News
Nextel seeks Geotek spectrum, clears construction In separate actions, Nextel Communications, McLean, VA, seeks spectrum vacated by Geotek Communications and clears the way for construction of systems in small- and medium-size markets.
Nextel has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to vacate a 1995 Consent Decree imposing limitations on the amount of 900MHz spectrum Nextel can use in its business. The lawsuit stems from a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware’s decision approving a proposed transaction in which Nextel would purchase failed Geotek’s 900MHz specialized mobile radio (SMR) spectrum for $150 million.
Nextel wants the court to intervene because, in its view, the wireless industry has changed dramatically since entry of the decree and that the decree now actually reduces competition. Nextel believes the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) has failed to recognize that change.
“Only Nextel, among the major domestic wireless competitors such as AT&T and Sprint, is artificially constrained in the amount of 900MHz spectrum it can utilize to serve consumers,” a statement from the company reads.
Nextel chairman Dan Akerson added: “There is no sound antitrust rationale for limiting Nextel’s ability to compete in the advanced wireless industry. The mere fact that Nextel had its roots in the analog dispatch business does not provide a sound policy basis for treating Nextel differently from the cellular and PCS carriers with whom we must compete. We believe that the marketplace is the right place for making these decisions.”
Among those opposing Nextel is Lafayette, CA-based Mobex Communications, an SMR company and wireless integrator with service and operations in 15 states. The company operates Motorola, Ericsson and Transcrypt Johnson, systems. Mobex has filed a motion with the court, asking it to enforce the Consent Decree. In its filing, Mobex said public records show that Nextel may have never complied with the ruling and may have violated the Consent Decree repeatedly since it was signed three years ago.
“The purpose of the Consent Decree is to protect the American consumer from potentially monopolistic practices by Nextel. In my opinion, it is unconscionable that Nextel apparently has ignored the court’s ruling and committed multiple violations,’ said Frank Casazza, Mobex’s president. “In general, studies prove that in markets where there is little or no SMR competition, customers pay more for service. In many markets where Nextel operates, some of its customers had to disconnect service or pay rate increases of 200%-300%.
Mobex’ motion asks the District Court to enforce the July 1995 agreement between Nextel and the DOJ that limits the number of SMR licenses Nextel can own in 14 major markets.
“If this agreement is not upheld, one SMR player will continue to monopolize the dispatch industry. The result will be detrimental to hundreds upon thousands of businesses, utilities and governmental agencies that depend upon SMR as the primary means for communicating with their mobile work force, Casazza said. “If the existing Consent Decree is not enforced or is lifted, the American consumer ultimately will pay more for the goods and services purchased from these businesses, whether it be dispatching cabs, delivering pizzas or building new homes. Almost all businesses depend upon dispatch communications to provide their end product or service.”
Mobex filed its motion after a Delaware Bankruptcy Court approved Nextel’s bid to purchase licenses held by Geotek Communications that were covered under the Consent Decree agreement. The Consent Decree was the reason the Justice Department ended its 1994 antitrust suit against Nextel. Mobex said that its motion to enforce that Consent Decree is the SMR industry’s last chance to promote competition within the SMR industry.
“Just three years after Nextel signed the Consent Decree agreement, Nextel wants us to believe that the dispatch industry no longer needs protection, even after Nextel swallowed up industry competitors like Pittencrieff and ICE,’ said John Reardon, Mobex’s general counsel. “The bankruptcy court approved the license sale to satisfy Geotek’s creditors. But the implications of that approval are far greater. We cannot eliminate competition within an entire industry to satisfy the needs of one company.”
In its motion, Mobex said FCC public records show that Nextel’s license ownership appears to already violate the Consent Decree in several of the markets in question. Mobex noted that Nextel also appears to have ignored its agreement not to “hold or acquire” additional licenses when it participated in the FCC’s 1996 auction of 900MHz spectrum.
The disputed licenses are in Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Los Angeles; Miami; New York; Orlando, FL; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Seattle; and Washington.
In a separate action, Nextel has consummated a transaction with Kirkland, WA-based Nextel Partners to provide digital wireless communications services under the Nextel brand name and target mid-sized and smaller markets throughout the United States.
“These markets are integral to Nextel’s strategy of providing digital wireless services nationwide,” said Akerson.
Over the next three years, Nextel Partners has agreed to build digital wireless systems covering 33 million “pops” (individuals within coverage areas, sometimes duplicated in overlapping areas) in 39 mid-sized and smaller markets, including Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Corpus Christi, Des Moines, Green Bay, Harrisburg, Louisville, Rochester and Syracuse, as well as the state of Hawaii, the Florida Panhandle and selected corridors along interstate highways.
