Speednet to be like Metricom (MCOM) Ricochet? As I look into the possibilities for Speednet a little more, it appears that Worldcom and Bill Allen's Vulcan Ventures have tied up Metricom (at least here in the US). Technologically, MCOM is planning to roll out their 128kbps system this summer. This sure looks a lot like the system that Speednet has planned. :
metricom.com
"How the Ricochet mobile network works
The Ricochet service consists of a wireless modem that users attach to any laptop, desktop or handheld computer with a serial port, and the Ricochet wireless MicroCellular Data Network (MCDN) of radio transceivers.
Our MCDN network is comprised of shoebox-sized radio transceivers, also called Microcell Radios, which are typically mounted to street lights or utility poles every quarter-to-half mile in a checkerboard pattern. Metricom modems communicate with these transceivers through radio frequency (RF) packets.
Within a 20-square mile radius (containing about 100 Microcell Radios) Ricochet installs Wired Access Points, or WAPs. These collect and convert the RF packets into a format for transmission to a wired IP network backbone that enables you to reach the Net or your corporate network. Each WAP and the Microcell Radios that report to it can support thousands of subscribers.
As an ISP, we give Ricochet users Internet access, as well as access to any intranet or corporate network that they currently can reach from the Net. If you have a virtual private network (VPN), Ricochet users can access it with our wireless modems using your organization?s VPN security procedures.
Our Ricochet Private Network consists of the Ricochet Wireless modems and our access service."
"Metricom Closes Equity Funding from MCI WorldCom and Vulcan Ventures, Inc.
Companies close $600 Million Deal
Los Gatos, California - November 16, 1999 - Metricom, Inc. (NASDAQ: MCOM), a leading provider of mobile data networking and technology, today announced that its $600 million equity agreement with Vulcan Ventures, Inc. and MCI WorldCom has been finalized. With each providing $300 million, the partners' funding is expected to cover the initial rollout of its Ricochet 128 kbps mobile data service in major markets across the country, with the first wave of commercial availability scheduled for Summer 2000.
Under the terms of the deal, MCI WorldCom and Vulcan Ventures, Inc. will purchase 60 million new convertible preferred shares of Metricom stock, priced at $10 per share. The new breakdown of Metricom ownership, as of September 30, 1999 on a fully diluted basis, will include Vulcan Ventures, Inc. at 46 percent, MCI WorldCom at 35 percent, with the remaining 19 percent ownership held by other current public shareholders. Metricom will remain a publicly traded company headed by CEO Timothy A. Dreisbach."
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