G* antenna as a "gun or a cattle prod"?
From the September 27, 1999, issue of Wireless Week
Opinion: Online And Lovin' It
By Judith Lockwood
NEW ORLEANS--Ask two different people the same question, get two different answers. What was PCS '99 all about?
PCIA President Jay Kitchen: "Convergence." Convention gala comedian Sinbad: "Stuff that doesn't really work yet, but hey,
give it a chance!" Each has a piece of the truth and both could have been talking about industry consolidation as much as
wireless data or 3G.
Long-expected announcements regarding an agreement between Bell Atlantic and Vodafone-AirTouch, and VoiceStream's
purchase of Aerial Communications didn't send the convention's pulse racing the way they would have in earlier years, when
merger after merger wasn't the norm. It could take a year to close the BA-VOD deal and at least that much more time to
consolidate legacy systems across U.S. properties including PrimeCo Personal Communications and AirTouch Paging. Gary
Cuccio, CEO of the latter operation, which plans a commercial two-way launch late this year, was upbeat. Says he: "I think it
will put us in a stronger position with significantly more brand advertising than our competitors" and broader distribution through
stores owned by BA, already the company's largest reseller.
George Schmitt, CEO of earlier VoiceStream acquiree Omnipoint, enlivened post-announcement analysis with a snap at
bankruptcy attorney Jack Robinson, who filed a 24-page handwritten objection to the transfer of Omnipoint's licenses: "He
should be eaten by a fish and thrown into the Mississippi River." Spotted the next day at the airport, Robinson--now CEO of
CellularOne of St. Maarten--responded, "I'm not giving up my claims on C-Block licenses just because George is mad. He
acts like I have nothing better to do than sue people."
Ted Leonsis, president of AOL's Interactive Properties Group, set the conference's technology tone when he told attendees
that wireless is the "sleeping giant of the Internet." Chatting over steak and salmon at the gala dinner, Ericsson Vice President of
Strategy John Giere agreed, saying that "PCS '99 is a watershed for Internet protocol" and the industry is entering "a whole
new computer age" with handsets. Indeed, new phones made a strong showing at the meeting, historically tilted toward pagers.
Sprint PCS representatives demonstrated their wireless Web service, pumped with full-page ads in USA Today. Giere says he
won't be surprised to see some commercial 3G offerings in North America by 2002, a couple years ahead of many estimates.
Cuccio, a PCIA board member, is thinking about how the annual trade show could meld with Internet conferences. However,
PCIA might do better to develop its own vision of data, so it isn't stereotyped as "CTIA-lite" and doesn't risk declining vendor
interest in its profitable exhibition.
The show's convergence focus showed up elsewhere, too. For example, Nextlink Communications, a McCaw fiber outfit that's
also the country's largest broadband spectrum holder, plans to augment its circuit-switched network with digital subscriber line
and IP overlay from Qwest.
After razzing Nokia employees about phone shortages and asking a Globalstar representative whether the fat antenna on his
satellite handset was "a gun or a cattle prod," Sinbad took on PCIA's broadband members. Summing up consumers' seemingly
insatiable demand for wireless services, and spoofing the broadband carriers' goal of linking desktops to big pipes, Sinbad said
he spurned his local phone and cable companies and turned to a wireless firm.
"The wireless T1 guy came out and said, 'Gimme your child and I'll hook you up.'" After a pause, the comedian added, "I have
one less child, but I'm online."
E-mail: jlockwood@cahners.com
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