C.M.: I tend to agree with some aspects of your commentary of the situation, although I also tend to see xDSL technology as still "a'birthing" rather than your inferential "proven." Where xDSL is concerned I say give it a solid 5 years before all the kinks, across the continent, are truly worked out. In the interum those (like me) who chose it need to consider themselves high-tech "pioneers" and take solice in that. HEH! *Ahem*
However, Rruff has his point(s), too. MCOM's technology works, albeit at this phase in the rollout one must allow their coverage is spotty. But Rruff's enthusiasm does have merit, from a business point of view. Is R2 slower than xDSL? Absolutely. Be that as it may, in Corporate America the R2 speeds MCOM can provide are more than enough to manage remote employee needs (and I daresay the same can be said for your average remote consumer). And these employees could be service people, sales people, managers, traders, you name it...if they have a need to be remote on more than a casual basis then this is the system for them. Also, notice that when I refer to remote employees I don't necessarily mean those who travel all over the country. Typically speaking, that's the "high-end" few who do this. The majority of remote employees are typically regionalized across specific metro areas. IMHO, of course.
But just like xDSL technology, R2 (and its future generations) will probably continue to suffer birthing pangs, not the least of which will be technical (rollout issues, if any, etc.). This is to be expected. I do find intriguing the fact MCOM has focused, initially, on a goodly percentage of "tier 1" metropolitan areas like NYC, Boston, Atlanta, etc.. This speaks directly to their business plan, no? A plan that seems to target the aforementioned regionalized (is that a word? heh) majority. The rest is about execution. And that I continue to monitor with interest.
Bottom line? To me MCOM, at this stage in the game, is to wireless internet connectivity what plain old cellular phone service was to the business community a "mere" fifteen years ago or so. A start-up, initially spotty coverage, gamble that what they can provide will find strong merit across the market sector(s) they are targeting.
The next year should provide the yes or no vote to this question. And in this regard I don't think we'll have to worry about pregnant chads. ;-)
John~ |
