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Strategies & Market Trends : Rande Is . . . HOME -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bucky Katt who wrote (8057)	6/7/1999 12:25:00 PM
From: John Miz	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

ARTT...Info... LONGVIEW, Wash. -(Dow Jones)- A much-needed infusion of capital from Qwest Communications International Inc. and other investors this week will jump-start Advanced Radio Telecom Corp.'s plan to build wireless Internet access in 40 major U.S. cities. Although the Bellevue, Wash.-based company (ARTT) hasn't finalized its rollout plan, Chairman and Chief Executive Henry Hirsch earlier this week said the company will be aggressive in expanding beyond its current service areas in Seattle, Portland and Phoenix. "We won't be constrained in being regionally focused," Hirsch said. "I think we will see some real activity in the fourth quarter as we begin to roll out metro networks in a number of cities." He declined to say which cities would be first, but he said that Advanced Radio's rollout would closely parallel the operations of Qwest (QWST), a Denver-based broadband fiber-optic company that is building an 18,500-mile network in the U.S. Qwest operates in such cities as Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Boston. Hirsch said in addition to Qwest's $90 million investment for a 19% stake in Advanced Radio, the companies have agreed to integrate Advanced Radio's radio-based local wireless network with Qwest's Internet protocol-based, long-distance fiber-optic network. Advanced Radio's target users are businesses that need high-speed, broadband Internet access but who aren't located near fiber-optic cables that provide the service. Instead of linking to the Internet through phone lines, Advanced Radio will use its 38-gigahertz radio spectrum technology to make the so-called "last mile" link between the customer and Qwest's fiber-optic system, bypassing local phone companies. "We are going to move into the very high-speed sector of the marketplace," Hirsch said. "It's something we've always wanted to do, but it takes a broader approach to do that." Advanced Radio owns or manages 38-gigahertz spectrum licenses in more than 210 markets in the U.S., including 49 of the top 50, and 90 of the top 100 markets. While there are other fixed wireless telecommunications companies using the radio spectrum, most notably Teligent Inc. (TGNT) and Winstar Communications Inc. (WCII), Hirsch said these competitors are more focused on providing voice service rather than data transmission. "We'll be looking at large businesses with tremendous need for data communication," Hirsch said of the company's target market. He said he still views local telephone companies as Advanced Radio's chief competition. However, he said, the company will gain on local competition as the demand for high-speed broadband data transmission grows. "Our experience to date has been that people are not concerned about how you are delivering the bandwidth; they just want high capacity and high reliability," he said. While Advanced Radio also offers such services as e-mail, Web hosting and Web design, these services are ancillary to high-speed data transmission, Hirsch said. Hirsch said in addition to the cash infusion from Qwest, Advanced Radio also got the right to co-locate its equipment in Qwest locations, which will speed up service development. The deal is expected to close in September.