Nextel has agreed to transfer certain FCC licenses in these markets to Nextel Partners in exchange for $131 million of Nextel Partners equity. In addition, Nextel Partners has acquired, from Nextel, recently launched operational digital mobile systems and related assets in five markets covering about 4.5 million pops. In exchange for such assets and for other capital and operating expenses previously incurred by Nextel in the Nextel Partners territory, Nextel has received cash payment totaling approximately $125 million.
“Nextel Partners has successfully attracted an experienced senior management team and believes that its dedicated management focus will enable it to complete the network build-out and operate effectively,” said John Chapple, the company’s chief executive.
NEC to supply SONET/SDH radio to Pathnet NEC America, Irving, TX, has announced a long-term multimillion-dollar contract for the SONET/SDH-based digital microwave radio product with Pathnet, a Washington-based wholesale telecommunications provider. The contract is valued at as high as $100 million.
The contract is for the purchase of NEC’s 2000 series SONET/SDH-based digital microwave radio, which provides high-capacity radio links for communications networks. This microwave radio is available in the United States in the 6GHz, 7GHz and 11GHz frequency bands. The system transmits one OC-3 optical, STSX-3 electrical or STM-1 optical/electrical per RF channel, with the option of wayside T1 and digital service channels and has a capacity of as high as OC-24.
Cerulean expands focus from public safety to industry, seeking computing’s ‘fifth wave’Cerulean Technology, which lept from a startup position in 1992 to capture the lion’s share of the public safety mobile data market, has announced it’s bid to bring that expertise to the private industrial, service industry and transportation markets.
The Marlborough, MA-based software firm said that it wanted to ride the “fifth wave” of computing in the private sector: enabling mobile workforces. Defining the first four computer technology waves as mainframe computers, mini-computers, PCs and networking, the company said that the fifth wave would extend corporate and Internet-based information resources wirelessly in real time. Cerulean intends to accomplish this goal through the introduction of its Mobile Fusion Server platform, which is designed to provide real-time data communications for private mobile workforces in a fashion similar to the function its Packetcluster Mobile platform performs in the public safety arena.
Mike Bauer, director of product management for the Mobilefusion project, told MRT that Cerulean was not abandoning its commitment to the public safety market, where it holds an early majority. However, the company sees a market opportunity in over 75 million mobile workers worldwide and an attendant growth in wireless-enabled devices of 75% per year. Of that market, there will be about 12 million users of field service applications, CIS and logistics by 2002, according to the Yankee Group. That market, worldwide, could be as much as $5 billion within two years.
The heart of the project, the Mobilefusion platform, incorporates administration and management functions, a custom toolkit, a data resource engine capable of merging multiple-source systems, and an adaptable agent to render data to browser devices and a communications engine that is based on the earlier Packetcluster engine design. The platform is designed to draw on the resources of mainframes, data warehouses, mail servers or the Internet.
The patent-pending technology allows simultaneous access to multiple data repositories. The wireless data architecture supports a bandwidth-on-demand model to improve transmission efficiency.
Unlike the Windows NT-based Packetcluster platform, the Mobilefusion platform uses the Windows CE operating system, which is more broadly used for laptop and palmtop computers.
Bauer said that one of the driving forces behind enabling real-time mobile was that businesses want to achieve some return on the billions that have been invested in the collection and analysis of data. Accessibility for the mobile worker is one means of accomplishing that.
As an example, Bauer said that one cable company cooperating with Cerulean on beta testing has recaptured time averaging 30 to 90 minutes per day, per techician, by putting access to installations-related data in the mobile units.
Beside other utilities, such as telco, gas and power, fields where Cerulean forecasts a compelling need for data applications, include trucking, dispatched services and healthcare. Finance and insurance are also professions where the car becomes the “mobile office.”
Cerulean credits part of its past success in the public saftey arena to its partnering with seasoned companies like Microsoft, Motorola, GTE, Ericsson, Oracle, Dataradio, AT&T, TRW, Mobex, Compaq and BellSouth, among others. Bauer added that partnering brought the benefits of expertise in the wireless industry and tight focus on work applications.
Three cooperators are currently working with Cerulean to beta-test the Mobilefusion platform.
A privately held company, Cerulean’s public safety presence includes an installed customer base in 38 states and the District of Columbia. The company sells its products through a direct sales force and a network of more than 50 authorized dealers.
