WildBlue IPO to develop satellite Net system
By Jeanie Stokes
Denver Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer
insidedenver.com
WildBlue Communications Inc. Friday filed a prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a $200 million initial public offering of stock to develop a satellite-based system for high-speed Internet access.
The Denver-based company has an agreement with EchoStar Communications Corp., the No. 2 satellite-TV provider, to jointly market and distribute bundled WildBlue and EchoStar's DISH network services.
WildBlue has raised $239 million in private equity financing and secured about $146 million in vendor financing.
The company's investors include Littleton-based EchoStar, Gemstar-TV Guide International Inc., Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, AT&T Corp.'s Liberty Media Group, Telesat Canada and TRW Inc.
The WildBlue system is designed to offer broadband Internet access throughout the U.S., especially in areas where high-speed alternatives, such as digital subscriber line, or DSL, and cable modem services aren't available, the company said in its SEC filing.
That market is approximately 32 million U.S. households, according to technology consult Yankee Group.
WildBlue expects to launch its first satellite in the first quarter of 2002. It will be able to offer Internet access at speeds of up to 1.5 megabits per second, which is more than 25 times faster than the current 56k modems now in common use, the company told the SEC.
WildBlue is the first to develop a Ka-band geo-stationary satellite system for accessing the Internet. The system is intended to be a low-cost, high capacity alternative to conventional Web access through telephone lines and cable modems. EchoStar plans to offer Internet access through its own satellites with a service called Starband, which it expects to roll out next month. But that technology differs from WildBlue's in that WildBlue's satellites will create a "spot beam" only a couple hundred miles across. The focus allows more efficient use of the frequency.
WildBlue has obtained a Federal Communications Commission license to operate. It's contracted with Space Systems/Loral Inc. to build the first satellite, which will be launched by Arianespace, the European space agency.
A second satellite launch is planned in late 2002, which will let WildBlue market its services to Canada and Latin America.
October 7, 2000 |
