Applied Digital Bolts on B2B Initiative
By Cindy Christ

Shares in Applied Digital Solutions (ADSX) scored again Tuesday after the electronic commerce and Internet telephony services provider rocketed more than 26 percent Monday.

In morning market action, ADSX was trading up $1.13, or 9.5 percent, at $13 on more than two times average daily volume.

The Palm Beach, Fla.-based firm announced plans Monday to develop and operate a number of Internet business-to-business vertical trade communities.

Vertical trade communities are online marketplaces targeting specific industries where businesses can buy and sell goods and services and exchange information.

"The Vertical Trade Community Initiative is another piece of the puzzle that we will be providing to our customer base and businesses in general," said Richard Sullivan, Applied Digital chairman and CEO, in a news release.

"Applied Digital Technology could be the first e-business company to focus on the needs of the Computer Telephony Internet Integration audiences with community, commerce, content, and industry-specific information and services," Sullivan added.

The company said it would target the exchanges to its core services and products in three industry segments; networks, telecommunications and the Internet.

Applied Digital said its network community will offer computer systems products and information for Local Area Networks and Wide Area Networks, and is likely to attract support from vendors such as Compaq, Sun and Dell.

The telecommunications unit will provide a forum for business users with support projected from Toshiba, Fujitsu, Inter-Tel, AVT, Panasonic and Lucent.

The Internet community is expected to allow Oracle, Vignette and Macromedia users to exchange information and promote goods and services in different electronic business technologies.

On Feb. 11th, Applied Digital reported preliminary results for 1999, posting revenues of $171 million for its core business group, up 44 percent from a year ago.

The company said it would report final results for full-year 1999 on or about March 15.

Formerly called Applied Cellular Technology, Applied Digital derives about 60 percent of sales from its core business group consisting of telecommunications, network infrastructure, Internet and application technology units.

The company competes with industry titans like Alcatel, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks.