be
harmed.
We rely on highly skilled executives and other personnel. If we
cannot retain and motivate key personnel, we may be unable to
implement our business strategy.
We will
be highly dependent on the scientific, technical, and managerial
skills of certain key employees, including technical, research and
development, sales, marketing, financial and executive personnel,
and on our ability to identify, hire and retain additional
personnel. To accommodate our current size and manage our
anticipated growth, we must expand our employee base. Competition
for key personnel, particularly persons having technical expertise,
is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to
retain existing personnel or to identify or hire additional
personnel. The need for such personnel is particularly important
given the strains on our existing infrastructure and the need to
anticipate the demands of future growth. In particular, we are
highly dependent on the continued services of our senior management
team, which currently is composed of a small number of individuals.
We do not maintain key-man life insurance on the life of any
employee. The inability of us to attract, hire or retain the
necessary technical, sales, marketing, financial and executive
personnel, or the loss of the services of any member of our senior
management team, could have a material adverse effect on
us.
Our
future success depends largely on the expertise and reputation of
our founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Stephen J.
Thomas, Richard Eberhardt, and the other members of our senior
management team. In addition, we intend to hire additional highly
skilled individuals to staff our operations. Loss of any of our key
personnel or the inability to recruit and retain qualified
individuals could adversely affect our ability to implement our
business strategy and operate our business.
We are
currently managed by a small number of key management and operating
personnel. Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to
recruit and retain qualified personnel. Failure to do so likely
would have an adverse impact on our business and the trading price
of our common stock.
If our data security measures are breached, subscribers may
perceive our network and services as not secure.
Our
network security and the authentication of the subscriber’s
credentials are designed to protect unauthorized access to data on
our network. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access
to or to sabotage networks change frequently and may not be
recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to
anticipate or implement adequate preventive measures against
unauthorized access or sabotage. Consequently, unauthorized parties
may overcome our encryption and security systems and obtain access
to data on our network, including on a device connected to our
network. In addition, because we operate and control our network
and our subscribers’ Internet connectivity, unauthorized
access or sabotage of our network could result in damage to our
network and to the computers or other devices used by our
subscribers. An actual or perceived breach of network security,
regardless of whether the breach is our fault, could harm public
perception of the effectiveness of our security measures, adversely
affect our ability to attract and retain subscribers, expose us to
significant liability and adversely affect our business
prospects.
Our activities outside the United States could disrupt our
operations.
We
intend to invest in various international companies and spectrum
opportunities through acquisitions and strategic alliances as these
opportunities arise. Our activities outside the United States
operate in environments different from the one we face in the
United States, particularly with respect to competition and
regulation. Due to these differences, our activities outside the
United States may require a disproportionate amount of our
management and financial resources, which could disrupt our U.S.
operations and adversely affect our business.
In a
number of international markets, we face substantial competition
from local service providers that offer or may offer their own
wireless broadband or VoIP telephony services and from other
companies that provide Internet connectivity services. We may face
heightened challenges in gaining market share, particularly in
certain European countries, where a large portion of the population
already has broadband Internet connectivity and incumbent companies
already have a dominant market share in their service areas.
Furthermore, foreign providers of competing services may have a
substantial advantage over us in attracting subscribers due to a
more established brand, greater knowledge of local
subscribers’ preferences and access to significant financial
or strategic resources.
In
addition, foreign regulatory authorities frequently own or control
the incumbent telecommunications companies operating under their
jurisdiction. Established relationships between government-owned or
government-controlled telecommunications companies and their
traditional local providers of telecommunications services often
limit access of third parties to these markets. The successful
expansion of our international operations in some markets will
depend on our ability to locate, form and maintain strong
relationships with established local communication services and
equipment providers. Failure to establish these relationships or to
market or sell our products and services successfully could limit
our ability to attract subscribers to our services.
We may be unable to protect our intellectual property, which could
reduce the value of our services and our brand.
