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Globalive Communications Corp. is seeking a fresh injection of cash to finance the expansion of the company's Wind Mobile wireless business across Canada.

Globalive plans to raise "several hundred million" dollars from the financing, company chairman and chief executive officer Anthony Lacavera said in an interview yesterday, though the financing could be as much as $700-million according to industry estimates.

Talks with lenders are a little bit easier these days for Mr. Lacavera.

"That's the understatement of the century," laughs the 35-year-old executive. "We've got to roll out the network as fast as possible," he said. "The good news is there's an appetite for what we're doing."

In November, Mr. Lacavera was famished for capital. He was knocking on doors for emergency financing after an abrupt rejection of Globalive's bid to enter the Canadian wireless market by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Globalive Wireless Management Corp., the CRTC ruled, was foreign-controlled and unable to operate here because of financial backing by Cairo-based Orascom Telecom Holding SAE. At the time, Mr. Lacavera's conversations with lenders went nowhere. They were justifiably skeptical, he said, given Globalive's predicament.

"When we had the regulatory uncertainty and we had the initial launch risks in front of us, there was a different risk profile for investors," Mr. Lacavera said.

Last month, however, Industry Minister Tony Clement swept away the CRTC's ruling, permitting Globalive to go ahead with Wind's launch in Toronto and Calgary.

"This financing is expansion financing," he added, noting that Wind plans to launch in Edmonton and Ottawa in late February or early March, and in Vancouver by early April.

So far, Mr. Lacavera said, Wind has attracted 10,000 customers, mainly in Toronto.

Mr. Lacavera declined to specify any lenders, saying only that he was speaking to U.S., Canadian and international banks, as well as the broader investment community. An industry source, who declined to be named, said this was typical for a new entrant, given how other companies have entered Canada's wireless market in the past.

"It's very formulaic," the source said. "Generally you get private equity firms to help you in the beginning ... Then your incremental source is usually the U.S. high-yield market. And then you generally do an IPO."

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