You can go home again

McCaw mines AT&T ranks for startup A new competitive local exchange carrier venture backed by Craig McCaw has lured two top AT&T Wireless Services executives with an entrepreneurial spirit that McCaw himself helped foster.

AT&T Wireless Vice Chairman Wayne Perry and President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Hooper announced last week that they will join McCaw in founding OneComm, which will provide management services and strategic guidance to McCaw's Nextlink CLEC. Gerry Salemme, vice president of government affairs for AT&T Corp., has also joined OneComm as executive vice president of government and industry relations.

Perry and Hooper, both of whom will be shareholders in OneComm, said last week that they crave the challenges of new projects. "We've accomplished our goals, and it's time to use the skills we have to achieve new goals," Perry said.

McCaw's venture is likely to become a component of AT&T's local strategy, including the company's "Project Angel" wireless local loop endeavor, Hooper said. "Our goal is to ultimately deploy Angel for AT&T in some markets," he said.

AT&T simultaneously announced last week that Dan Hesse, formerly vice president and general manager of business development for the parent company, will become president and CEO of the wireless division. Hesse's wireless experience is limited to a stint as president of AT&T Network Systems International, but he has been involved in new areas for AT&T, including its Internet business. "I've always been at the leading edge of where AT&T is as a carrier," Hesse said.

AT&T has portrayed Hesse as a good match for the hip wireless unit, but one analyst pointed out that Hesse's marketing experience is more crucial. "Something more important than the culture thing is that Hesse is a salesman," said John Ledahl, director of wireless programs at Dataquest, San Jose. "It's a marketing game, and having a salesman at the helm is a good thing."

LICENSED TO TEST MCI has licensed Applied Digital Access' Test OS digital circuit testing system, which allows technicians to remotely test wideband and broadband services. The Java-enabled client-server product improves testing efficiency because tests can be carried out across several levels of network elements.

TAMPA SLATED FOR ROAD RUNNER Time Warner will launch its Road Runner cable modem service in Tampa this summer using Motorola's CyberSURFR modems and systems management equipment from Toshiba.