There was an article in the Rutland (Vermont) Herald last June which was probably ignored by everyone but me. In Vt. probes sale of broadcast spectrum, the Herald notes that the Vermont State Colleges did a no-bid deal with Utopian Wireless Corporation which the state is questioning, as it appears that the licenses are worth a lot more than Utopian paid for them:
"We estimate the value of these EBS license to be in excess of $500,000," Smith wrote. "Vermont is home to numerous wireless broadband companies that are working hard to meet our rural broadband goals. Many of these companies are desperately seeking out licensed spectrum that will ensure their company's future. It appears that Utopian's mission is purely speculative in nature, with hopes of selling those assets to a larger national provider. It is unlikely that a national provider would have Vermont as a priority for building a wireless broadband network."
There are some obvious questions here about the propriety of the no-bid contract and the financial issues, and that's was the focus of the Herald article. However, I'm much more interested in another aspect of the story. Who is "Utopian Wireless" and what are they after?
I tried finding out about Utopian Wireless and came up blank, except for one interesting fact: they appear all over the country in meeting minutes from local school boards which are discussing similar deals: buying wireless networks from local school districts. Web searches for Utopian yield nothing in the way about the corporation, who's in it, no way of verifying whether any of the officials involved in these transactions have any connection to the company, etc.
Here are some examples:
Pangburn School Board:
NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Wood informed the board that Utopian Wireless Corporation, a Delaware corporation ("Utopian"), would like to enter into an ESB lease agreement with Pangburn School District for the B channel group in Searcy, Arkansas, call sign WND586. This matter will be tabled at this time.
Jasper (IL) (link to pdf file):
Motion by Wes Pitcher, second by Gordon Millsap to approve the Education Broadband Service Lease Agreement with Utopian Wireless corporation as recommended. Ayes: Richards, Millsap, Pitcher, Huddlestun, Barthelme, Allison, Weber. Nays: None. Motion carried.
Also, the FCC has a daily release of transfers. One from September 17, 2007 shows several transfers of leases involving Utopian Wireless that suggest a transfer from a Denver school as well as a couple other entities.
So while I don't know who they are, I do know they're not local to Vermont (they appear to be from Delaware), and I think that there's real question as to whether or not a state entity should be making choice deals with out-of-state businesses without even giving local companies a chance to bid on the deal. It could end up happening that Utopian just turns around and sells the networks to someone else for a profit, a profit that could have stayed in Vermont's hands. I've tried my best at sleuthing this out in Vermont and came up with nothing.
There is a website -- http://utopianwireless.com -- that may or may not be connected with this company. It's a stub of a site without any real content and no contact information, a bookmarked "coming soon" site from Network Solutions, which tells us nothing.
Here's why I'm interested: I don't know who these people are but I know they're doing deals by approaching local school systems, many of whom are strapped for cash. I don't know if they're making good deals or bad deals, but I know they're making deals and expect some profit off of those deals and I want to know what their intent is: to do some good for schools while making a profit? To make a profit at the expense of schools? I just don't know and I'm having real trouble finding out anything.
So I'm hoping maybe some other Kossacks have a clue about this. I know this is a long shot, and for all I know, this diary will die within minutes after it's posted, but I figure it's worth a shot-- anyone have a clue as to who this company is and what they're all about?
UPDATE: see comments: Kossacks are awesome. We now apparently know exactly who they are and what their game plan is.