Arlington, TX, Fire Department accepts first 62 Motorola XTS 3000Rs The Arlington, TX, Fire Department has accepted 62 Motorola XTS 3000R portable radios. The 3000R replaced Arlington’s aging fleet of Motorola STX radios that had been in use since the mid-1980’s. The radio is a redesigned, rugged version of the MTS series of portables designed for the fire serv-ice. The radio combines a fully programmable, waterproof, chemical-resistant radio with state-of-the-art digital technology.
The evaluation team recognized that Motorola had designed several enhancements into the 3000R, based on user input, especially relevant to the fire service. The enhancements include a larger channel selector knob, a larger push-to-talk button, emergency button and an angled volume selector-all designed for easier use with firefighting gloves. A larger backlight selector button allows a firefighter to view a selected channel easier at night. The light illuminates both the alphanumeric display on the front of the radio as well as the channel selector on the top. A redesigned waterproof one-piece silicone speaker prevents sound distortion from water during fire-ground operations. The radio can be purchased in either black or firefighter yellow.
In early 1998, Arlington entered into an agreement with Motorola Communications to be a beta-testing site for the 3000R. In late February, Arlington received the first six 3000Rs for testing on fire apparatus for a period of six weeks. Gerard Eads, Arlington’s communications administrator said, “Radios were distributed to four different fire companies to be evaluated in several different areas of the city. Those areas included: high call volume, high fire volume, and poor 800MHz coverage districts. Fire companies were told to abuse the radios (an order not necessary in the fire service) and to try to bring about failure or damage during the testing period.”
The Radio Services division of the fire department conducted abuse testing. The radios were exposed to multiple trials including dropping, submersion in several types of firefighting agents (including water) for prolonged periods, exposure to the elements, and any other conceivable scenario the fire companies could perform. The testing period was completed in mid-April with no major housing or component failures. Fire companies were requested to fill out an evaluation at the beginning of the testing period on first impressions of the 3000R, midway through the evaluation period, and at the end.
Datamarine welcomes issuance of 220MHz licenses David Thompson, president of Datamarine International, Mountlake Terrace, WA, expects construction of new 220MHz systems to commence quickly upon the issuance of FCC licenses that was set to follow February 5 payments due for licenses won during the September 1998 spectrum auction.
Thompson stated, “With the growing need for low-cost voice and data wireless dispatch, the 220 service is well-positioned to fill a substantial portion of that demand. The recently announced lower pricing for our mobile model 504 was timed to coincide with the issuance of these new licenses and the anticipated system build-out during the spring.”
Thompson estimated that the 220MHz market will require $900 million worth of hardware over the next eight to 10 years, giving Datamarine a substantial revenue boost beginning this year. “We expect to continue to have the largest market share of mobiles in use. This is especially true since we are the only 220 supplier that is successfully designing and manufacturing their own products, so we can move much more rapidly to meet changes in market demand,” he said.
SEA, a Datamarine subsidiary, manufactures 220MHz radio systems including mobile radios for voice and data transmission, portable radios and base station repeaters. It has supplied radio infrastructure equipment for more than 600 operating systems, which includes 70% of all operating networks, by the company’s tally. With more than 23,000 mobile and portable SEA radios operating in the field, SEA claims a nearly 5:1 lead over all other 220 MHz radio suppliers.
Sales of SEA base stations, which carry generally higher margins than mobiles, declined sharply after the FCC construction deadline of Sept. 30, 1996. The cost of maintaining land mobile engineering, manufacturing and marketing capabilities despite significantly reduced revenues in this product line are primary reasons Datamarine posted losses in 1997 and 1998. Thus, construction of more systems for the new licenses may provide the company a welcome lift.
An SEA subsidiary, Narrowband Network Systems (NNS), provides 220MHz specialized mobile radio (SMR) services. Management agreements with holders of 220 MHz licenses in 47 markets required NNS to construct and develop their SMR systems. NNS retains the revenues generated by the systems, after remitting a fixed percentage to the license holders. NNS has options to acquire the license holders’ interests, too.
An agreement with Incom Communications obligates NNS to provide the licenses and certain backbone equipment for each system in some of the markets, and ICC is required to provide either all or partial operational support. Revenues from system operations are split between NNS and ICC using contractual percentages based on the level of support provided by each.
