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

To: Jane4IceCream who wrote (3163)	2/16/2001 10:51:38 AM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 3376

ZDNET Article in case any of you haven't seen it. zdnet.com ******************************************* Wireless service world out of whack By Lee Schlesinger, ZDNet Business & Technology February 12, 2001 11:10 AM ET Last week, we reported that Metricom, purveyor of the high-speed Ricochet service, was hurting for cash, while OmniSky, the wireless handheld modem maker, was flying high. You can attribute part of this difference in fortunes to service startup costs. Metricom is building its infrastructure from scratch in 25 cities, which requires a huge capital outlay. OmniSky instead partners with ISPs to provide services to its 34,000 subscribers. OmniSky's service has been available longer, and any business can lower its costs once it has recouped some of its initial investment from the early adopters. OmniSky's still not turning a profit, mind you, and doesn't expect to for almost two years. The question of Metricom's financial health aside, Ricochet is by far the better service. Who wouldn't choose 128Kbps access, if they could get it, over OmniSky's measly 19.2Kbps?** That higher level of connectivity would let me use my regular notebook PC for all my Internet browsing and e-mail needs wherever I went -- a far more attractive option than carrying a separate mobile device that I have to synchronize with my primary system. By contrast, OmniSky's service, which runs at the very fastest modem data rate available in 1991, all but requires you to look at a very condensed version of your information, and thus is suitable just for the Palm, Handspring Visor, and HP Jornada 540 handheld devices with which it runs. It just seems wrong. Using OmniSky and handhelds to access Internet information seems like an interim solution, just a step above the virtually unusable WAP-based Net-enabled phones. So why is the OmniSky service doing so well? In reality, it's doing well only in relative terms. Thirty-four thousand subscribers is not exactly a groundswell of enthusiasm. It's lower than the number of support calls a company like Dell gets in a single day. The fact is, slow speed and a tiny screen fail to make a compelling case for connectivity for any but the most compulsively connected. Personally, I'm looking forward to trying out Ricochet. I'm hoping an angel investor that wants to get in on the ground floor buys in to the company now, when it really needs the cash. Barring that, perhaps someone will pick up the infrastructure intact if the company liquidates. But that's premature -- the company is proceeding with its plans for now. Don't let the shadow of doom keep you from testing out the service if it's available in your area. Just don't pay up-front for any long-term contracts. Will the better technology win out? Talk Back to me below. Lee Schlesinger is executive editor of ZDNet's Business & Technology Channel.