" The medium is the message" was the mantra that Marshall McLuhan used over and over again back in the 1960s to describe the technological revolution occurring around the world, that was transforming it into a "global village" for the first time in history.
Perhaps the most positive message that I received from the IDC conference call this afternoon was not any particular words but rather the medium itself. This was the first time I have ever heard IDC's B-CDMA technology actually being used . By speaking to us directly from Iowa, and in fact from the conference room of one of the subscribers in Iowa who is personally testing our fixed wireless system -- each us could make a judgment on the voice quality of the system, since the call in Iowa came through to us via B-CDMA itself. Frankly, I heard a much higher voice quality when our folks in Iowa were speaking to us through our IDC B-CDMA technology than I did when we heard from IDC headquarters in Pennsylvania where wires are used to transmit the call instead of a B-CDMA radio signal. The Iowa based voices of IDC's Blair Christie, Lyle Corter (sp?) of the local electric/telephone co-op and and field-test subscriber Jack Borcher (sp?) came through to me here in Tennessee as crystal clear. I can see why the Iowa folks were so strongly affirmative about our technology.
Mike Thompson, vice president of Pioneer, told us that he was "extremely satisfied" with the performance of our B-CDMA technology. He said that IDC's "solution is absolutely fantastic." Thompson describe the role that his company plays as a subsidiary of MCI. Pioneer it seems, has been at the forefront of technological breakthrough throughout the 1990s and MCI bought them in the mid-'90s so they could be at the heart of the MCI system. Thompson said that he saw a huge potential for a B-CDMA technology in a lot of other markets beyond Iowa, noting that the fixed wireless system IDC offers is a much better option than wires in much of the "third tier" of telephone subscribers. The first tier is something akin to the "NFL" cities. The second tier is the next hundred cities in size, and the third tier -- where Thompson sees us having huge potential -- is the whole rest of the country.
Pioneer's Thompson said that the data capability of our B-CDMA system is is absolutely huge. The most important thing he wanted to communicate to us via the conference call, he said, was this: the world is rapidly moving to the Internet. Our data solution puts the Internet and indeed the high-speed Internet in the hands of anybody in the country -- and is price competitive with DSL and cable modems. Our service level, he says, is phenomenal. This (data transmission quality and service at a competitive price) is absolutely a "huge consideration to our market." Just compare that, he said, with the 50 year old wires we find throughout the rural portions of the US. Those lines delivered 28.8 transmission quality at best and usually not over 16.4.
Lyle Corver (sp?) also spoke to us through the telephone hookup employing our IDC B-CDMA fixed wireless system. He is the head of the local electric co-op which is investigating expanding into also becoming a telephone co-op. Lyle said he started the field trial with 6 subscribers and expanded to 24 after the first of the year. Lyle said that he had looked at other systems from different companies but chose our B-CDMA fixed wireless option to test out. The subscribers, he said, were very satisfied. Many told him that the sound quality was equal to or better than what they had been used to hearing over the regular wired telephone system.
Jack Borger, a businessman who is one of the 24 subscribers, also briefly spoke in the conference call. He uses our TrueLink to the system in his business and is very satisfied. He says he makes lots of calls on the system and its clarity is excellent.
If the medium is the message, as McLuhan always said, the message in the conference call was loud and clear: the B-CDMA system being field-tested in Iowa is delivering on its promises. Highly reputable people on the scene -- including the Pioneer/MCI executive, indicate that we have a huge winner -- not only there in Iowa but throughout that vast territory that includes everything in the U S except its hundred largest cities.
Bill |