NSS has contracts with other SMR operators to operate systems in some of the markets. NNS provides the system facilities, and the SMR operators provide essentially all other operational support in exchange for a fixed percentage of the gross revenues from each system and an equity interest in the systems, including the related licenses.
Only limited operations have commenced, leading Datamarine to describe revenue and expenses from NNS operations through Oct. 3, 1998, as “immaterial.” (www.sea-dmi.com)
-Lt. Brian Cudaback Arlington Fire Department
Yaesu/Vertex acquires Standard Yaesu USA/Vertex Radio Communications, Cerritos, CA, is acquiring the Land Mobile and Marine Radio Divisions of Standard Communications, a Torrance, CA-based company. The agreement will combine both companies’ marketing, sales and service efforts for continued market growth.
“The merger of the companies will allow both firms to concentrate their efforts and resources in the markets where they have been very successful,” said Jun Hasegawa, president of Yaesu/Vertex. Yaesu USA currently targets the amateur radio market and will take on the marine radio market. Vertex Radio Communications is the land mobile division of Yaesu USA.
RFS Cablewave contracts with Sprint RFS Cablewave has signed a two-year contract with Sprint PCS to be a major supplier of coaxial cable, connectors and accessories for the Sprint PCS nationwide wireless network.
Over the two-year period, the deliveries of Flexwell coaxial cable, connectors and accessories are expected to generate significant revenues for RFS Cablewave. As a major supplier of these products to Sprint PCS, the company will provide a significant portion of Sprint PCS’s requirements.
Sprint PCS has built a 100% digital, 100% PCS, single technology, nationwide wireless network. RFS Cablewave has been an approved supplier to Sprint PCS since April 1996.
Intek signs ADI, retains banker, relocates HQ Intek Global, New York, has signed a technology agreement, relocated its headquarters, retained an investment banker and reduced its executive staff.
The company has signed a multiyear product development and manufacturing agreement for linear modulation (LM) narrowband technology with the Taiwan-based ADI Communications subsidiary of ADI Corp. With $1 billion in annual sales, ADI is known for manufacturing computer monitors. Its communications subsidiary wants to make mobile radio equipment for trunked networks. To that end, an Intek subsidiary will develop LM-based mobile radio units and systems for 530MHz business and public safety radio in Taiwan and China.
ADI will acquire manufacturing and distribution rights for the new LM line in exchange for royalty payments. The contract’s development phase is valued at $600,000 with additional royalties based on future manufacturing and distribution levels on a per-unit basis.
ADI Communications’ executive vice president, K.C. Chen, said, “LM will give ADI access to major new markets across the entire Chinese mainland and eventually throughout Asia.”
Meanwhile, investment banker Bear, Stearns & Co. has been retained by Intek to represent it in dealings with Securicor, which owns 61.3% of Intek’s stock and which has lent Intek $69 million. In a public document, Securicor said it was considering various alternatives relating to its debt and equity investments in Intek. In addition, Bear Stearns will provide strategic advice on acquisition, financing and investment programs.
Also, Intek has relocated its corporate offices from Princeton, NJ, to 99 Park Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10016; tel. 212-949-4200. Its U.S. operating headquarters remains in Kansas City, MO.
Intek’s senior vice president for corporate development and president of its Midland USA and RoameR One subsidiaries, Donald Goeltz, exited on Nov. 16, 1998. Vice President of Spectrum Planning David Niebert, whose position changed from executive vice president, has assumed some of the corporate development responsibilities. President of U.S. Operations Robert M. Hardy now manages the Midland and RoameR units as part of Intek Global USA.
Goeltz said that he had helped to develop the plan to consolidate Intek’s U.S. operations in Kansas City. At the same time, with two sons in high school in New Jersey, he said he was unwilling to relocate. He continues to consult the company on corporate development.
The company’s vice president of finance, D. Gregg Marston, left on Dec. 31, 1998. He earlier had served as interim chief financial officer. Those responsibilities now rest with Chief Financial Officer George A. Valenti, who joined the company in August 1998.
Web sites with additional information include: www.intekglobal.com, www.adi. com.tw/, www.linearmod.com and www. securicor.com.
Location and monitoring service auction closes On March 5, the Commission’s Location and Monitoring Service (LMS) auction, which began on Feb. 23, 1999, closed after 54 rounds, raising a total net revenue of $3,438,294. The auctioned spectrum is located in the 904MHz-928MHz band.
