LMDS spectrum bidders...............................
multichannel.com
COMCAST, U S WEST AMONG THOSE PUTTING IN LMDS AUCTION BIDS
By FRED DAWSON
Comcast Corp. and U S West Inc. were among companies filing notices of their intentions to bid in forthcoming LMDS auctions last week.
The passing of the filing deadline on Jan. 20 came without comment from the Federal Communications Commission, leaving observers to speculate on who was and who wasn't planning to participate in the auctions.
The FCC is putting up for grabs 1.3 gigahertz of spectrum for local multipoint distribution services that are slated to get underway Feb. 18. Based on individual company responses to queries from Multichannel News, the new wireless-broadband category appeared to be drawing the expected cluster of smaller companies, but few of the larger companies that had been weighing the prospects.
WorldCom Inc., AT&T Wireless Inc., GTE Corp. and BellSouth Corp. all reported that they had decided to pass on the auctions. Still unknown at press time were the intentions of Sprint Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., both of which have been looking at the possibility of using the new point-to-multipoint interactive technology to expand their presence in the local-services marketplace.
Among cable entities, the only MSO besides Comcast that is known to be planning to bid on LMDS is US Cable Corp., although sources said some smaller entities were probably going to participate.
The FCC refused to comment on the responses, even to the point of declining to say whether the level of interest was strong or weak. "We're still reviewing applications," said an FCC spokeswoman, noting that there could be considerable overlap in applications of parties represented by different financial interests.
In any event, she added, knowing the names on the short forms used in the filings, which were to be revealed this week, isn't nearly as important as knowing who will make the upfront payments that are required for participation in the auction, which are due Feb. 2.
The FCC's silence made it unclear whether the new industry sector would draw sufficient support from major companies and from Wall Street to make it a viable long-term player in the increasingly crowded telecommunications arena.
While some start-ups -- such as LMDS pioneer CellularVision USA Inc., which is already operating under a special license in parts of New York City, as well as Webcel Communications and US WaveLink Telecom LP -- were in line to bid with financial backing largely arranged, others have been forced to drop out because of lack of financing.
The participation of companies like U S West and Comcast will go a long way toward strengthening investors' commitment to the technology, said CellularVision CEO Shant Hovnanian.
"I think you're going to see strong participation," he said, adding that his company has just completed financial arrangements for an additional $1 million of backing from J.P. Morgan & Co. as part of ongoing fund-raising efforts.
The companies that are known to have registered their intentions to bid refused to discuss their strategies. Based on the partial ban against telco and cable participation within their operating territories, those entities could be expected to use the technology primarily to expand their market footprints.
Asked whether Comcast was looking at extraterritorial use of the spectrum, Joe Waz, the company's vice president of external affairs and public policy counsel, replied, "You can assume that's the case."
But he declined to say whether Comcast intended to use the technology primarily for business services, as many potential bidders have said that they would, or whether the company might also go after the consumer market.
U S West has left open all options, including the possibility that it could go after the small, 150-megahertz "B" block of LMDS spectrum that is available for in-territory use by telcos and cable companies, said spokesman Jerry Brown. The carrier might also go after the larger, 1.15-GHz "A" block, should the telcos prevail in their efforts to persuade the U.S. Appeals Court in Washington, D.C., to overturn the in-territory ban.
The court held a hearing on the telcos' case Jan. 16, and it made it clear that it would not stay the auction. While the court has agreed to expeditious treatment of the issue, it was unclear whether a decision could be reached before the auctions begin, or what would be done if a decision favoring the telcos was reached at a later date. |
