RICHARDSON, Texas-Amidst the frustration and uncertainty generated by a second delay in the upcoming personal communications services auction now scheduled for Aug. 29, DCR Communications Inc. has charged forward, anchoring an equipment contract with Ericsson Inc. worth as much as $750 million during the next several years.
Headed by Janis Riker, president, and chaired by her husband and former MCI executive Dan Riker, Washington, D.C.-based DCR qualified as a designated entity under Federal Communications Commission rules. The company plans to bid for basic trading area licenses within the top 50 markets, encompassing 75 million potential customers.
DCR’s network will use Global System for Mobile communications technology. The company said it plans to join with other PCS 1900 operators to establish a national wireless network.
“We believe that DCR will be one of the largest PCS operators in the C-band,” remarked Jan-Anders Dalenstam, executive vice president and general manager of Ericsson Radio Systems. Ericsson will provide network infrastructure, installation, testing and commissioning services.
The PCS company has secured financial support from Teleconsult Inc., a minority-owned, Washington-based international telecommunications consulting firm, and from Masa Telecom Inc., a U.S.-based company comprised of investors from Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong, organized specifically to invest in the U.S. PCS market.
“We see a significant business opportunity in a market expected to reach $60 billion by the year 2005,” said Toshiaki S. Yamashita, vice president of Masa Telecom.
