I found this "old" article in SATELLITE NEWS
TELQUEST FINDS SUPPORT FOR DBS, DISTANCES ITSELF
FROM THE BELLS
May 6, 1996
At least 19 small businesses and other organizations have filed letters with the FCC supporting TelQuest Ventures LLC's plan to use a Canadian satellite to beam direct broadcast satellite (DBS) signals to wireless cable headends in the United States, the firm announced. The list includes the Wireless Cable Association and the Cable Telecommunications Association.
The company has angered other firms in the DBS arena who say the plan would permit TelQuest to circumvent the FCC's auction process (SN, April 29, p. 3).
"If all they want to do is deliver programming to headends, they don't need to use a high-power DBS satellite," said Michael Alpert, president of Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm Alpert and Associates . "There's more to the strategy than meets the eye."
TelQuest plans to beam programming directly to individual homes when wireless cable is not available. Supporters of TelQuest support the company's position that the plan would foster increased competition, ultimately benefitting consumers.
Granting the application would serve the public interest by advancing the [FCC's] mandate to foster small business participation in the communications industry," Wireless Cable Association President Robert Schmidt told the commission.
TelQuest officials say the firm is a small business, but the company is linked to CAI Wireless , a wireless cable company with ties to Bell Atlantic Corp. and Nynex Corp. . Although the telcos have yet to make a financial investment in TelQuest, some have presumed that the Bells are using TelQuest as a way to enter DBS through a "back door."
Barbara Sparks, a senior TelQuest executive, sought to distance the company from the two phone companies. "They may well end up deciding to work with us. It makes a lot of sense. But TelQuest has no ties to Bell Atlantic and Nynex." |
