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

To: American Spirit who wrote (46463)	2/1/2001 1:02:54 PM
From: Softechie	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 57584

Techs will be much cheaper next couple weeks and possibly mid-March.

To: American Spirit who wrote (46463)	2/1/2001 1:11:05 PM
From: Softechie	Respond to of 57584

Verizon Wireless CEO questions spectrum availability By Jeremy Pelofsky WASHINGTON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The head of Verizon Wireless, America's biggest mobile telephone company on Thursday questioned when airwaves held by broadcasters and to be sold at auction this fall, will be available for advanced services like high-speed Internet access. Verizon Wireless President and Chief Executive Officer Dennis Strigl also said the airwaves the company won in the Federal Communications Commission's auction last week are better for mobility because the technology is already developed. The company, a joint venture of Vodafone Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L) and Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ - news), last week won 113 licenses with total bids of $8.8 billion for personal communications service (PCS) airwaves in the 1900 megahertz (Mhz) band. ``The 1900 Mhz spectrum, in my opinion, is much better for mobility and, furthermore, manufacturers have already developed systems (and) infrastructure for that spectrum,'' Strigl told reporters after speaking at the Comnet Convention and Expo. The company won two valuable licenses covering New York City with bids totaling more than $4 billion and one each covering Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Philadelphia, among others. The airwaves Strigl was less enthusiastic about, the 700 Mhz band occupied by television broadcasters, will be sold in September by the FCC, which agreed to delay the sale at the request of Verizon and others to give them more time to assess their needs. ``We've got to work through how we're going to get current users of the spectrum relocated,'' Stirgl said. ``I think that (the delay) was exactly the right move.'' Still, some argued another delay of the auction could further hamper the roll-out of advanced telecommunications services, including high-speed wireless Internet service which companies are anxious to develop for consumers. The television broadcasters occupying channels 60-69 do not have to give up the airwaves for digital signals until the end of 2006 or when the penetration rate for digital television reaches 85 percent, whichever comes later. That has raised numerous questions of when the wireless firms would be able to obtain the auctioned spectrum and concerns among some in Congress about whether the airwaves will garner the maximum sale price. ``I think this will have a significant impact on the value of this spectrum in the auction,'' Strigl told the Comnet conference. ``I can't tell you that this spectrum has a high value. I don't know, we'll work through our business model on this.'' Separately, Strigl said Verizon was still planning to launch its initial public offering this year when market conditions improve. ``It is our expectation that, with improvements in the marketplace, that we will take a portion of our company public this year,'' he said. He declined to elaborate.