Our
ability to compete effectively depends on our ability to protect
our proprietary technologies, system designs and manufacturing
processes. We may not be able to safeguard and maintain our
proprietary rights. We rely on patents, trademarks and policies and
procedures related to confidentiality to protect our intellectual
property. Some of our intellectual property, however, is not
covered by any of these protections.
We could be subject to claims that we have infringed on the
proprietary rights of others, which claims would likely be costly
to defend, could require us to pay damages and could limit our
ability to use necessary technologies in the
future.
Our
competitors may independently develop or patent technologies or
processes that are substantially equivalent or superior to ours.
These competitors may claim that our services and products infringe
on these patents or other proprietary rights. Defending against
infringement claims, even merit less ones, would be time consuming,
distracting and costly. If we are found to be infringing
proprietary rights of a third party, we could be enjoined from
using such third party’s rights and be required to pay
substantial royalties and damages and may no longer be able to use
the intellectual property on acceptable terms or at all. Failure to
obtain licenses to intellectual property could delay or prevent the
development, manufacture or sale of our products or services and
could cause us to expend significant resources to develop or
acquire non-infringing intellectual property.
Our business depends on our brand, and if we do not maintain and
enhance our brand, our ability to attract and retain subscribers
may be impaired and our business and operating results
harmed.
We
believe that our brand is a critical part of our business.
Maintaining and enhancing our brand may require us to make
substantial investments with no assurance that these investments
will be successful. If we fail to promote and maintain our brands,
or if we incur significant expenses in this effort, our business,
prospects, operating results and financial condition may be harmed.
We anticipate that maintaining and enhancing our brand will become
increasingly important, difficult and expensive.
We are subject to extensive regulation.
Our
acquisition, lease, maintenance and use of spectrum licenses are
extensively regulated by federal, state, local, and foreign
governmental entities. A number of other federal, state, local and
foreign privacy, security and consumer laws also apply to our
business. These regulations and their application are subject to
continual change as new legislation, regulations or amendments to
existing regulations are adopted from time to time by governmental
or regulatory authorities, including as a result of judicial
interpretations of such laws and regulations. Current regulations
directly affect the breadth of services we are able to offer and
may impact the rates, terms and conditions of our services.
Regulation of companies that offer competing services, such as
cable and DSL providers and incumbent telecommunications carriers,
also affects our business indirectly.
We are
also subject to regulation because we provide VoIP telephony
services. As an “interconnected” VoIP provider, we are
required under FCC rules, to comply with the Communications
Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, which requires
service providers to build certain capabilities into their networks
and to accommodate wiretap requests from law enforcement
agencies.
In
addition, the FCC or other regulatory authorities may in the future
restrict our ability to manage subscribers’ use of our
network, thereby limiting our ability to prevent or address
subscribers’ excessive bandwidth demands. To maintain the
quality of our network and user experience, we manage the bandwidth
used by our subscribers’ applications, in part by restricting
the types of applications that may be used over our network. Some
providers and users of these applications have objected to this
practice. If the FCC or other regulatory authorities were to adopt
regulations that constrain our ability to employ bandwidth
management practices, excessive use of bandwidth-intensive
applications would likely reduce the quality of our services for
all subscribers. Such decline in the quality of our services could
harm our business.
In
certain of our international markets, the services provided by our
business may require receipt of a license from national, provincial
or local regulatory authorities. Where required, regulatory
authorities may have significant discretion in granting the
licenses and in the term of the licenses and are often under no
obligation to renew the licenses when they expire.
The
breach of a license or applicable law, even if inadvertent, can
result in the revocation, suspension, cancellation or reduction in
the term of a license or the imposition of fines. In addition,
regulatory authorities may grant new licenses to third parties,
resulting in greater competition in territories where we already
have rights to licensed spectrum. In order to promote competition,
licenses may also require that third parties be granted access to
our bandwidth, frequency capacity, facilities or services. We may
not be able to obtain or retain any required license, and we may
not be able to renew a license on favorable terms, or at
all.
