Maurice, I don't give unqualified support to the "don't worry" side. As I said, there is cause for concern.
Two thoughts are somewhat intermixed in what I hope/think is happening: 1. Some of the infrastructure is not quite ready. Gateways. Handsets. That to me is pretty inexcusable, but must be gotten right before rollout starts in full. One of the irid lessons learned is that they started service before they were ready, and consequently the customers' experience and word of mouth were awful. Immediately, the only stories that started getting around were that irid was having trouble getting going. Nobody was buying their service.
Which leads to 2. It would be a real scene stealer if each of the SP's could make a series of announcements on rollout, that such-and-such a company had committed to purchasing 500 handsets, or 1000 handsets, etc. I presume (hope?) that that kind of marketing is going on right now.
I don't, of course, expect that Number 2 is the situation. But I hope it is. And if management feels that by delaying a couple of months they can ensure some announcements like that on rollout, then they are reducing risk, imo. One obvious initial customer is Schlumberger. (It was posted on this thread that they make the fixed terminals, although I haven't seen it elsewhere). They'd be a natural to take some handsets, for their remote operations.
Best,
John |
