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

To: John Curtis who wrote (2395)	8/4/2000 10:34:21 AM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 3376

What an absurd article. Sounds almost like a Yahoo basher. No sales because they are not selling before the rollout. I have to admit, when I first heard the ATT and Verizon (Bell Atlantic) ads for the WAP services, I was worried. So I signed up. Totally useless. Slow, small screen, limited information to non-existent. No competition whatsoever. If the WAP service improves, it will be the niche player. I don't have the cite, but I read an article last night where it indicated that they felt most people were ordering the service for their cellphone and not using it. I can see why. It sounds good but it is pretty useless.

To: John Curtis who wrote (2395)	8/4/2000 11:37:08 AM
From: Rich Wolf	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 3376

Agreed, John 'n rrufff ... just wanting to separate the article from my commentary thereof. So, let me at 'em! Let's consider a few of the nonsense claims and deductions by the author: <<In addition, the competition is tough. Sprint PCS (nyse: PCS), AT&T Wireless (nyse: AWE) and Verizon Communications (nyse: VZ) are going gangbusters with their wireless Web services offering Internet content via their wireless handsets, including e-mail and info from stock quotes to local movie listings. >> -- So, the competition is 'going gangbusters,' even though what is offered is not comparable with MCOM by a long shot... and earlier the implication is that MCOM is in trouble because they're spending so much money... sounds like MCOM is 'going gangbusters,' too... you'd think the author would say that? Nope, he had an agenda. <<And, contrary to trends in the industry about converging voice and data services onto one network or accessing it from one device, Ricochet does not offer voice service. >> -- does not offer it YET ... and there is a reason for it: <<Even Ricochet's Dreisbach, who touts data service as its main strength, knows the importance of voice. His company will "most likely" feature voice eventually. "The key is to first have data but at some point in the future, sometime over the next three years, we'd clearly like to do that," he says. >> -- So the author's point is... what? That MCOM is not competing for voice service yet, so they're going to lose the data competition where they ARE rolling out a system? Sheesh. <<Another trick for Metricom to turn is its third generation, or 3G, wireless technology strategy. 3G is wireless technology that will let today's wireless carriers deliver high bandwidth services on their networks. And as these wireless service providers build and sell 3G services, the question remains: What will Metricom offer? >> -- AH, a neat trick by the author: by using the '3G' label for MCOM's next generation, and saying their next generation isn't there yet... he's implying MCOM is behind other '3G' players. FALSE FALSE FALSE ... the '3G' label ought to be used to refer only to the voice players' various systems, not for MCOM... the system architectures are TOTALLY DIFFERENT. This author is either completely ignorant of the issues of frequency reuse via microcellular architecture, or worse, he's abused the technical jargon on purpose. <<It's possible as the likes of Sprint and AT&T ramp up their 3G networks, Metricom could be smooshed into a niche play. "Metricom has an interesting service, a relatively low-cost mobile wireless data play," says Riyad Said, analyst at Arlington, Va.-based investment services firm Friedman, Billings, Ramsey. "But the issue is as other networks upgrade their networks to provide faster connections, it could render Metricom as a niche product." >> -- Wrong again. The other systems aren't even proposing at ANY later date to offer what MCOM is offering now. The other systems will only ever be 'data nibblers'... never able to offer the firehose of data that MCOM can, again by virtue of their microcellular architecture. <<In response to that concern, Dreisbach is optimistic. Instead of upgrading their systems, he recommends that his competition surrender. "There is an opportunity for one of those carriers to partner with us to take advantage of our data-optimized network," he says. >> -- You tell 'em, TD~! <<Indeed, it could be about four years until 3G networks gets started in the U.S. >> -- And even when those other guys do get it together, they WON'T be offering what MCOM does. There, I said my piece. I feel better now... ;-) Enjoy!~