Small companies may have an easier go at starting personal communications services operations with minimal capital investment through proposals offered separately by the seven regional Bell operating companies.
“It’s very unusual for all of these independent companies to do something together,” said Robert Kyle, founder of the Small Business PCS Association, a group formed last year to provide services to help small companies interested in participating in spectrum auctions. “Each came to us individually to set up a conference. And they will each make separate presentations.”
Interest by the Bells and their research arm, Bell Research Communications Inc., or Bellcore, comes just before this fall’s auction of PCS licenses by the Federal Communications Commission.
The FCC has reserved two licenses in each designated service area for companies considered to be small, minority- or women-owned.
The aim is to give smaller, entrepreneurial companies a way to take part in PCS operations and compete with large, well-financed competitors, who will be at a financial advantage before any networks even begin operating.
Bell companies, such as Ameritech, said they could offer these “designated” businesses a helping hand if they win at the auction.
“If they win spectrum, there may not be a lot of capital left over for the arrangement,” said Ameritech spokesman Jim Devine. “We can build out for them, craft a service, then lease it to them, or sell it to them, or operate it under a contract.”
The Bells say they could help winning companies that may be new to the communications business. “We have a large resource pool of talent and services. And when someone wins a license, they may want services up and running as fast as they can to get a payback for their partners. We are in a position to develop it according to their needs,” Devine said.
The Small Business PCS Association has agreed to sponsor a symposium Oct. 4 at the Hyatt Arlington in the Washington D.C., area to give the each Bell company a forum to present their information.
The following day is the association’s national meeting where the group will discuss FCC rules for PCS, the cost of initiating a small business PCS network and infrastructure equipment and costs.
“We’re not endorsing the RBOCs’ option or any other at this time. There will be a lot of valuable information there, but it’s one of a number of options for small businesses. We’re not promoting one option over another because it depends on the circumstances of a business,” Kyle said.
The Small Business PCS Association is comprised of 65 companies that plan to participate in the auctions.
