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WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet
January 3, 1996
SAMPLE ISSUE HEADLINES





SPECIAL REPORT:WB&F'S SURVEY OF THE YEAR AHEAD IN WIRELESS


FINANCIAL


TECHNOLOGY


TELECOM STOCK RECAP


FCC




Copyright
WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet
January 3, 1996

STOCKS:  DESPITE DECEMBER's DOWNDRAFT, IT WAS A VERY GOOD YEAR

     A tumultuous year but one that, in the end, proved highly
rewarding from a financial standpoint --that is how many who follow
the wireless industry from Wall Street doubtless will remember 1995.  
     For the 12 months through Dec. 29, the North American
Telecommunications Index--composed of the stocks of 16 publicly held,
large-capitalization companies, all of which do business in cellular
and paging services or in manufacturing wireless equip-ment (WB&F,
Jan. 4, 1995)--increased 30.4 percent. Much of this gain came in the
second half of 1995.     Not all telecom indices followed this
pattern, however.  The 20-stock Chicago Board Options Ex-change Global
Telecommunications Index, up 22.5 percent on the year, was flat since
mid-July.



NORTH AMERICAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDEX
***************************************                  
12/29/95 Close:  392.17

Twelve-Month Range
High         Low
392.17      295.62

Percentage Changes
One Month:     3.7%
Three Months:  8.5%
Six Months:   22.4%
*******************





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Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 AUSTRIAN GSM LICENSE AWARDED FOR $400 MILLION Bowing to bidders' demands that a winner be named by year's end, Austria's top telecom regulator announced Dec. 29 that a German-led group will be licensed to operate the nation's first private cellular system. O-Call, led by Deutsche Telekom and Siemens AG with financial backing from Austrian interests, is to begin service of the global system for mobile communications (GSM) network in about six months. Austria's PTT, building out its own GSM service, is expected to pay the same amount--$400 million--that Transportation Commissioner Viktor Klima said O-Call offered for the 15-year license. Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 LATE-1995 SIGNPOSTS POINT WAY TOWARD INDUSTRY TRENDS OF 1996 Executive Summary: From interviews with industry leaders and analysis of recent events, it is possible to connect some of the dots and make educated guesses about what 1996 holds in store for wireless. The way Larry Vanston sees it, the year ahead "will be a lot like '95" in the world of wireless telecommunications. This is to say that 1996 will be another year of record-setting growth, heightened competition and rapid techno-logical change for the industry, according to Vanston, president of Austin, Texas-based consultants Technology Futures Inc. Vanston and other observers surveyed by WB&F said it may well be that the industry is in for a year when the pace of developments, if anything, gains more momentum. Such an acceleration is seen occurring across a broad front--mani-fested by prices for services driven lower as more competitors arrive on the scene and by a stream of technological advances--and against a backdrop where wireless telephony becomes a widespread reality in more markets overseas. But this is not to say that there are no clouds on the wireless horizon. Indeed, renewed signs of a slowdown in the U.S. cellular market--the world's largest, in terms of absolute subscribers--have dampened the growth outlook for network operators and for handset and infrastructure manufacturers. As Nokia Corp. noted Dec. 14, "Despite improvement in Nokia's U.S. mobile phone business, growth and profitability in Nokia Mobile Phones have developed somewhat below plan." That sent the price of Nokia's American Depositary Receipts tumbling for the second time in two months (page 9). However, it was unclear at press time whether handset manufacturers in general faced a repeat of the overages that built up in their U.S. inventories during the 1994 Christmas season. All the same, Wall