WorldCom makes a deal

To gain approval for its purchase of Intermedia, WorldCom entered into a consent decree with the Justice Department calling for it to sell all of Intermedia's assets except for its controlling interest in Web-hosting firm Digex. WorldCom must complete the sale within six months of the merger's closing and must operate Intermedia as a separate business during that time. The merger must still clear the FCC and several state regulatory bodies.

Advocates tout ultrawideband technology as the next great wireless wonder with stunning abilities to "see through" walls, avoid multipath interference and obtain highly accurate positioning. So far, UWB has been mainly put to military uses such as fending off hostile communications interception. Several companies are working on radar and communications applications for the commercial world.

"There are thousands of potential uses for this [technology]," said an FCC engineer.

"Wireless spectrum is the oil of the information age. UWB [devices] are the fastest engines," said Ralph Petroff, president and CEO of Time Domain, one of three companies authorized by the FCC to deploy UWB devices in limited quantities.

Here are the FCC's four-year demonstration projects:

- Time Domain, of Huntsville, Ala., plans to sell up to 2500 radar systems that would allow fire and emergency personnel to locate people inside damaged, burning or smoke-filled buildings. The first products, RadarVision 2000, are expected to go on sale in the first quarter of 2001.

- Zircon, a manufacturer of electronic hand tools based in Campbell, Calif., is developing a radar system to be used in the construction industry. It will be capable of detecting objects such as gas lines and water pipes inside walls and other building materials. For example, the system could detect steel reinforcement rods in concrete so that drillers could avoid hitting them. The company is allowed to sell 5000 units.

- US Radar, of Matawan, N.J., plans to market a ground-penetrating radar system that could detect buried objects such as plastic gas pipes or reveal hidden flaws in roads, bridges or airport runways. It can sell 25 units per year.