Seven finishing Unwired review

Broadcaster the Seven Network today said it was nearing the end of a review of the technical capabilities of the WiMax network it picked up with its recent acquisition of local wireless internet service provider Unwired.

"Review of WiMax technical capability nearly completed, funding options still to be addressed," said a point in Seven's presentation on Unwired to analysts carried out after the release of the company's preliminary financial results today.

Seven finally swallowed Unwired last December, availing itself of a swathe of licensed wireless spectrum as well as nabbing itself a content delivery system.

"Despite delays in the certification of the technology to date, we believe in the potential of WiMax as a mobile broadband solution and as an efficient platform for delivering content solutions in multicast and broadcast environments," Seven CEO Kerry Stokes said in a statement at the time.

However, Seven's purchase of Unwired last November hasn't paid any dividends this year according to the company's preliminary final report, with Unwired contributing a $15.6 million loss to the consolidated result for the period of 15 November 2007 to 28 June 2008 that it was with the group. Unwired's reported revenues were $22 million.

Some of the loss was attributed to depreciation of the wireless spectrum licences. The spectrum has been licensed by the government for 15 years ending August 2015.