Streeters are a notoriously fickle bunch, and any fall-off in domestic wireless growth should be measured against the blistering ex-pansion that the U.S. market enjoyed during 1994 and the first half of 1995. Net subscriber additions simply could not be sustained forever at such an ex-plosive rate, and cellular's long-term growth pattern seems firmly intact. By the end of 1996, it is conceivable that there will be 40 million cellu-lar subscribers in the United States--a gain of 10 million in a 15-month span. ...All Eyes Turn to PCS Big changes are destined to sweep the U.S. wireless market this year, as the industry comes to grips with the probable enactment of legislation aimed at deregulating telecommunications. This would give network operators "the statu-tory certainty they need to move forward with big purchases of new equipment," said Matthew Flanagan, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, Arlington, Va. Moreover, the U.S. market is on the verge of entering a new phase with the advent of broadband personal communications services (PCS). It may be another year yet before PCS is marketed on a large scale, but PCS licensees are betting big bucks that both lower price points and the digitally enhanced sound quality of calls placed over their systems will prove appealing to consumers who have disdained cellular as too costly and to at least some cellular subscribers. This year's challenges for PCS players will be to finish the U.S. licensing process--the C-block spectrum auction (see page 10) is set to resume this week--and to bring newly licensed services to market, said Tom Mateer, vice president of business development for Sprint Telecommunications Venture (STV), the al-liance of Sprint Corp. and three large cable television operators. "Our goal is to provide service in our own markets by the end of 1996," Mateer said of Kansas City-based STV, the largest of the A/B- block major trading area (MTA) licensees in terms of potential market population. Other MTA licensees, including AT&T Wireless Services and PCS PrimeCo L.P., are working against similar timetables. While committed to code division multiple access (CDMA) as its technology standard, STV had not named equipment vendors for its network buildout--estimated to cost from $3 billion to $4 billion by industry sources--at press time. Mateer said talks with prospective suppliers were "moving along." Some funds from Sprint's long-anticipated deal to sell 10 percent equity interests to France Telecom and Germany's Deutsche Telekom, which was approved by the FCC last month, are expected to be earmarked for STV's buildout. On the narrowband side of PCS, action will center on how successfully competitors narrow the lead that Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. (Mtel) enjoys in this market. For its part, Mtel continues to grapple with what Alex. Brown & Sons Inc. recently called "rollout concerns" surrounding the company's SkyTel 2-Way advanced messaging service. ...Competition, Consolidation and Convergence: More of the Same, Only More So Perhaps the most important issue before the wireless industry is how to compete effectively on a landscape that seemingly keeps shifting beneath its feet. For many wireless players, achieving "scale" is the way to maximize their competitive ability. This consolidation trend has been most pronounced in paging, where Arch Communications Group Inc. and AirTouch Paging announced the most recent acquisitions, deals giving them about 2.5 million and 2.2 million U.S. subscribers, respectively. Suf-fice it to say that more paging acqui- sitions are in the offing this year. But 1996 will see the introduction of new wireless players as well, via corporate spinoffs. For instance, Sprint's spinoff of its Sprint Cellular subsidiary to shareholders (WB&F, June 21, 1995) is on track for completion late next month or early in March, and AT&T Corp.'s landmark breakup (WB&F, Sept. 27, 1995) is set to close by year's end. Other wireless companies may become publicly held entities. PageMart Inc., the only privately held company among the top U.S. paging operators, has hinted