AIRBAND ADDS MARKETS, EXECS IN HUNT FOR BROADBAND WINS

Incoming top-tier executive talent, a recent acquisition and the promise of new technology and services has Dallas-based wireless ISP airBand thinking big, just as the rest of the telecom industry is starting to expect bigger and better things from broadband wireless.

Former Broadwing Chief Operating Officer John McLeod began a new job as executive vice president of operations and technology at airBand earlier this month, becoming the second high-level executive from Austin-based Broadwing to move north to airBand in recent months. Mark Spagnolo, CEO of airBand, was CEO of Broadwing until late 2004. He then ran a consulting business briefly before joining airBand in late August of this year. Spagnolo brought McLeod on board at airBand, and it's actually the third time the executives have teamed up — they also ran Metromedia Fiber Networks, which was acquired by Broadwing in 2003.

Despite being under the radar of some industry watchers, airBand also has brought on a new chief financial officer and other management talent within the last several months, and has completed the acquisition of fellow service provider Accelacom to gain entry into the Baltimore market, and most recently, Philadelphia. Now, airBand is looking toward expanding into new markets closer to Dallas and also has plans to invest in new network equipment as WiMAX gear for the unlicensed 5.8 GHz spectrum becomes certified sometime next year.

“Right now, we have five markets open, and we plan to add another four to eight markets a year,” Spagnolo said. “Meanwhile, we'll upgrade our existing markets with new equipment.”

Though the company has done two acquisitions within the last two years, Spagnolo said much of its future growth could be organic. Many people watching the broadband wireless sector recently have wondered if further consolidation would follow Covad Communications' recent pledge to acquire NextWeb, but that has yet to happen.

“One driver of consolidation is that you can standardize on WiMAX and get some cost savings on the equipment end,” said John Yunker, president of Byte Level Research, in an e-mail interview. He added that what made Covad/NextWeb a sound deal was the mix of small and large business customers the combined company will have. Still, he acknowledged that there are hundreds of small broadband wireless firms nationwide that could be ready for consolidation.

McLeod said airBand's initial organic market expansion likely would start in the next 30 to 60 days and could occur in Texas, allowing airBand to more easily monitor the progress of the launches. “We're doing RF studies in those markets right now,” McLeod said.

Regarding the company's upcoming equipment investment, McLeod said, “We have two or three vendors in the lab right now, and we're not going to put all of our eggs in one basket.”

Though airBand is excited about the prospect of deploying WiMAX gear, Spagnolo said the company isn't pinning its entire strategy on how quickly certified gear becomes available for its spectrum.

“What certification gives us is interoperability and nothing more,” he said. “The quality of service for broadband wireless is here. It's ready for prime time.”

Spagnolo and McLeod both said the timing was right to go from being in the fold of a larger wireline company to the Wild West of wireless. “There's a lot of uncertainty around the CLEC model right now and with UNEs,” Spagnolo said. “It's an already-complex business that is going to get more difficult, not easier.”