Wireless deal fills power vacuum

By ADAM GIFFORD

Listed company Newcall Group is set to become a significant player in wireless internet through a proposed merger with private companies UCC (2001) and C Squared Technology.

Newcall has a heads of agreement to acquire the two companies for 90 million Newcall shares at 4 cents per share.

The deal will be put to Newcall shareholders as they are being asked to approve the sale of Newcall's energy retailing subsidiary Energy Online (EOL) to Genesis Power.

Newcall chief executive Jim Bracknell said the shareholders' meeting would be held once Commerce Commission approval was gained for the EOL transaction, which would reduce debt and clean up the company's balance sheet.

With its telephone customers sold to TelstraClear and its energy business gone, the former shell company known as New Zealand Salmon is down to two business units: internet service provider Iprolink and a billing software provider.

The deal will give UCC owners Alistair Austin, Leicester Chatfield and Peter Uffindell just over 40 per cent of the merged companies, replacing Bangkok-listed Charoong Thai Wire and Cable as the major shareholder.

"Our goal was to put the company in good New Zealand hands, and our Asian partners will be very happy when this transaction goes through," Bracknell said.

UCC started in 1997 as University Consortium Computers. It turned over $14 million last year supplying and supporting specialist computer hardware and software to tertiary institutions and large organisations.

"The sale of EOL takes the largest revenue-generating unit out of Newcall, so as a public company we needed to replace that revenue, either by growing our other businesses, which wasn't possible, or something like this," Bracknell said.

C Squared Technology, a subsidiary of UCC, has developed wireless technology for high-speed data transmission and telephony.

"UCC has acquired access to the frequencies Counties Power bought in the last spectrum auction, and we believe for Iprolink the way forward is providing wireless broadband access," he said.

"The public frequencies are getting full, so having our own dedicated frequencies will be a definite advantage."

"C Squared has been working with Far North District Council on its broadband pilot, and we believe if that is successful, it will push the company into rural telephony in the regions."

UCC is shortlisted, along with Telecom and Walker Wireless, for the Northland broadband pilot.

Iprolink's recently appointed chief executive, Mike Connor, worked with Chatfield at Radionet.

Austin is an experienced investor, and Uffindell is a former owner of Southmark Computers.