that it may go this route, and London financial circles are abuzz that Hutchison Wampoa of Hong Kong will float Orange, its U.K. personal communications network (PCN)--possibly as part of a larger realignment of its telecom interests. And the cast of characters getting into wireless seems likely to keep on growing. Two recent examples: * A unit of International Family Entertainment Inc., whose chairman is evangelist Pat Robertson, bought out the majority interest held by Motorola Inc. in Pakistan Mobile Communications Ltd., licensed to offer nationwide cellular service based on the global system for mobile communications (GSM) standard as well as paging in the Asian country. * Fidelity Capital, part of the Boston-based mutual funds giant, has helped engineer a deal aimed at strengthening specialized mobile radio (SMR) operator Pittencrieff Communications Inc. in its core Texas market (WB&F, May 10, 1995). Pittencrieff shareholders were to vote late this week on the company's merger with Fidelity-owned Advanced MobileComm Inc. Meanwhile, convergence has continued to take on new and different forms in wireless. For instance, there is the growing trend among competition-minded service providers to establish themselves as "one- stop shops." In the space of a week last month, Dallas-based Paging Network Inc. (PageNet) announced marketing agreements with both STV and GTE Corp., giving PageNet new distribution channels for its digital and alphanumeric services in both the PCS and local telephone markets, respectively. STV, by packaging cable services on a promotional basis with its planned service offerings for the local and long-distance telephone markets, appears to be seeking as many distribution sources as possible. STV also signed an agree-ment covering various text- messaging services with National Dispatch Center Inc., a San Diego- based data network operator, last month. ...Technology: It's Show Time for CDMA, iDEN Technology, like competition, is a powerful catalyst for convergence. The wireless industry should look during 1996 for more developments along the lines of these recent announcements: * Putting aside their intense rivalry, Motorola granted L.M. Ericsson AB a license to use Flex, Motorola's high-speed paging protocol, in the Swedish company's pagers and infrastructure equipment. * IBM Corp., Nokia and the PCS subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group will work together on making wireless data services accessible to subscribers via IBM ThinkPad laptop computers. The ability to send and receive e-mail and facsimile messages and to gain access to the Internet will be a key selling point for Pacific Bell Mobile Services in marketing PCS in its service area of California and Nevada, the companies said. But in the dynamic field of wireless technology, the CDMA air interface--and its promise of offering 10 times the capacity of analog cel-lular--no doubt will command the limelight right through 1996. The first CDMA system to achieve commercial status was Hutchison Telecom's cellular service in Hong Kong last fall. Next up will be a long-awaited cellular network built out in Los Angeles by AirTouch Com-munications, which has spent much time fine-tuning it, followed by the mid-1996 launch of Shinsegi Tele-communications Inc.'s cellular system in South Korea (WB&F, Aug. 30, 1995). Importantly, the 43 member companies of the CDMA Development Group have verified test results done with CDMA's 13 kilobits per second vocoder, a touch-stone to achieving wireline-quality voice communications over CDMA networks. CDMA handsets for use on PCS networks are expected to become available during the first half of 1996, said Kevin Kelley, vice president of external affairs for Qualcomm Inc., San Diego. The company plans to ship 1 mil-lion terminals this year. For enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR) operator Nextel Communica-tions Inc. [CALL], at least some of the questions surrounding the sound quality of Motorola's ESMR technology, known as iDEN (WB&F, April 12, 1995), will be resolved this year. Even while cementing its nation-wide footprint in place with the immi-nent completion of its acquisition of Dial Page Inc. [DPGE], the Rutherford, N.J.