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To: Gaffer who wrote (7200)	1/17/1998 7:22:00 AM
From: Jim Lurgio	Respond to of 152472

From the January 19, 1998 issue of Wireless Week NextWave, Pocket Revive Plans By Edward Warner WASHINGTON--The two biggest winners of the C-Block personal communications services auction last week showed that, although they have financial hardships, there's life in them yet. The largest winner, NextWave Telecom Inc., said it has built its largest test network in Las Vegas and will go commercial with the system in the second half of the year. The second largest winner, Pocket Communications Inc., won more time to pay back the $5 million that has kept it alive since entering Chapter 11 last March. Pleading financial hardship, NextWave and other C-Block licensees have gained FCC revision of the terms of their 10-year loans from the government. Last week, NextWave said in a week or two it will turn on its Las Vegas test network, which has vendor financing from supplier Lucky Goldstar. NextWave said the test involves the first commercial deployment of base stations and switches from Lucky Goldstar's U.S. subsidiary, LG InfoComm Inc. NextWave spokeswoman Jennifer Walsh said Lucky Goldstar owns 4.7 percent of NextWave and assembles network hardware in South Korea using American components. Walsh said the company will use an F-Block license, rather than one of its C-Block licenses, because the license covers Las Vegas, which is booming; the city grew 40 percent between 1990 and 1996 and has good signal propagation due to the flat terrain. Pocket also is focusing on Las Vegas as one of the licenses it wants to buy from the FCC to resell it to pay off debt, said Pocket Chairman Dan Riker. Last week, lawyers in Pocket's case were allowed to set a late-January due date on the loan, a date that will probably be moved yet again, Riker said. One lawyer claiming a stake in Pocket's assets is Jack Robinson, whose National Telecom PCS Inc. has a $1 billion lawsuit pending against Pocket. He said Pocket's bankruptcy judge last week also set Feb. 6 for a hearing on whether Pocket can sell licenses or give them back to the FCC before the suit is heard. Riker said the FCC appears to be working with the companies that gave Pocket its interim loan to help them buy spectrum from Pocket's Chicago and Dallas licenses. The FCC, Riker said, is meeting privately with those lenders, excluding Pocket and its other creditors.

To: Gaffer who wrote (7200)	1/17/1998 7:23:00 AM
From: Jim Lurgio	Respond to of 152472

From the January 19, 1998 issue of Wireless Week Wireless Positions For Super Splash By Monica Alleven Look for wireless companies to tout their phones and technologies during Sunday's Super Bowl XXXII, whether they do so with a 30-second, $1.3 million TV advertisement or a multimillion-dollar corporate name on a stadium. One of the most obvious players competing off the field will be Qualcomm Inc., which paid $18 million last year to put its name on the San Diego stadium. The manufacturer expects to reap big benefits when much of the country's attention shifts to the game. "We think it's very important," said Jeff Belk, Qualcomm's vice president of marketing for the Subscriber Units Division. "Qualcomm is taking the steps necessary to build our brand on a national basis." While the Green Bay Packers and Denver Broncos duke it out, wireless companies will make their presence known via TV commercials and stadium signage. Qualcomm will have its name emblazoned on game tickets, a local visitors' guide and signage for pre-bowl events. If that's not enough, a Qualcomm Stadium virtual tour is featured on ESPN's Web site, and the company's high-end 'Q' phone is a sweepstakes give-away. One of Qualcomm's largest customers, Sprint PCS, is the official wireless provider for the Super Bowl and will leverage its NFL team position in various ways as well, including 1,500 loaner phones for NFL and NBC network staff. "It's great exposure," said Bruce Crair, vice president and general manager of Sprint PCS' Southern California and southern Nevada region. Those who get their hands on coveted Super Bowl tickets often are corporations and high-level decision-makers, so making a good impression is tantamount. "We're very excited about having the Super Bowl in San Diego," Crair said. "We're going to do everything in our power to make it an enjoyable experience." Besides its name on the stadium, Qualcomm plans to run full-page ads in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated before the big event. TV ads are scheduled before and during the game. New York ad agency Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide expects 44.7 percent of U.S. households--up about 3 percent over last year-will tune into the game at some point. Advertisers are expected to spend an average $1.3 million for every 30-second spot, said Peter Chrisanthopoulos, Ogilvy president of broadcast and programming for the U.S. market. Some of Qualcomm's competitors won't be playing on game day, however. Motorola Inc. did not plan any Super Bowl ads, nor did Ericsson Inc., which has its own corporate stadium in Charlotte, N.C. Nokia Mobile Phones Inc. recently enlisted comedian Jay Leno to discuss handsets in the California desert with Nokia Vice President of Customer Marketing Matt Wisk. The stunt is part of a new phone launch, and Nokia plans to run a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl. However, the manufacturer wasn't releasing details last week. AirTouch Communications Inc. will use Super Bowl Sunday to launch its new branding campaign, with TV ads running in the 17 areas it offers cellular service. It also will run pre-game and post-game ads where it wasn't able to get broadcast time during the game, said spokeswoman Amy Damianakes. Wireless may or may not be a prominent component in AT&T Corp.'s 30-second spot, which will be an image commercial rather than a spot focusing on a particular service or product, said Burke Stinson, spokesman at AT&T. The company will run a new ad if it's ready in time, or it could reach into its arsenal of already-run commercials. "The Super Bowl, for one reason or another, has become a competition amongst companies and agencies to outdo each other with spectacular commercials, and sometimes those commercials don't run much throughout the rest of the year," Stinson said. Qualcomm, like other Super Bowl advertisers, won't be using animated frogs to sing its virtues, but with an estimated 134 million people watching, the time slot calls for something out of the ordinary, Belk said.

To: Gaffer who wrote (7200)	1/17/1998 7:38:00 AM
From: Jim Lurgio	Respond to of 152472

In a release from LCC the woes of the Asian crisis are expressed. They say they have Asian accounts that are 90-120 days over due. Maybe the main worry is not the exchange rate of the Won but if companies will get paid at all. At 120 days this problem may go further back than most realize ? "Tricia Drennan, spokeswoman for LCC, attributed most of the stock decline to pressures from the Asian markets, and that LCC already had announced that some of its Asian accounts were more than 90-120 days overdue. The company has set aside reserves to cover those accounts, she said."