To: levy who wrote (2945 ) 12/14/2000 6:58:12 PM From: silversoldier a/k/a SI Sy Respond to levy, I would hazard several guesses why MCOM does not get lay press coverage. It is a PA /VV controlled company and that, as usual (whether unfortunate or not), means very little, if any, hype. It does seem to receive a good deal of sophisticated technical media coverage. Word of mouth reports from several users of Ricochet1 (28 kbps) in the Washington, DC area indicate that the old modem and infrastructure are superlative. MCOM has not completed the launch of Ricochet2 here, as yet, in part, as I understand it, because there are too many current subscribers to Ricochet1 who would experience difficulty if Ricochet 2 were turned on before additional "shoe boxes" are in place. The lay press has many large advertisers who are in gprs and/or have purchased 3G frequencies at enormous expense at government auctions. MCOM is small, still, and has not yet advertised in areas where it has not launched. Even where launched, the advertising budget is rather restricted. This being a PA company, I suspect we will have to await the next Q report, and, perhaps, the one after that, before we have a proper account of subscriptions and revenues. Some resellers, including WCOM/UUnet have not launched any sustained effort, as yet, and, I hear, from at least one local employee, that they won't begin for at least a month from now, and then, not in all locations. Perhaps today's CC might have provided some better information about WCOM's entry. The Calvin site, and another that used to be published several times daily on the Y board (and still may be), are rich sources of technical information. If memory serves correctly, Calvin is a college professor with expertise in this technical discipline. I rarely visit the Y board anymore because of the meaningless chatter that seems to have infected this thread recently.