-based company plans to conduct asingle-market beta test of what Nextel executives call "reconfigured iDEN" before the end of March. Based on the re-sults, the company will decide whether to proceed with a "more broad-scale com-mercial introduction" of the technology, Nextel disclosed in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Meanwhile, Geotek Communications Inc.--with a $25 million line of credit provided by Hughes Electronics Corp. at its disposal to acquire additional 900 MHz spectrum--will begin commercial operation of its own SMR service in Philadelphia, its initial market, this month. Finally, two companies developing interference-reducing cellular filters that use high-temperature superconducting materials are bound to make news. Illinois Superconductor Corp. is proceeding with operational field trials, while Superconductor Technologies Inc. announced the delivery of its second receiver filter subsystem for GSM base stations last week. ...International: Asia, Brazil Seen as Where the Action Will Be According to the Commerce Department's Office of Telecommunications, Brazil and India (WB&F, Dec. 6, 1995) will merit close scrutiny from the wireless industry this year as emerging markets with the greatest untapped potential. Also, noted agency analyst Stephanie McCullough, cellular competition will come to five countries for the first time: South Korea, Taiwan, Belgium, Poland and Ireland. The Czech Republic will choose operators for two digital net-works this spring, and PCN services may take shape in more European nations (page 7). Three other Asian "tigers" also are likely to make waves in cellular in 1996. In China, handset prices and user tariffs are projected to fall, spelling further rapid subscriber growth. Having recently awarded Ericsson its third infrastructure contract in 12 months, Guangdong Mobile Communications Corp. soon will qualify as one of the world's biggest network operators, boasting subscriber capacity of ap- proximately 1.2 million on its GSM network and more than 1.4 million on its analog system. In Indonesia, the state-run PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia is con- verting its revenue-sharing arrangements with private investors in the nation's five fixed and mobile operators into joint ventures. This may open the door to more foreign capital, akin to the $800 million and the $586 million that Nynex Corp.WB&F, Oct. 11, 1995) and Deutsche Telekom paid, respectively, for equity stakes in Indonesia's two GSM carriers last year. In terms of sheer numbers of participants--seven, with a combined sub-scriber base projected by Lehman Brothers Asia Ltd. at 1 million as of the end of 1995--Malaysia is one of the most competitive of the major markets for voice-based wireless services in the world. Celcom- -the nation's dominant cellular operator (WB&F, Dec. 7, 1994) but saddled with an analog-based system--faces a difficult task in protecting its market position against several upstarts offering higher-capacity GSM. Action Item: Technology Futures, Tel.: 512/258-8898; Telecommunications Industry Association, Tel.: 703/907-7700; Arthur Andersen, Tel.: 404/688-5600; U.S. Commerce Department, Tel.: 202/482- 2000; Nokia, Tel.: 358-0-18071; Motorola, Tel: 708/576-5000; Ericsson, Tel.: 46-8-719-00-00; Northern Telecom, Tel.: 214/684-1000; Qualcomm, Tel.: 619/587-1121; AT&T Bell Labs, Tel.: 708/979-2000; Sprint Telecommunications Venture, Tel.: 913/624-3000; Nextel, Tel.: 201/438- 1400; AirTouch, Tel.: 510/210-3000; Alex. Brown, Tel.: 410/727-1700; Lehman Brothers Asia, Tel.: 852-2-869-3188. Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 INTERCEL PREPARES TO LAUNCH OFFERINGS OF STOCK, NOTES InterCel Inc. anticipates spending $110 million this year to build out personal communication service (PCS) networks in major trading areas for which Powertel PCS Partners L.P. won licenses last year, followed by an ad-ditional commitment of $150 million to be spent in 1997. In its latest annual report, West Point, Ga.