A wireless communications subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp., in a joint venture with California wireless firm, has begun offering wireless services in Texas, Ohio and Kentucky.
Ray Kaufman, director of treasury operations for ASRC, said Alaska Native Broadband LLC, in partnership with San Diego-based Leap Wireless International Inc., would serve the Texas markets of Austin, Bryan, College Station, El Paso and San Antonio, as well as Cincinnati and the Kentucky markets of Lexington and Louisville.
"It was an opportunity and we approached (Leap)," Kaufman said Jan. 30. "It is not atypical of Alaska Native corporations to use the federal-mandated preferences we have for bidding on wireless spectrum in federal auctions, and then teaming with a partner with expertise in the wireless market."
Kaufman said when the Federal Communications Commission announces auctions of wireless spectrum there is a percentage available for minority-owned, small disadvantaged businesses that have the Small Business Administration's 8(a) status. In this case, the joint venture paid $62 million in a successful bid for the FCC licenses, he said.
Kaufman said ASRC, an Alaska Native regional corporation with annual revenues in excess of $1 billion, engaged in a similar business venture several years ago, bidding on FCC licenses in Lower 48 markets and teaming up with AT&T. That market is winding down now, he said.
Kaufman said the new joint venture is in the build-up stage so far, spending money, "but we are comfortable, as is Leap, that this will be substantially profitable in the long run."
In mid-October, Leap and Alaska Native Broadband 1 License LLC, a subsidiary of the joint venture, announced the signing of three-year agreements with Lucent Technologies collectively valued at about $125 million.
Under terms of the agreements, Leap's operating subsidiary, Cricket Communications Inc., has committed to purchase $119 million of equipment, while ANB has committed to $6 million.
Using its available technology, the firm is providing customers with new mobile high-speed data services, such as Internet access, information and location-based services, and high-quality music downloads at speeds of up to 2.4 megabytes per second.
According to Leap officials, the firm targets the needs of customers underserved by traditional communications companies. Leap pioneered both Cricket and Jump Mobile. Cricket offers a choice of unlimited local voice minutes, unlimited domestic long-distance voice minutes, unlimited text, instant and picture messaging, and additional value-added services over an all-digital network. Jump Mobile, designed for the urban youth market, offers unlimited incoming calls from anywhere, with outgoing calls at 10 cents a minute and free incoming and outgoing text messaging.
Margaret Bauman can be reached at margie.bauman@alaskajournal.com.