Our
wireless broadband and VoIP telephony services may become subject
to greater state or federal regulation in the future. The scope of
the regulations that may apply to VoIP telephony services providers
and the impact of such regulations on providers’ competitive
position are presently unknown.
Our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is also our largest
stockholder, and as a result he can exert control over us and has
actual or potential interests that may diverge from
yours.
Mr. Thomas
may have interests that diverge from those of other holders of our
common stock and he owns our super majority voting Series A stock.
As a result, Mr. Thomas may vote the shares he owns or otherwise
cause us to take actions that may conflict with your best interests
as a stockholder, which could adversely affect our results of
operations and the trading price of our common stock.
Through
his control, Mr. Thomas can control our management, affairs
and all matters requiring stockholder approval, including the
approval of significant corporate transactions, a sale of our
company, decisions about our capital structure and, the composition
of our board of directors.
RISK FACTORS RELATED TO OUR STOCK
We can give no assurance of success or profitability to our
investors.
Cash
flows generated from operating activities were not enough to
support all working capital requirements for the nine months ended
September 30, 2019 and 2018. Financing activities described below
have helped with working capital and other capital requirements. We
incurred $8,538,360 and $3,307,841, respectively, in losses, and we
used $1,032,989 and $836,228, respectively, in cash for operations
for the nine months September 30, 2019 and 2018. Cash flows from
financing activities were $2,027,422 and $774,715 for the same
periods. These factors raise substantial doubt about the ability of
the Company to continue as a going concern for a period of one year
from the issuance of these financial statements. The financial
statements do not include any adjustments that might result from
the outcome of this uncertainty.
We
acquired the assets of SpeedConnect on May 7, 2019 for $1,000,000
and a note payable for $750,000. These assets were conveyed into a
wholly owned subsidiary, TPT SpeedConnect. Although TPT
SpeedConnect is currently generating cash flows, there is expected
to be significant capital required in the near term to upgrade the
current network to 5G standards.
In
order for us to continue as a going concern for a period of one
year from the issuance of these financial statements, we will need
to obtain additional debt or equity financing and look for
companies with cash flow positive operations that we can acquire.
There can be no assurance that we will be able to secure additional
debt or equity financing, that we will be able to acquire cash flow
positive operations, or that, if we are successful in any of those
actions, those actions will produce adequate cash flow to enable us
to meet all our future obligations. Most of our existing financing
arrangements are short-term. If we are unable to obtain additional
debt or equity financing, we may be required to significantly
reduce or cease operations.
We may in the future issue more shares which could cause a loss of
control by our present management and current
stockholders.
We may
issue further shares as consideration for the cash or assets or
services out of our authorized but unissued common stock that
would, upon issuance, represent a majority of the voting power and
equity of our Company. The result of such an issuance would be
those new stockholders and management would control our Company,
and persons unknown could replace our management at this time. Such
an occurrence would result in a greatly reduced percentage of
ownership of our Company by our current shareholders, which could
present significant risks to investors.
We have options and warrants issued and outstanding, convertible
promissory notes and preferred stock that is convertible into
common stock. A conversion of such equity and debt instruments
could have a dilutive effect to existing shareholders.
As of
September 30, 2019, we had options outstanding to purchase
3,093,120 shares of common stock of the Company.
As of
September 30, 2019, we had warrants outstanding to purchase
3,333,333 shares of common stock of the Company.
As of
September 30, 2019, we had convertible promissory notes outstanding
that were convertible into 125,654,896common shares.
In
addition, the Series A and B preferred stocks outstanding are
convertible into common shares of 141,825,420 and 2,588,693,
respectively as of September 30, 2019.
The
exercise of the options, warrants, convertible promissory notes and
Series A and B Series Preferred Stock into shares of our common
stock could have a dilutive effect to the holdings of our existing
shareholders.
Our officers and directors
may have conflicts of interests as to corporate opportunities which
we may not be able or allowed to participate
in.