-based InterCel disclosed that it plans to make concurrent public offerings of stock and notes during the first quarter of 1996. Approximate amounts raised from these offerings will be $115.5 million and $150 million, respectively. The offerings are being undertaken in conjunction with the cellular network operator's plans to acquire Powertel (WB&F, July 5, 1995), a privately held con-sortium in which InterCel already is a major participant. Cash interest on the notes will not be payable before 2001. InterCel also is negotiating a $20 million revolving credit facility. While noting that its cellular operations have achieved "positive operating income," InterCel warned in the annual report that management expects "signifi-cant operating losses beginning in 1996," reflecting the impact of PCS buildout and marketing costs. (InterCel, Tel.: 706/645-9520.) Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 CELLULAR OPERATOR CLOSES TWO-TRACK DEBT FINANCING Colombia's Communicacion Celular SA (Comcel) received net proceeds of $145.5 million from a recently completed debt financing, the company's first. The funds will be used to expand the company's network coverage in its eastern Colombia service area, which includes the capital city of Bogota and which has a potential market population of 15.8 million people. Comcel, adding subscribers at the rate of 4,000 a month, had a mid-December base of approximately 62,000. The company is in the process of upgrading its technology, with the time division multiple access digital standard to be paired with its advanced mobile phone system analog network. The financing, said majority owner Bell Canada International Inc., had two components: a $100 million syndicated Eurodollar senior secured term loan due in the year 2001; and an oversubscribed $150 million private placement of high-yield senior deferred coupon bonds due 2003. The bonds, which will accrete at a 13.125 percent rate compounded semiannually until November 2000 and begin paying cash interest in May 2001, are combined with warrants that, if fully ex-ercised, would amount to a 2 percent equity interest in Comcel. Montreal-based Bell Canada International, a BCE Inc. subsidiary, owns 51 percent of Comcel. The rest is owned by Colombia's principal telecom companies, wireline operator Empresa de Telecomunicaciones de Santafe de Bogota and long-distance carrier Empresa Nacional de Telecomunicaciones. (Bell Canada International, Tel.: 514/870-1511.) Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 LACK OF HANDSETS SEEN IMPEDING DUAL-BAND GSM SERVICES Cellular operators that employ global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology in their networks should think long and hard about pairing their services with GSM's higher-frequency counterparts, DCS-1800 and PCS-1900. So says Toni Stadelmann, deputy managing director of mobile services for Swiss Telecom, which has deployed a DCS-1800 personal communi-cations network (PCN) in Geneva to go with its nationwide GSM cellular network. While its experience with PCN has been limited --the Geneva system was rolled out to coincide with the Telecom '95 trade show and conference last October--the PTT plans to introduce DCS-1800 service in Zurich and Basel next fall as a capacity-enhancing supplement to 900 MHz cel-lular in these high-traffic markets, Stadelmann told the PCS-1900 in North America conference in Washington last month. In the long run, he said, the company hopes to reach roaming agreements that would tie its PCN service together with Europe's GSM cellular operators and countries that either have PCN already--the United Kingdom, Germany and France--or are contemplating PCN rollouts, including Sweden and Italy. But there is one sizable problem: Wireless equipment manufacturers need to speed up efforts to bring dual-band mobile phones to market. The subject of GSM/DCS-1800 handsets also came up during another recent meeting in Washington. "I don't know of any vendor today committed to" developing these handsets, Malcolm Cowan, general manager of the Richardson, Texas-based PCS business unit of Northern Telecom Ltd., told the PCS Strategies conference. If