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Enron Mail |
Williams Invites Telecom Carriers To Talk Bandwidth Friday, April 7, 2000 04:36 PM ?Mail this article to a friend By Michael Rieke HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Following up on its February pledge to be a leader in developing a liquid market for telecommunications bandwidth, Williams Communications Group (WCG, news, msgs) will host a meeting of telecom carriers next week. Ken Epps, senior vice president for strategic marketing for Williams Communications, told Dow Jones Newswires that the first objective for the meeting will be understanding any concerns carriers might have about a market for standardized trading of bandwidth. That's a sensible approach for Williams Communications because the company wasn't impressed last May when Enron Corp. (ENE, news, msgs) suggested trading bandwidth as a commodity under standard terms and conditions. Bandwidth is the capacity to move data on telecommunications networks. Many observers thought that such a market would be ideal for Williams Communications. After all, 85% of its stock is owned by Williams Co. (WMB, news, msgs), which has been trading energy commodities like crude oil and natural gas for years. But Williams Communications didn't get behind the idea until February when it told industry analysts it had formed a bandwidth trading group. The new group includes Sharon Crow, who had been a gas trader and risk manager with Williams Energy Services, a unit of Williams Co. She is now vice president of bandwidth trading for Williams Communications. Since then, a number of other companies have said they want to play in that market - Dynegy Inc. (DYN, news, msgs); El Paso Energy Corp. (EPG, news, msgs ); Columbia Transmission Communications, a unit of Columbia Energy Group (CG, news, msgs); and Koch Industries. Those companies all have one thing in common and it isn't ownership of telecommunications bandwidth. They all have years of experience trading energy commodities. Last month companies from the energy side joined some carriers and others interested in standardized trading of bandwidth at a meeting put together by CompTel, a telecom industry trade association. At that meeting they decided who would be considered principals in the bandwidth trading market - companies that will "take title to," or own, bandwidth. In other words, principals will be either telecom carriers or companies that will buy and sell bandwidth to manage risk in the telecommunications industry. They also formed a committee of principals to study standard terms and conditions needed to establish a liquid market for bandwidth trading. People who attended the meeting said two of the largest carriers were missing at the CompTel meeting. MCI WorldCom (WCOM, news, msgs) was there but AT&T (T , news, msgs) and Sprint (FON, news, msgs) weren't. The meeting next week, which starts Monday, is for telecom carriers only, Epps said. This week, he wouldn't mention names of the companies invited, but last month he told Dow Jones Newswires his company's meeting would include "the real players, the MCI WorldComms, the Qwests (Q, news, msgs), the AT&Ts.... It's about people who have the assets and how we use these to advantage the marketplace, how we build a good powerful market model," Epps said. Williams Invites Telecom Carriers To Talk Bandwidth Friday, April 7, 2000 04:36 PM ?Mail this article to a friend By Michael Rieke HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Following up on its February pledge to be a leader in developing a liquid market for telecommunications bandwidth, Williams Communications Group (WCG, news, msgs) will host a meeting of telecom carriers next week. Ken Epps, senior vice president for strategic marketing for Williams Communications, told Dow Jones Newswires that the first objective for the meeting will be understanding any concerns carriers might have about a market for standardized trading of bandwidth. That's a sensible approach for Williams Communications because the company wasn't impressed last May when Enron Corp. (ENE, news, msgs) suggested trading bandwidth as a commodity under standard terms and conditions. Bandwidth is the capacity to move data on telecommunications networks. Many observers thought that such a market would be ideal for Williams Communications. After all, 85% of its stock is owned by Williams Co. (WMB, news, msgs), which has been trading energy commodities like crude oil and natural gas for years. But Williams Communications didn't get behind the idea until February when it told industry analysts it had formed a bandwidth trading group. The new group includes Sharon Crow, who had been a gas trader and risk manager with Williams Energy Services, a unit of Williams Co. She is now vice president of bandwidth trading for Williams Communications. Since then, a number of other companies have said they want to play in that market - Dynegy Inc. (DYN, news, msgs); El Paso Energy Corp. (EPG, news, msgs ); Columbia Transmission Communications, a unit of Columbia Energy Group (CG, news, msgs); and Koch Industries. Those companies all have one thing in common and it isn't ownership of telecommunications bandwidth. They all have years of experience trading energy commodities. Last month companies from the energy side joined some carriers and others interested in standardized trading of bandwidth at a meeting put together by CompTel, a telecom industry trade association. At that meeting they decided who would be considered principals in the bandwidth trading market - companies that will "take title to," or own, bandwidth. In other words, principals will be either telecom carriers or companies that will buy and sell bandwidth to manage risk in the telecommunications industry. They also formed a committee of principals to study standard terms and conditions needed to establish a liquid market for bandwidth trading. People who attended the meeting said two of the largest carriers were missing at the CompTel meeting. MCI WorldCom (WCOM, news, msgs) was there but AT&T (T , news, msgs) and Sprint (FON, news, msgs) weren't. The meeting next week, which starts Monday, is for telecom carriers only, Epps said. This week, he wouldn't mention names of the companies invited, but last month he told Dow Jones Newswires his company's meeting would include "the real players, the MCI WorldComms, the Qwests (Q, news, msgs), the AT&Ts.... It's about people who have the assets and how we use these to advantage the marketplace, how we build a good powerful market model," Epps said.
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