Presently
there is no requirement contained in our Articles of Incorporation,
Bylaws, or minutes which requires officers and directors of our
business to disclose to us business opportunities which come to
their attention. Our officers and directors do, however, have a
fiduciary duty of loyalty to us to disclose to us any business
opportunities which come to their attention, in their capacity as
an officer and/or director or otherwise. Excluded from this duty
would be opportunities which the person learns about through his
involvement as an officer and director of another company. We have
no intention of merging with or acquiring business opportunity from
any affiliate or officer or director.
We have agreed to indemnification of officers and directors as is
provided by Florida Statutes.
Florida
Statutes provide for the indemnification of our directors,
officers, employees, and agents, under certain circumstances,
against attorney’s fees and other expenses incurred by them
in any litigation to which they become a party arising from their
association with or activities our behalf. We will also bear the
expenses of such litigation for any of our directors, officers,
employees, or agents, upon such person’s promise to repay us
therefore if it is ultimately determined that any such person shall
not have been entitled to indemnification. This indemnification
policy could result in substantial expenditures by us that we will
be unable to recoup.
Our directors’ liability to us and shareholders is
limited.
Florida
Statutes exclude personal liability of our directors and our
stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty
except in certain specified circumstances. Accordingly, we will
have a much more limited right of action against our directors that
otherwise would be the case. This provision does not affect the
liability of any director under federal or applicable state
securities laws.
Our Stock prices in the Market may be volatile.
The
value of our Common stock following this offering may be highly
volatile and could be subject to fluctuations in price in response
to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. These
factors include:
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quarterly
variations in our results of operations or those of our
competitors;
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announcements
by us or our competitors of acquisitions, new products, significant
contracts, commercial relationships or capital
commitments;
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disruption
to our operations or those of other sources critical to our network
operations;
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the
emergence of new competitors or new technologies;
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our
ability to develop and market new and enhanced products on a timely
basis;
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seasonal
or other variations in our subscriber base;
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commencement
of, or our involvement in, litigation;
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availability
of additional spectrum;
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dilutive
issuances of our stock or the stock of our subsidiaries, or the
incurrence of additional debt;
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changes
in our board or management;
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adoption
of new or different accounting standards;
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changes
in governmental regulations or in the status of our regulatory
approvals;
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changes
in earnings estimates or recommendations by securities
analysts;
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announcements
regarding WiMAX and other technical standards; and
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general
economic conditions and slow or negative growth of related
markets.
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In
addition, the stock market in general, and the market for shares of
technology companies in particular, has experienced price and
volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or
disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies.
We expect the value of our common stock will be subject to such
fluctuations.
We may not be able to successfully implement our business strategy
without substantial additional capital. Any such failure may
adversely affect the business and results of
operations.
Unless
we can generate revenues sufficient to implement our Business Plan,
we will need to obtain additional financing through debt or bank
financing, or through the sale of shareholder interests to execute
our Business Plan. We expect to need $20,000,000 in the next twelve
months in capital or loans to complete our plans and operations. We
may not be able to obtain this financing at all. We have not sought
commitments for this financing, and we have no terms for either
debt or equity financing, and we realize that it may be difficult
to obtain on favorable terms. Moreover, if we issue additional
equity securities to support our operations, Investor holdings may
be diluted. Our business plans are at risk if we cannot continually
achieve additional capital raising to complete our
plans.
We are reliant, in part, on third party sales organizations, which
may not perform as we expect.
We,
from time to time rely on the sales force of third-party sales
organizations with support from our own selling resources. The
third-party relationships and internal organization are not fully
developed at this time and must be developed. We may not be able to
hire effective inside salespeople to help our third-party sales
organizations close sales. There is no assurance that any
approaches will improve sales. Further, using only a direct sales
force would be less cost-effective than our plan to use third-party
sales organizations. In addition, a direct sales model may be
ineffective if we were unable to hire and retain qualified
salespeople and if the sales force fails to complete sales.
Moreover, even if we successfully implement our business strategy,
we may not have positive operating results. We may decide to alter
or discontinue aspects of our business strategy and may adopt
different strategies due to business or competitive
factors.
