The best is yet to come

Alex Mandl is about to prove everybody right. When the former president of AT&T left the telecom old guard in late 1996 to head up an unheard-of wireless start-up called Associated Communications, the headlines screamed risky business, and rumors swirled that it was a $20 million signing bonus that lured Mandl away. Still, the popular theory was that if anyone could take a relatively simple digital microwave transmission technology and turn it into broadband wireless profit, Mandl could.

Mandl hasn't launched his company's networks yet, but he's made significant inroads toward that day. He hunted down the best of the best from among the telecom ranks to staff his venture, gaining talent from the likes of PrimeCo, UUNet and MCI. Together, they recast the identity of Associated as Teligent and began to spread their gospel to the industry.

Last month, Teligent garnered $780 million in equipment financing from Northern Telecom in a deal so significant it prompted the vendor to buy a smaller radio manufacturer. With Nortel, Teligent also put together a full network trial in Richardson, Texas.

"Having that in place is very important," Mandl says. "It has helped us prove out the technology."

To cap off the year, Mandl and company introduced Teligent to the financial world with a debt offering and initial public offering. Mandl says this will allow the company to build out a substantial portion of the network and is clearly a crucial blessing.

"These are very smart people, and they're voting with their dollars," Mandl says.

Teligent is sure to face stiff competition in its efforts, but Mandl is confident that by targeting small and medium-sized business markets, Teligent will achieve success. "The markets we're focused on-which, by the way, make up two-thirds of the business market-tend not to be served as heavily as Fortune 500 companies," Mandl says.

The true test will occur when Teligent launches at least 10 markets in 1998 and another 20 in 1999. But if Mandl's leadership so far is any indication, the best is yet to come.