A total of 528 multilateration LMS licenses were simultaneously a uctioned. One license for each of the three spectrum blocks in each designated Economic Area (EA) was auctioned: Block A has a total bandwidth of 6MHz; Block B has a total bandwidth of 2.25MHz; and Block C has a bandwidth of 5.75MHz. The FCC sold 289 licenses, representing 84.8% of the population were sold in the auction.
FCC proposes steps to implement ‘GMPCS-MoU’ On February 25, the FCC proposed rules to implement the international arrangements governing Global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite (GMPCS) systems that were adopted under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) last year. The arrangements, referred to as the GMPCS memorandum of understanding (GMPCS-MoU) are intended to facilitate worldwide deployment and trans-border use of fixed and mobile satellite terminals and equipment used to communicate with global satellite systems. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking outlines a comprehensive procedure for the licensing, marking, certification and customs treatment of GMPCS terminals. It also proposes safeguards against potential interference to existing aeronautical radionavigation services.
FCC announces personnel changes Roderick Kelvin Porter has been named acting chief of the FCC’s International Bureau. He replaces Regina Keeney, who left the Commission. Porter has served as deputy chief of the bureau since its inception in 1994.
Chairman William Kennard has chosen Kathleen Wallman to chair the Public Safety National Coordination Committee. Since November 1997, Wallman has worked at Wallman Strategic Consulting.
Diane Cornell joins the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) as associate bureau chief. Since October 1994, Cornell has served as chief of the Telecommunications International Bureau.
Jeanine Poltronieri joins the FCC as senior counsel of the WTB. Poltronieri has served as associate bureau chief of the WTB since July 1997.
PageMart Wireless, Dallas, and RoadTrac, Roswell, GA, are set to offer remote tracking of consumer and commercial vehicle location early this year. PageMart’s wireless Internet Protocol (IP) advanced messaging network will provide a method of communication between RoadTrac and its field-deployed devices. “This allows us access to a lower-cost, data-only platform,” said Jeffrey Hamburg, chief executive officer of RoadTrac. (www.pagemart.com; www.roadtrac.com.) . Garden Grove, CA-based Mobile Data Solutions dba Data Express, a subsidiary of Intek Global, would like to hear from former customers and dealers of Geotek Communications. “Geotek was our largest competitor for a while in the ‘complete solution’ market-AVL plus hardware and the system,” said Intek’s Director of Mobile Data Services Greg Nohalty. As an Intek subsidiary since June 1998, Data Express can offer the RF link, radios, systems, monitoring of systems, software and data hardware: “The complete mobile data solution,” Nohalty said. (www.dataexp. com) . IDA Corporation, Fargo, ND, offers AVL hardware and software that works with two-way radio, cellular AMPS CDPD and Orbcomm LEO satellite links. “We’re marketing to many commercial fleets. Among them, we’re big in the transportation arena, including city bus companies,”said IDA Chief Executive Officer John Kruse. “As soon as IDA can obtain the data protocol and Nextel data radios are available, we will be able to interface our Trakit product with them,” he said. “We’ll probably be very selective in the future of who we align ourselves with to market the Trakit product because it takes an investment of time and energy and a learning curve for the technology and to market it.” (www.idaco.com) . Accutrak is another company that is prepared to serve displaced Geotek dealers and customers. “You need communications that are fail-safe. Our product with a mobile data terminal allows that,” said Stanford Silverman, vice president of advertising and sales for the New York-based company. Accutrak uses a process or for GPS signals, a transceiver for two-way data, input/output connectors and an operator interface. “It currently uses CDPD as the most reliable way of communicating,” Silverman added. ([email protected]) A management change at Glenayre Technologies, Charlotte, NC, followed the company’s announcement on Dec. 21, 1998, that fourth quarter earnings would fall short of analysts’ estimates. Chairman Ramon D. Ardizzone has taken additional responsibilities temporarily as president and chief executive officer, replacing Gary B. Smith, who resigned. Ardizzone had preceded Smith in those posts. A new president and chief executive officer is being sought. In addition, Glenayre will shut down or sell its Options business (formerly CNET). (www.glenayre.com) The Personal Communications Industry Association discontinued its technician certification program Dec. 31, 1998. Other organizations offering certification include the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (www.nicet.org); Electroni cs Technicians Association (www.eta-sda.com); International Society of Certified Electronics Technicians (www.iscet.org); National Association of Radio and Telecommunications Engineers (www.narte.org), and Associated Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (www.apcointl.org). Iridium is set to buy Seattle-based Claircom Communications Group from AT&T and Rogers Cantel Mobile Communications for $65 million as it expands into the in-flight telephone business.