Our growth may be affected adversely if our sales of products and
services are negatively affected by competition or other
factors.
The
growth of our business is dependent, in large part, upon the
development of sales for our services and product offerings. Market
opportunities that we expect to exist may not develop as expected,
or at all. For example, a substantial percentage of our service
offerings is oriented around data access. If lower cost
alternatives are developed, our sales would decrease, and our
operating results would be negatively affected. Moreover, even if
market opportunities develop as expected, new technologies and
services offerings introduced by competitors may significantly
limit our ability to capitalize on any such market opportunity. Our
failure to capitalize on expected market opportunities would
adversely affect revenue growth.
The
lack of operating history and the rapidly changing nature of the
market in which we compete make it difficult to accurately forecast
revenues and operating results. We anticipate that revenues and
operating results might fluctuate in the future due to a number of
factors including the following:
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the
timing of sales for current services and products
offerings
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the
timing of new product implementations
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unexpected
delays in introducing new services and products
offerings
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increased
expense related to sales and marketing, product development or
administration
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the mix
of products and our services offerings
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costs
related to possible acquisitions of technology or
business.
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costs
of providing services
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We may be unable to compete with larger, more established
competitors.
The
market for providing network delivered service solutions is
competitive. We expect competition to intensify in the future. Many
of our potential competitors have longer operating histories,
larger customer bases, greater recognition and significantly
greater resources. As a result, competitors may be able to respond
more quickly to emerging technologies and changes in customer
requirements than we can. The continuous and timely introduction of
competitively priced services offerings into the market is critical
to our success, and there can be no assurance that we will be able
to introduce such services offerings. We may not be able to compete
successfully against competitors, and the competitive pressures we
face may have an adverse effect on our business.
RISKS RELATING TO OUR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND POTENTIAL
LITIGATION
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and
proprietary rights.
There
can be no assurances that we will be able to obtain intellectual
property protection that will effectively prevent any competitors
from developing or marketing the same or a competing technology. In
addition, we cannot predict whether we will be subject to
intellectual property litigation the outcome of which is subject to
uncertainty and which can be very costly to pursue or defend. We
will attempt to continue to protect our proprietary designs and to
avoid infringing on the intellectual property of third parties.
However, there can be no assurance that we will be able to protect
our intellectual property or avoid suits by third parties claiming
intellectual property infringement.
If our patents and other intellectual property rights do not
adequately protect our service offering, we may lose market share
to competitors and be unable to operate our business
profitably.
Patents
and other proprietary rights are anticipated to be of value to our
future business, and our ability to compete effectively with other
companies depends on the proprietary nature of our current or
future technologies. We also rely upon trade secrets, know-how,
continuing technological innovations and licensing opportunities to
develop, maintain, and strengthen our competitive position. We
cannot assure you that any future patent applications will result
in issued patents, that any patents issued or licensed to us will
not be challenged, invalidated or circumvented or that the rights
granted there under will provide a competitive advantage to us or
prevent competitors from entering markets which we currently serve.
Any required license may not be available to us on acceptable
terms, if at all or may become invalid if the licensee’s
right to such technology become challenged and/or revoked. In
addition, some licenses may be non-exclusive, and therefore
competitors may have access to the same technologies as we do.
Furthermore, we may have to take legal action in the future to
protect our trade secrets or know-how, or to defend them against
claimed infringement of the rights of others. Any legal action of
that type could be costly and time-consuming to us, and we cannot
assure you that such actions will be successful. The invalidation
of key patents or proprietary rights which we own or unsuccessful
outcomes in lawsuits to protect our intellectual property may have
a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and
results of operations.
We may in the future become subject to claims that some, or the
entire service offering violates the patent or intellectual
property rights of others, which could be costly and disruptive to
us.
