Of late, the move from corporate executive to born again entrepreneur is not uncommon in wireless.
But still it comes as a surprise Alex Mandl would leave his post as president and chief operating officer of AT&T Corp. Word has it he was Chairman Bob Allen’s successor to-be.
Mandl now will pilot a venture that has a chance to lead in an entirely new wireless market, competitive local exchange services, facilitated by the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and the recent fine-tuning of certain digital technology.
Mandl will begin Sept. 1 as chairman and chief executive officer of Associated Communications L.L.C., a company established to provide broadband wireless multimedia services. The Associated Group Inc. is majority owner of Associated Communications and Telcom Ventures L.L.C. is part owner, through its affiliate Digital Services Corp.
“I cannot resist the challenge of pioneering a very significant telecommunications venture in the new regulatory environment,” commented Mandl. “Associated Communications offers a unique opportunity to succeed personally, professionally and financially on an entirely new level. It’s the chance of a lifetime to create a communications company from the ground up,” he continued.
“Alex was the first and only choice,” to lead the company, said a spokesman. Associated’s owners were waiting first for Mandl’s response before looking elsewhere, he added.
While Pittsburgh-based Associated is a new company, its pursuit has long been in the planning stages by Associated Group, Telcom Ventures and a number of consultants. Mandl’s company will launch wireless activities in the 18 GHz band as allowed under licenses designated by the Federal Communications Commission for Digital Electronic Message Service. DSC and Microwave Services Inc., another Associated Group subsidiary, acquired the DEMS licenses about a decade ago. Service will include voice, high-speed data, Internet access and video conferencing.
Only under recent telecom deregulation could such services be introduced, said a spokesman for the company.
DEMS rules “allow a licensee to use its licensed frequency pairs for two-way, `cellular-like,’ point-to-multipoint digital services to fixed user stations on an exclusive basis through its (standard major service area).” MSI and DSC have licenses in 31 SMSAs-service areas as defined by the Department of Commerce, which preceded MSAs-across the nation.
Services already are being test-marketed on a limited basis, said the company, and commercial service is scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 1997.
Point-to-multipoint technology calls for sharing of infrastructure said Associated, and therefore costs less per subscriber. Associated’s technology is maximized for frequency reuse, said the company.
AT&T’s Allen noted the company would seek a replacement for Mandl outside the company.