recent contract announcements are any indication, however, Finland's Nokia Corp. may be the first to take the plunge. The company has signed a two-year contract with Telia Mobitel, the biggest GSM cellular network in Sweden, for the delivery of base station subsystems that can be used either for a stand-alone DCS-1800 network or a seamless dual-band service. The base stations are designed to bolster capacity in areas with heavy calling traffic as well as to improve indoor coverage. ...Savings on Fixed and Operating Costs, More Flexibility in Setting Rates Nokia's other recent GSM/DCS-1800 infrastructure deals were with NordicTel Holdings of Sweden and Sonofon of Denmark. It also was the vendor for Swiss Telecom's DCS-1800 system. For Swiss Telecom--scheduled to face competition in PCN beginning in 1998, when spectrum set aside for private operators will be opened up--pairing GSM and DCS-1800 will afford cost advantages in the areas of infrastructure, its trans-mission network and customer service and billing, Stadelmann said. According to an analysis in which the PTT assigned different weightings to these cost areas, potential savings of 30 percent can be had--12 percent on both transmission network and billing/customer service expenses and another 6 percent on infrastructure costs. Moreover, in limiting its PCN coverage to urban areas, Stadelmann said that Swiss Telecom has found that it can devise a rate structure that offers greater appeal to the more price-conscious segment of the wire-less voice market. By setting rates close to those of the wireline network, Swiss Telecom hopes to induce customers to switch over to PCN from the fixed network for the mobility it affords. But that, of course, first would require a more robust roaming capability. All Stadelmann could do last month was ask rhetorically: "What are the manufacturers ... doing?" He would like to see action sooner rather than later. (Swiss Telecom, Tel.: 41-31-62-76-93.) Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 GLENAYRE, NEXUS TEAM UP TO SUPPORT SPREAD-SPECTRUM TECHNOLOGY Glenayre Technologies Inc. is considering plans to manufacture re-ceivers incorporating technology developed by Nexus Telecommunication Systems Ltd., which plans to market the technology to paging operators aiming to address the "low end" of the two-way messaging market. The companies announced an agreement last month to collaborate on inte-grating Glenayre-made switches, controllers and base stations with Nexus's reverse-channel receivers and two-way applications platform. The deal is noteworthy because Glenayre will provide protocol information on the company's GL3000 advanced paging terminal that would facilitate the operation of the two-way Nexus Network on existing one-way paging systems. Besides possibly making Nexus-based receivers itself, Glenayre holds an option to buy them from Nexus as an original equipment manufacturer. In return, Nexus granted the Charlotte, N.C.-based company the right to obtain a worldwide license on its return-channel technology. ...U.S. Beta Test Draws Near Essentially, the spread-spectrum Nexus technology (WB&F, Nov. 9, 1994) af-fords one-way paging carriers a low-speed return channel. Nexus Network uses the unlicensed 902-928 MHz band for the return channel, which operates at 200 bits per second--far slower than ReFlex or pACT, the narrowband personal commun-ications service (PCS) protocols developed by Motorola Inc. and AT&T Wireless Systems, respectively. Rani Cohen, senior vice president of Givatayim, Israel-based Nexus, said that Nexus Network is geared toward service offerings where speed is not critical--most notably, a confirmation or short- messaging capability that would appeal to price-sensitive paging subscribers. A beta test of Nexus Network involving American Paging Inc. and several other U.S. carriers is scheduled for next month. Minneapolis-based American Paging holds five regional narrowband PCS licenses. Samsung, the South Korean conglomerate, is expected to begin shipping two-way paging units supporting Nexus Network by next summer. (Nexus, Tel.: 972-3-571-0226; Glenayre, Tel.: 704/522-0483.) Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 DICHOTOMY IN TELECOM STOCKS AS MARKET CLOSES OUT 1995 Optimism over U.S. telecom deregulation helped provide ballast for the stocks of some network operators, but many equipment-related equities are still being held in check by uncertainty over profits. ... Glenayre gave shareholders a Christmas present in the form of a 3- for-2 stock split--the equipment manufacturer's second such distribution in six months. WIRELESS INDUSTRY STOCK PRICE PERFORMANCE December 29, 1995 Company Name/Ticker Symbol 12/29 1 Week 1 Mo 3 Mos Price Chg Chg Chg EQUIPMENT/RELATED SERVICES Allen Group (ALN) $22.38 -0.6% -16.4% -31.3% Andrew (ANDW) 38.25 -3.8 -10.5 -37.4 Audiovox (VOX) 5.44 -5.4 -16.4 -5.4 California Microwave (CMIC) 16.63 -3.6 -18.9 34.2 Cincinnati Microwave (CNMW) 4.50 -4.0 -35.7 -70.2 DSC Communications (DIGI) 36.88 -0.7 -4.8 -37.8 Digital Microwave (DMIC) 10.00 -13.0 -5.9 -19.2 General Motors Hughes (GMH) 49.13 2.1 5.4 19.8 Glenayre Technologies (GEMS) 62.25 2.7 9.7 -13.5 HighwayMaster (HWYM) 10.38 11.4 -16.2 -20.2 InterDigital Communications (IDC) 7.38 -5.6 -7.0 -10.6 Itron (ITRI) * 33.75 12.5 19.5 21.6 LXE (LXEI) 8.38 -1.5 -1.5 -18.3 Metricom (MCOM) 13.63 -6.8 -14.8 -39.4 Motorola (MOT) 57.00 -0.9 -6.7 -25.7 Nexus Telecommunications (NXSFC) 5.88 2.2 17.5 2.2 Northern Telecom (NT) 43.00 -0.6 7.2 20.7 P-Com (PCMS) 20.00 2.6 25.0 -10.6 Proxim (PROX) * 17.75 8.4 35.1 40.6 Qualcomm (QCOM) 43.00 -3.4 -1.4 -6.3 Specialty Teleconstructors (SCTR) 2.16 -9.2 -13.8 -36.1 Spectrian (SPCT) 22.25 2.3 -7.3 -34.8 Stanford Telecommunications (STII) 22.25 17.1 17.1 11.3 Tellabs (TLAB) 37.00 -3.3 -3.3 -12.2 Telular (WRLS) 8.63 -9.2 -19.8 -37.3 Telxon (TLXN) 22.63 -4.0 -3.7 -5.2 Trimble Navigation (TRMB) 18.63 -2.6 -17.7 -26.2 RHCs/INDEPENDENTS Ameritech (AIT) $58.88 1.3% 5.6% 12.9% Alltel (AT) 29.50 2.6 0.0 -1.3 Bell Atlantic (BEL) 66.88 1.9 3.9 9.0 BellSouth (BLS) 43.50 2.7 9.8 19.0 Century Tel Enterprises (CTL) 31.75 3.3 1.2 4.5 Frontier (FRO) * 30.00 10.1 16.5 12.7 IntelCom Group (ITR) 12.25 3.2 25.6 -3.9 LCI International (LCI) 20.50 10.8 12.3 4.5 Lincoln Telecommunications (LTEC) 21.13 3.0 10.5 12.7 MFS Communications (MFST) * 53.25 4.2 17.0 21.7 Nynex (NYN) * 54.00 7.7 7.5 13.1 Pacific Telesis Group (PAC) 33.50 0.8 10.7 8.9 SBC Communications (SBC) 57.25 0.9 5.5 4.1 So New England Telecomms (SNG) 39.75 1.9 10.0 12.4 U S Communications Group (USW) 35.63 2.9 13.1 27.0 U S Media Group (UMG) 19.00 2.0 4.8 ---- WinStar Communications (WCII) 17.13 0.7 18.1 -14.4 WorldCom (WCOM) * 35.25 6.0 9.3 9.7 CONGLOMERATES AT&T (T) $64.75 -1.9% -3.2% -1.5% BCE (BCE) 34.50 -0.4 2.6 3.4 Comcast (CMCSK) 18.19 -1.0 -6.7 -9.1 Comsat (CQ) 18.63 -0.7 -2.6 -17.7 GTE (GTE) 43.88 0.9 0.9 12.1 MCI Communications (MCIC) 26.13 -3.2 -4.6 0.2 Sprint (FON) 39.63 -0.9 -2.5 13.2 PAGING American Paging (APP) $6.38 -3.8% -12.1% -17.7% Arch Communications Group (APGR) 24.00 5.5 -3.5 -8.6 Metrocall (MCLL) 19.13 -6.7 -21.9 -31.1 Mobile Telecom Technologies (MTEL) 21.38 -3.4 -10.0 -30.8 MobileMedia (MBLM) 22.25 -1.1 -14.0 -17.6 Paging Network (PAGE) 24.38 4.8 6.0 1.6 ProNet (PNET) 29.50 4.0 -2.9 1.3 Teletouch Communications (TELL) 3.50 7.7 9.8 0.0 CELLULAR/SMR OPERATORS AirTouch Communications (ATI) $28.13 1.8% -0.4% -8.2% Cellular Communications (COMMA) 49.75 3.1 3.1 -8.7 Cellular Communications Int'l (CCIL) 42.75 5.9 23.9 14.0 Cellular Comms of Puerto Rico (CCPR) 27.75 5.8 1.8 -9.0 Centennial Cellular (CYCL) 17.13 0.7 -9.9 -12.2 Clearnet Communications (CLNTF) 16.00 -2.3 4.9 8.5 CommNet Cellular (CELS) 14.13 -13.4 -16.9 -15.3 Dial Page (DPGE) 15.75 -6.7 3.3 -11.3 Geotek Communications (GOTK) 6.31 -13.7 -11.4 -30.8 InterCel (ICEL) 17.00 4.6 7.1 -17.1 Millicom Int'l Cellular (MICCF) 30.50 0.8 0.8 -5.1 Nextel Communications (CALL) 14.75 -4.8 0.0 -12.6 Palmer Wireless (PWIR) 22.00 -1.1 1.1 -1.1 Pittencrieff Communications (PITC) 3.83 0.0 -1.6 -15.3 PriCellular (PC) 13.00 5.1 2.0 3.0 Rogers Cantel Mobile Comms (RCMIF) * 26.50 5.5 21.8 8.7 United States Cellular (USM) 33.75 0.4 -3.6 -7.5 Vanguard Cellular Systems (VCELA) 20.25 -4.7 -9.0 -21.0 AMERICAN DEP SHARES/RECEIPTS