We
operate in an industry that is susceptible to patent litigation. As
a result, we or the parties we license technology from may become
subject to patent infringement claims or litigation. Further, one
or more of our future patents or applications may become subject to
interference proceedings declared by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office, (“USPTO”) or the foreign equivalents thereof to
determine the priority of claims to inventions. The defense of
intellectual property suits, USPTO interference proceedings or the
foreign equivalents thereof, as well as related legal and
administrative proceedings, are both costly and time consuming and
may divert management's attention from other business concerns. An
adverse determination in litigation or interference proceedings to
which we may become a party could, among other things:
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subject us to
significant liabilities to third parties, including treble
damages;
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require disputed
rights to be licensed from a third party for royalties that may be
substantial;
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require us to cease
using such technology; or
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prohibit us from
selling certain of our service offerings.
Any of
these outcomes could have a material adverse effect on our
business, financial condition and results of
operations.
Our stock will in all likelihood be thinly traded and as a result
you may be unable to sell at or near ask prices or at all if you
need to liquidate your shares.
The
shares of our common stock may be thinly traded on the OTC Market,
meaning that the number of persons interested in purchasing our
common shares at or near ask prices at any given time may be
relatively small or non-existent. This situation is attributable to
a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company
which is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers,
institutional investors and others in the investment community that
generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the
attention of such persons, they tend to be risk-averse and would be
reluctant to follow an unproven, early stage company such as ours
or purchase or recommend the purchase of any of our Securities
until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. As a
consequence, there may be periods of several days or more when
trading activity in our Securities is minimal or non-existent, as
compared to a seasoned issuer which has a large and steady volume
of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales
without an adverse effect on Securities price. We cannot give you
any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market
for our common Securities will develop or be sustained, or that any
trading levels will be sustained. Due to these conditions, we can
give investors no assurance that they will be able to sell their
shares at or near ask prices or at all if they need money or
otherwise desire to liquidate their securities of our
Company.
The regulation of penny stocks by SEC and FINRA may discourage the
tradability of our securities.
We are
a “penny stock” company. None of our securities
currently trade in any market and, if ever available for trading,
will be subject to a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that
imposes special sales practice requirements upon broker-dealers who
sell such securities to persons other than established customers or
accredited investors. For purposes of the rule, the phrase
“accredited investors” means, in general terms,
institutions with assets in excess of $5,000,000, or individuals
having a net worth in excess of $1,000,000 or having an annual
income that exceeds $200,000 (or that, when combined with a
spouse’s income, exceeds $300,000). For transactions covered
by the rule, the broker-dealer must make a special suitability
determination for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s
written agreement to the transaction prior to the sale.
Effectively, this discourages broker-dealers from executing trades
in penny stocks. Consequently, the rule will affect the ability of
purchasers in this offering to sell their securities in any market
that might develop therefore because it imposes additional
regulatory burdens on penny stock transactions.
In
addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted a
number of rules to regulate “penny stocks". Such rules
include Rules 3a51-1, 15g-1, 15g-2, 15g-3, 15g-4, 15g-5, 15g-6,
15g-7, and 15g-9 under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. Because our securities constitute “penny
stocks” within the meaning of the rules, the rules would
apply to us and to our securities. The rules will further affect
the ability of owners of shares to sell our securities in any
market that might develop for them because it imposes additional
regulatory burdens on penny stock transactions.
Shareholders
should be aware that, according to Securities and Exchange
Commission, the market for penny stocks has suffered in recent
years from patterns of fraud and abuse. Such patterns include (i)
control of the market for the security by one or a few
broker-dealers that are often related to the promoter or issuer;
(ii) manipulation of prices through prearranged matching of
purchases and sales and false and misleading press releases; (iii)
“boiler room” practices involving high-pressure sales
tactics and unrealistic price projections by inexperienced sales
persons; (iv) excessive and undisclosed bid-ask differentials and
markups by selling broker-dealers; and (v) the wholesale dumping of
the same securities by promoters and broker-dealers after prices
have been manipulated to a desired consequent investor losses. Our
management is aware of the abuses that have occurred historically
in the penny stock market. Although we do not expect to be in a
position to dictate the behavior of the market or of broker-dealers
who participate in the market, management will strive within the
confines of practical limitations to prevent the described patterns
from being established with respect to our securities.
