Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : METRICOM - Wireless Data Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The O who wrote (2385)	8/2/2000 5:17:44 PM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 3376

Good idea - can one of the techno people answer if this is possible. I would assume that your chimney would have to be somewhere within a relatively short distance to the network. Don't forget though it's easy to be critical. However, there really is no competition. The goofy slow and limited WAP on my VZ phone is certainly no competition. With Sprint, I don't even get good voice coverage. By the time the QCOM's get their act together, I do believe MCOM will be well on its way to covering most of the population with real computing via wireless.

To: The O who wrote (2385)	8/2/2000 8:33:18 PM
From: Lewis Edinburg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3376

Mcom should offer to place the transmitters on people's homes. A wireless receiver and transmitter on each chimney could greatly expand the area. Mcom could provide for lower fees if you allow the box on your home. Do you really understand how Ricochet works or have you just "discovered" Metricom and jumped on the bandwagon? Metricom's approach of putting the radios on light poles has several advantages. * Light poles have power readily available exactly at the spot where the radio is mounted. * Light poles are ubiquitous in a service area and Metricom can decide where to put radios based on coverage considerations. * Metricom can negotiate with the utility and in a single negotiation, as protracted as that may be, arrange for potential coverage of very large areas. * Since there will only be a small number of light pole styles in an area, Metricom can standardize on the installation method, resulting in quicker deployments and better quality control. What sort of business model would support operating at a profit if: 1. a separate contact must be negotiated with each homeowner. Keep in mind that people tend to sell their houses after a very few years unlike utilities which do not decide to sell their light poles to someone else every few years. Any contract worthwhile for Metricom would have to be for 10-20 years. 2. While a repeater on a light pole can be serviced by a truck parking beneath it and a technician in a lift can quickly work on or replace the unit, consider how long it would take to service a unit that is mounted on a subscriber's (or previous subscriber's if the house had been sold) house where the unit may not even be accessible from a truck parked on the street or even in a driveway. 3. Each time a subscriber wanted to "host" a repeater radio another radio analysis would have to be made to decide whether it was warranted based on existing radios and proximity to existing repeater radios. 4. Each installation were unique, re: mounting on the house and getting power to the radio and getting the radio high enough off the ground to get decent coverage. I think it should be obvious why deploying in an area by mounting radios on subscribers' chimneys is not practical.