FIRM CLEARED TO LINK GLOBE.

Byline: Cynthia Flash Scripps-McClatchy Western Service

A long-shot plan by Bill Gates and Craig McCaw to bring telephones and the Internet to all areas of the world via satellites came a step closer to reality thanks to a major ruling by the federal government.

Teledesic, the Kirkland, Wash., company that's been working on the proposal since 1990, has awaited approval from the Federal Communications Commission to move forward with its $9 billion plan to circle the globe with 840 low-orbit satellites.

That approval came in the form of a federal license for a specific radio frequency.

Teledesic, owned by cellular pioneer McCaw and Microsoft Chairman Gates, is the first ever to receive such a license.

``We are very pleased that the FCC has put this faith in us to deliver on a global opportunity to bring high-quality broad-band communications capability to the citizens of the world,'' McCaw said in a news release.

The company, through partnerships with established telecommunications firms, wants to deliver data, video, Internet access and phone calls to areas of the undeveloped world where there are no such communication systems.

Without a wired telephone system, schoolchildren in Tibet could communicate with students in Tacoma; doctors in Bosnia could confer with experts in Boston; and all of Indonesia could access the Internet.

From the time plans of Teledesic became public three years ago, the company's idea of bringing telephone and high-speed Internet access to the remotest corners of the Earth were considered lofty at best, absurd at worst.

First, the company had to get international permission to use a special band on the radio spectrum. Through intense international lobbying, Teledesic won that permission in 1995.

Then, it had to convince the U.S. government to share a portion of the airwaves reserved for government satellite services. Again, through lobbying and pressure from two of the world's top technological gurus - Gates and McCaw - Teledesic convinced the Clinton administration their plan would work.

But as it appeared Teledesic would win the government license, its competitors began to increase the pressure, claiming they would be locked out of the potentially lucrative satellite market.

The Clinton administration intervened by offering to resolve the dispute between Teledesic, the U.S. military and Associated Communications LLC, a wireless company run by former AT&T Corp. President Alex Mandl. Teledesic agreed to pay Associated Communications LLC to move from the contested spectrum band, allowing Teledesic to share the band with the government.

While the 65 employees at Teledesic cheered the government license Friday, they still have a ways to go before their satellite system hooks up its first Internet customer in Djibouti or Macao.

Later this year, Teledesic will again lobby the international committee that regulates telecommunications for the remaining portion of the international radio spectrum, said spokesman Roger Nyhus. And at the same time, the company must find someone to build its satellites and launch them.

That prospect took a leap forward recently when it was disclosed that Boeing was working with Teledesic to help design the system and possibly help build and launch the satellites.

But many questions remain. Rocket launches are dicey. These ventures are enormously expensive. Building such an infrastructure can take years. Finally, it's not clear whether the technology will work.

``It's insanely expensive, it's insanely risky, it's insanely unmanageable'' Robert Egan, research director for satellite technology at the Gartner Group in Stamford, Conn., told the Associated Press.

But then again, with Gates, McCaw and their billions backing this venture, the sky really is the limit.

``With our FCC license in hand, we now have the regulatory certainty to move forward and begin building the network,'' said Teledesic Chief Executive David Twyver.

``After almost seven years of development, the Teledesic Network finally has the green light.''