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To: Kevin F. Spalding who wrote (9178)	6/7/1999 7:08:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10227

Wireless Spectrum Gets Broadband Interest Cable World June 7, 1999 By Joshua Cho Telecommunications companies last week jumped on the wireless bandwagon with MCI Worldcom Inc., Qwest Communications International Inc., Microsoft Corp. and John Malone's Liberty Media Group, all making investments in companies that work with wireless spectrum, which could be used to offer a number of different broadband services to customers. MCI Worldcom said that it would pay $1.8 billion in stock and debt for paging company SkyTel Communications Inc. At an analysts meeting to discuss the acquisition, MCI CEO Bernard Ebbers said, "It's a great opportunity for us. It's a foundation to deploy other wireless services." The acquisition follows on roughly $200 million of unconfirmed investments by MCI in the incongruously named wireless cable operators CAI Wireless Systems Inc., People's Choice TV Corp., Wireless One Inc. and CS Wireless Systems Inc., which have all filed for bankruptcy protection. In yet another deal, Qwest Communications and a group of high-tech investment funds said last week that they would pump $251 million into Advanced Radio Telecom (ART) Corp. - a wireless broadband Internet service provider - to help accelerate the deployment of ART's high-speed wireless network. As part of that deal, ART will provide Qwest with broadband local wireless capacity and Qwest will be ART's exclusive provider of network backbone. ART currently offers wireless Internet services to businesses in Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Phoenix, metropolitan areas. ART plans to build wireless high-speed networks in 40 of the top 50 metropolitan-area markets over the next two years. Combined with Qwest's network, the companies say they'll be able to provide broadband services to over half of all U.S. businesses. Another wireless broadband provider, Reston, Va.-based Nextel Communications Inc., said last week that it had received a $600 million investment from Microsoft, which represents a 4.25% stake in the company. Nextel said it would use the money to advance the deployment of Nextel Online, a wireless Internet service. The company also said it would develop additional unspecified services and expand its presence in other countries where it operates, including Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Japan. Also last week, Liberty said it was buying The Associated Group Inc., which has interest in communications-related businesses, including a 41% stake in broadband wireless services provider Teligent Inc., among other businesses. In a prepared statement, Liberty president/CEO Robert Bennett said, "The Associated transaction is a unique opportunity for Liberty. It allows us to obtain an attractive investment in the very exciting and rapidly growing business of Teligent." Analysts had mixed reactions to the current interest in wireless spectrum. "These companies recognize that the wireless spectrum for the last mile has a place in the future," said Bank of America LLC telecommunications service analyst Rex Mitchell. "I think it's happening now but like any other evolving technology, it's not going to happen overnight." But some analysts, like Legg Mason Precursor Group's Scott Cleland, saw the wireless plays as strategic moves. "This is more about warehousing spectrum for the future than it is a signal that fixed wireless is going to take off in the near future," Cleland said. "It's a wise strategic move to keep your options open. When good real estate opens up, you grab it." But Bank of America's Mitchell said he sees the wireless spectrum helping telecommunications companies to expand their respective footprints at a lower cost than with land-based technology. One niche that Mitchell sees wireless spectrum filling is in the "donut" surrounding metropolitan areas. "If MCI has a footprint of fiber facilities in a certain geographic area, it's cheaper to extend that footprint with wireless than with fiber," Mitchell said. MCI said last week that it would use a combination of high-speed, copper phone line-based DSL technology, wireless and MMDS satellite technology in order to offer bundled long-distance and local telephone along with high-speed Internet access, similar to what AT&T Corp. plans to offer through the coaxial cable infrastructure of the former Tele-Communications Inc., and potentially MediaOne Group Inc., systems. (June 7, 1999) cableworld.com:80/Articles/News99/1999060705.htm

To: Kevin F. Spalding who wrote (9178)	6/8/1999 4:07:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 10227

*NEXTEL <NXTL.O> ACCELERATES UNVEILING OF ITS INTERNET-READY PHONE RESTON, Va., June 8 (Reuters) - Wireless telephone company Nextel Communications, Inc. <NXTL.O> on Tuesday introduced a new phone that includes an Internet Web browser and upgraded voice features, ahead of offering online services. The company, which does not offer Internet services yet, said it would sell its i1000plus phone ahead of launching online services later this year. The phone, which is expected to sell for $299, has to be used with Nextel online services. It was supposed to come on the market in July but Nextel and equipment supplier Motorola Inc. <MOT.N> completed preparations ahead of plan. "This allows us more time to seed the market in anticipation of providing wireless Internet services later this year," Tom Kelly, Nextel's chief marketing officer, said. The Nextel online wireless Internet services to be rolled out later this year would provide Nextel customers access to a full range of Internet services. Nextel plans to roll out its online service in six markets later this year: Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and the Carolinas region. Its new phone would include features to alert people to missed calls, allow them to view, dial and store the last 10 numbers received and sent from the phone and add phone numbers to a personal directory.

To: Kevin F. Spalding who wrote (9178)	6/8/1999 4:09:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 10227

14:14 ET Nextel reiterates financial guidance NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - Wireless telephone company Nextel said Tuesday it remains on track to reach $600 million in domestic cash flow in 1999 and expects its average revenues per subscriber (RPU) to match or exceed first quarter levels. Nextel's first quarter average monthly revenues were $71 per subscriber. "Average revenues per unit have been rising over the past two years ... we hope to continue that trend going forward. For the rest of the year, we expect RPU to be at or above levels of Q1," Nextel's chief financial officer, Steven Shindler, said at the PaineWebber Growth & Technology Conference in New York. Nextel said it expects its capital expenses per net subscriber addition to be $1,100 or less this year. Earlier in the day Nextel introduced a new phone that includes an Internet World Wide Web browser and upgraded voice features. Nextel will begin selling the phone ahead of launching online services later in the year. The company will test the service in six markets this year and will roll out the service nationally in 2000. Nextel said it has not yet determined the pricing for the new data services, but it may charge less for the services to encourage subscriber growth. "We want to be able to offer something that is more robust -- at lower prices -- than our competitors," Shindler said. He said Nextel was very optimistic about the data services, which will incrementally add to its average monthly subscriber revenues and help distinguish it from its rivals. "Data has the potential to be the great differentiator," he said. Shares of Nextel were unchanged at $37 in afternoon trading on Nasdaq. moneynet.com@NEWS-P2&Index=0&HeadlineURL=../News/NewsHeadlines.asp&DISABLE_FORM=&NAVSVC=News\Company