Nortel Networks CEO John Roth issued open letter to stockholders Thurs. reassuring them that company was on sound ground, hadn’t done anything wrong to merit spate of shareholder suits in recent days and “will defend ourselves vigorously.” Company has been hit by suits charging it misled investors by projecting strong 2001 revenue growth in Jan. 18 news release, only to revise guidance month later with greatly reduced growth estimate. Roth said Nortel acknowledged economic downturn in Jan. 18 news release but company still thought its first-quarter outlook was bright because it would take a while for downturn to affect it. “Based on previous experience, we had anticipated a longer lead time for the effects of a downturn to be felt by our sector,” Roth wrote. “The current downturn occurred with unprecedented suddenness and severity,” he said. Company revised its guidance Feb. 15, “as soon as the effects of this downturn were clear to us,” he said.
Internet privacy, e-commerce and related issues will be subject of all-day conference April 4 sponsored by D.C. Bar’s Computer & Telecom Law Section. Other topics include Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act, legislative environment, international issues, Wall St. Conference will be at International Trade Center in D.C. -- 202-429-2381.
Norway’s Telia Mobile selected Nokia to supply equipment for its 3rd-generation wireless network in Finland under agreement that includes Nokia’s Wideband CDMA radio access network and 3G IP mobility core network, terms not disclosed.
Elizabeth Lyle, ex-FCC, named vp-disability access and technology practice, Wallman Strategic Consulting… Robert Nichols, ex-Electronic Industry Assn., joins Treasury Dept. as deputy asst. secy. for public affairs… Robert Friedman, ex-New Line, named pres., AOL TV… Changes at Tribune Bcstg.: Patrick Mullen advanced to pres., Tribune TV, replacing Michael Eigner, who moves to pres., Tribune Cable; Peter Walker steps up to senior vp-Tribune TV; John Reardon promoted to west coast regional vp… William Weiss, Promar Group, joins International Telecommunications Clearing Corp. advisory board… Beth Hampton, ex-American Chemistry Council, named vp-membership mktg., CTAM… Steven Green, ex-U.S. ambassador to Singapore, appointed to Asia Global Crossing board… Natasha Cohen promoted to dir.-business development, Digital Media Group, Showtime Networks… Robert Long, vp-news, WRC-TV Washington, moves to vp-news and operations… Pamela Bertino advanced to vp-gen. mgr., Weatherscan Local, Weather Channel… Christopher Kelly promoted to gen. mgr., DiscoverOmaha.com, Cox Interactive Media… Arthur Sando, ex- Winstar, named senior vp-communications, CBS Enterprises.
Senate Commerce Committee will hold markup next Thurs. (March 15) for legislation and nominations, it said without releasing agenda. Markup will begin at 9:30 a.m., Rm. 253, Russell Bldg. However, we're told markup probably won’t include Internet- or telecom-related items.
News Corp. Chmn. Rupert Murdoch and NBC sports announcer Bob Costas will keynote SkyForum satellite/financial symposium at Marriott Marquis Hotel April 5 in N.Y.C. -- 703-739-8351.
Mike Copps, longtime aide to Sen. Hollings (D-S.C.), has “a lock” on appointment to one of 2 Democratic seats soon to open up on FCC, according to prominent Democrat. Giving credence to that position is statement to us by Senate Republican that Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.) has told Hollings (former Commerce Committee chmn. when Democrats controlled Senate) that he could fill Democratic seat. Copps left Hollings’ staff last year to become asst. secy. of Commerce for international trade (CD Feb 1 p1). Candidates for other Democratic seat include front-runner Andy Levin, aide to Rep. Dingell (D-Mich.), former chmn. of House Commerce Committee.
Research firm Pelorus Group estimated in new report that subscribers to speech-enabled wireless Web services would increase to 50% market penetration in 2005 from current 5%. Pelorus said 1.6 million subscribers were using those services as of end of 2000. Based on projection, revenue from sector could top $3 billion, it said.
Restrictive digital broadcasting laws are forcing Australia to focus on expanding broadband access, speakers said March 8 at Internet Industry Assn. (IIA) conference in Sydney, Australia. In panel discussion on “Bottlenecks and Big Fat Pipes: What’s Stopping Broadband?” speakers from Telstra Corp., Internet consulting firm, venture capital company and U.S. IIA said country faced several problems holding up growth of broadband. Telstra is dealing with several asynchronous ADSL challenges, Chief Technology Officer Hugh Bradlow said: (1) Compatibility “rules of the road” had to be developed with regulators. (2) Demand isn’t high because Australians love their inexpensive dial-up service. ADSL appears to be perceived as “the” technology of future, he said, but it’s just start of journey. In any case, Bradlow said, Australia’s broadband deployment isn’t being held back by price. LCH Holdings Dir. Luke Carruthers said Australia could do better than it was doing in deploying large-scale broadband. Telstra is responsible for building proper infrastructure, he said, but it’s beholden to its stockholders. Some blame for slow broadband deployment also rests on govt., he said. Moreover, Carruthers said, Australian culture doesn’t support innovation like U.S. or Israel. Australian financial markets traditionally haven’t backed broadband technology, he said, although that’s beginning to change. Bandwidth is pricey, said www.consult CEO Ramin Mazbani, and it’s necessary to figure out how to pay for it. Moreover, he said, in expanding broadband access, industry must keep in mind what technology is supposed to help users do: Not everyone cares about being online. “Let’s get real about what’s going on,” Mazbani said. USIIA Exec Dir. Dave McClure said discussion really was about residential broadband deployment, not office access, In U.S., broadband demand is “elastic,” based on price. There are also technical problems for deploying broadband. Moreover, he said, U.S. govt. policy mandating universal telephone service means that industry had to go to extraordinary lengths to provide phone lines economically to houses. That was done by multiplexing, he said, which is great for telephony but will have to be completely revamped to deliver residential broadband. Carruthers said that in Australia, large part of broadband problem arises from way other telecom companies are forced to interact with Telstra. While situation can be improved, that’s not end of story, he said. Industry must be able to provide broadband services that improve quality of peoples’ lives, which involves copyright protection, licensing and other issues, not just reshaping regulatory controls, he said.
FCC Wireless Bureau plans to auction 14,000 licenses in lower paging bands of 35-36, 43-44, 152-159 and 454-460 MHz on June 26. Auction also covers 1,514 licenses in upper paging bands of 929- 931 MHz that remained unsold in auction that closed March 2. FCC is seeking comment on several proposals by March 19, with replies due March 26: (1) To award licenses in single, simultaneous multi-round auction. (2) To make upfront payments equal to minimum opening bids. FCC proposes that amount of upfront payment determine bidding units on which participant can place bids.