Alcatel Alsthom (ALA) $17.50 4.5% 2.1% 4.5% British Telecommunications (BTY) 56.50 3.7 -1.5 -9.8 Cable & Wireless (CWP) 21.13 1.8 1.2 7.0 Hong Kong Telcommunications (HKT) 17.63 0.0 3.7 -3.4 Grupo Iusacell (CEL) 10.13 0.0 -12.0 -22.1 L.M. Ericsson (ERICY) 19.50 -1.3 -17.9 -20.4 Nippon Telegraph & Telephone (NTT) 41.00 3.8 0.0 -7.9 Nokia (NOK/A) 39.00 3.3 -29.4 -44.0 Telebras (TBR) 47.38 -1.8 -2.1 0.0 Telefonica de Espana (TEF) 41.88 -1.8 0.0 1.8 Telefonos de Mexico (TMX) 31.88 -4.1 -7.4 0.0 Telkom Indonesia (TLK) 25.25 1.0 21.0 ---- Vodafone Group (VOD) 35.25 1.4 0.8 -14.0 OEMs/SOFTWARE/OTHER A+ Network (ACOM) $11.75 -12.1% -11.3% -23.0 Anadigics (ANAD) 21.25 14.9 9.0 -23.4 Boston Technology (BSTN) 12.75 -8.9 -10.5 -15.7 Brightpoint (CELL) 14.13 -13.4 -16.9 -1.5 Brite Voice Systems (BVSI) 13.38 -13.7 -18.3 -27.7 CellStar (CLST) 26.00 -2.8 -1.0 -16.8 Cellular Technical Services (CTSC) 23.25 6.9 6.9 2.8 Coherent Communications Sys (CCSC) 19.25 13.2 20.3 -30.0 Comverse Technology (CMVT) 20.00 -5.3 -10.1 -8.0 Cycomm International (CYI) 4.25 -10.5 -17.1 -32.0 DSP Communications (DSPC) 43.63 2.3 -0.9 32.2 Electronics Communications (ELCC) 2.00 0.0 -46.7 -60.0 General Magic (GMGC) 10.63 -3.4 7.6 -28.0 Illinois Semiconductor (ISCO) 17.00 -4.2 -5.6 61.9 M-Wave (MWAV) 6.75 -1.8 0.0 -53.8 Octel Communications (OCTL) 32.25 4.0 -1.9 -7.5 Racotek (RACO) 5.13 -6.8 -10.9 -16.3 Richardson Electronics (RELL) 10.75 -3.4 16.2 34.4 STM Wireless (STMI) 19.25 0.7 16.7 -4.9 Shared Technologies (STCL) 1.31 -41.7 -50.0 -63.8 Socket Communications (SCKT) 3.00 -13.4 -26.5 50.5 TCSI (TCSI) 18.50 -8.6 15.6 23.3 Tekelec (TKLC) 10.50 -30.0 -33.3 -53.3 Tessco Technologies (TESS) * 28.50 0.0 9.6 9.6 Wireless Telecom Group (WTT) 16.00 -7.3 2.3 -14.1 MOBILE SATELLITE American Mobile Satellite (SKYC) * $30.63 15.6% 12.4% 27.9% Electromagnetic Sciences (ELMG) 11.00 0.0 2.3 -4.3 Globalstar Telecomms (GSTRF) 37.00 0.7 23.3 73.1 Orbital Sciences (ORBI) 12.75 -3.8 -15.0 -21.5 ***************************************************** Standard & Poor's 500 Index 615.93 Dow Jones Industrial Average 5117.12 Asterisk indicates stock at a six-month high. Source: Bloomberg Back to Headline List

Copyright WIRELESS BUSINESS & FINANCE via NewsNet January 3, 1996 MULTIPLE SPECTRUM AUCTIONS, AND MORE ON THE WAY At the FCC's Dec. 15 open meeting, Chairman Reed Hundt hailed the prospect of simultaneous spectrum auctions as a "tremendous accomplishment." And with good reason. While the specialized mobile radio (SMR) auction that began a month ago generally has moved along at a more sedate pace, the C-block auction of bandwidth for broadband personal communications services (PCS) kicked off with a bang on Dec. 18: Net high bids for the 493 C-block licenses exceeded $1.2 billion by the end of the fourth round. One hopeful, Puerto Rico-based PCS 2000 L.P., offered an astronomical $327 million in net high bids for basic trading area (BTA) licenses in the first round, skewing the bidding. But the hectic activity put to rest at least some doubts about whether the long-delayed C-block auction would measure up to last year's PCS auction of major trading area licenses. Meanwhile, SMR operators praised FCC plans to auction wide-area licenses for 10 MHz in contiguous blocks of 20, 60 and 120 channels in the 800 MHz band. Also, two notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRMs) will allot still more spectrum for use in wireless applications if adopted as final rules by the FCC: * One would open the 37-38.6 GHz band for point-to-point microwave operations. BTA licenses would be auctioned off--possibly as soon as a year from now--with credits and installment plans accorded to small businesses that wish to bid. A provision would permit the processing of pending license applications in the 38.6-40 GHz band. * The other NPRM would give hospitals access to vacant television channels in the very and ultra high-frequency bands, doubling in many regions the number of frequencies available for remote patient monitoring. Higher power levels also would be allowed for medical telemetry devices. (FCC, Tel.: 202/632-7000.) Back to Headline List