Inventory
in penny stocks have limited remedies in the event of violations of
penny stock rules. While the courts are always available to seek
remedies for fraud against us, most, if not all, brokerages require
their customers to sign mandatory arbitration agreements in
conjunctions with opening trading accounts. Such arbitration may be
through an independent arbiter. Investors may file a complaint with
FINRA against the broker allegedly at fault, and FINRA may be the
arbiter, under FINRA rules. Arbitration rules generally limit
discovery and provide more expedient adjudication, but also provide
limited remedies in damages usually only the actual economic loss
in the account. Investors should understand that if a fraud case is
filed against a company in the courts it may be vigorously defended
and may take years and great legal expenses and costs to pursue,
which may not be economically feasible for small
investors.
That
absent arbitration agreements, specific legal remedies available to
investors of penny stocks include the following:
If a
penny stock is sold to the investor in violation of the
requirements listed above, or other federal or states securities
laws, the investor may be able to cancel the purchase and receive a
refund of the investment.
If a
penny stock is sold to the investor in a fraudulent manner, the
investor may be able to sue the persons and firms that committed
the fraud for damages.
The
fact that we are a penny stock company will cause many brokers to
refuse to handle transactions in the stocks, and may discourage
trading activity and volume, or result in wide disparities between
bid and ask prices. These may cause investors significant
illiquidity of the stock at a price at which they may wish to sell
or in the opportunity to complete a sale. Investors will have no
effective legal remedies for these illiquidity issues.
We will pay no dividends
in the foreseeable future.
We have
not paid dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate paying
such dividends in the foreseeable future.
Rule 144 sales in the future may have a depressive effect on our
stock price.
All of
the outstanding shares of common stock held by our present
officers, directors, and affiliate stockholders are
“restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144
under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. As restricted Shares,
these shares may be resold only pursuant to an effective
registration statement or under the requirements of Rule 144 or
other applicable exemptions from registration under the Act and as
required under applicable state securities laws. Rule 144 provides
in essence that a person who has held restricted securities for six
months, under certain conditions, sell every three months, in
brokerage transactions, a number of shares that does not exceed the
greater of 1.0% of a company’s outstanding common stock or
the average weekly trading volume during the four calendar weeks
prior to the sale. There is no limit on the amount of restricted
securities that may be sold by a non-affiliate after the owner has
held the restricted securities for a period of six months. A sale
under Rule 144 or under any other exemption from the Act, if
available, or pursuant to subsequent registration of shares of
common stock of present stockholders, may have a depressive effect
upon the price of the common stock in any market that may
develop.
Any sales of our common stock, if in significant amounts, are
likely to depress the future market price of our
securities.
Assuming
all of the shares of common stock held by the selling security
holders registered recently in a Form S-1 that became effective in
2019 are sold, we would have 38,208,210 new shares that are freely
tradable and therefor available for sale, in market or private
transactions.
Unrestricted
sales of 38,208,210 shares of stock by these selling stockholders
could have a huge negative impact on our share price, and the
market for our shares.
Any new potential investors will suffer a disproportionate risk and
there will be immediate dilution of existing investor’s
investments.
Our
present shareholders have acquired their securities at a cost
significantly less than that which the investors purchasing
pursuant to shares will pay for their stock holdings or at which
future purchasers in the market may pay. Therefore, any new
potential investors will bear most of the risk of
loss.
We can issue shares of preferred stock without shareholder
approval, which could adversely affect the rights of common
shareholders.
Our
Articles of Incorporation permit our Board of Directors to
establish the rights, privileges, preferences and restrictions,
including voting rights, of future series of stock and to issue
such stock without approval from our shareholders. The rights of
holders of common stock may suffer as a result of the rights
granted to holders of preferred stock that may be issued in the
future. In addition, we could issue preferred stock to prevent a
change in control of our Company, depriving common shareholders of
an opportunity to sell their stock at a price in excess of the
prevailing market price.