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

To: Chip Anderson who wrote (771)	5/21/1998 5:44:00 PM
From: vibaby	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3376

Are we sure that the Bell Atlantic is all inclusive (no ISP charges)? On a separate matter, what about the announcement today that Ericsson is prowling Silicon Valley for a mobile computing acquisition? Who are the other candidates? Is MCOM gonna get buried by the telcos? What is the fastest speed? $50 some dollars (and dropping) with service available everywhere you have cellular will blow them up?

To: Chip Anderson who wrote (771)	5/21/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: HVN	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3376

Chip, here's another free marketing lesson in wireless data usage. Right now, the way the industry is set up, you either have decent speed with limited coverage (like MCOM) or you have decent coverage with low speed (CDPD). (We'll not talk iDEN, RAM or Ardis. They are similar to CDPD - but more expensive.) With the limited coverage/high speed option, you're going after the landline market - or in region roaming market. Compare Autobhan speeds to landline speeds and and guess what people are going to prefer! With the decent coverage/low speed option, you're going after larger business opportunities and high value customers who tend to travel a lot. Also, realize, for the CDPD players, the game is a lot larger - it's a bundled approach to selling voice and data. MCOM does have a decent product. However, my worry is the coverage issue. The pricing structure with your company is a volume game. I know you've managed to get a few thousand customers, but the numbers need to be a lot larger than what you've got so far.