Alan, you're right, it has been a long time. From Arizona to where? If you don't have time to write a detailed letter to Akerson (as Bubba suggests), send him this post with your phone number penciled in at the bottom. Heck, I'll bet several NXTL employees have already seen your comments and sent the post to their bosses. Akerson may have already seen it too. In my experience, this is a company that's trying to make things work - both for the company and the customer. For the company to win, the customer must win first.
It seems clear to me that NXTL is experiencing growing pains but it's nothing different than any fast growing company experiences. That's of little comfort when you are the recipient of the pain. Ramping up infastructure is a difficult task and the latest challenge that NXTL is dealing with.
Growing companies seem to have a version of Maslow's hierachary of needs as their growth explodes. What I mean is that the business has a need for nimble management who can change directions in a moment's notice and attack each new problem quickly. NXTL's order of problems from the past to the present looks like this:
1. First generation iDEN flunked the "taste" test. Solution: Lean on MOT fix the technology. Reconfigured iDEN was the answer. Problem solved.
2. NXTL had Imelda Marcos' appetite for shoes, I mean, capital. Solution: Bring in Shindler and let him do his thing. Result: He continues to do his thing, and do it well. Capital flows to NXTL as needed and problem solved as needed.
3. How can NXTL make a big splash in the wireless biz? Solution: No roaming charges, billing to the second, and the other stuff you already know about.
4. NXTL adds customers in unprecedented numbers and sees no end to that continuing. Solution: Hire more people, clean up back office procedures, add cell sites in existing markets, upgrade software, dance on the head of a pin. I added the last item because it puts in perspective what NXTL is currently experiencing. Most companies have long histories and, thus, have traditions, systems, and internal controls that have been tweaked over time. NXTL is like a mouse trying to eat a hundred pound block of swiss cheese in one gulp.
But hear me clearly on this last point: You can bet your sweet bippy that Akerson, who's leadership has given feet to McCaw's vision, will not fall on his sword over customer service. His people are working as hard to solve the growth problem as they did on prior challenges. This too shall pass.
Arnie
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