management announcement as you are all aware , ebs has grown to be a significant part of enron . the ebs / blockbuster movies on - demand announcement this week , as merrill lynch put it ,  & confirms the tremendous inroads enron has made in the telecommunications business .  8 we expect this deal to be a springboard for enabling ebs to accomplish even greater things . because we believe that ebs is integral to enron  , s success , it is becoming increasingly important for greater interaction among ebs senior management , corporate leadership and our houston - based business units . in short , we determined that it is necessary for the ceo to be based in houston , although the portland office will remain an integral part of ebs . joe hirko as ceo and ken rice as chief commercial officer have accomplished great things , and we believe that both are completely qualified to fill the ceo role moving forward . however , joe has decided to stay in portland for family reasons , and as a result , ken will assume the role of ceo for ebs , effective immediately . joe , unfortunately , has decided to leave enron . we want to recognize joe for his role in making ebs a success . he started the business , demonstrated its value to enron management , and brought the team together to create the ebs vision . we do believe that ebs will continue to grow and succeed under ken  , s leadership . throughout his 19 - year career with enron , he has consistently been a driving force in building businesses . please join us in wishing both joe and ken great success .