Aerie gets Ricochet wireless assets for $8.25M

Aerie networks yesterday announced it has acquired the remnants of bankrupt Metricom’s Ricochet network for a mere $8.25 million, giving the managed-services company high-speed wireless data infrastructure in 17 U.S. cities.

Aerie said it plans to reactivate the network in all 17 metropolitan markets and try to regain Metricom’s old customers. Metricom sold capacity to wireless ISPs and carriers such as GoAmerica and WorldCom. The network utilizes antennas attached to utility poles that transmit signals primarilty over unlicensed spectrum. The service achieved data speeds as high as 128 kb/s, the highest capacity currently available over a U.S. mobile network.

“Ricochet has had an incredibly loyal customer base that has made it clear that they want Ricochet back,” Aerie CEO Mort Aaronson said in a statement. “In order to bring it back, we will create partnerships to provide the service at a new lower price point than previously offered and make it available to millions of users where they buy related products and services.”

While the Ricochet service was popular among its customers, Aerie still faces several hurdles to bring the system back online. After Metricom declared for bankruptcy in August, it shut off the switch to Ricochet, leaving its carrier and ISP customers scrambling to content with their end-users. Whether they’ll take another chance on the reborn Ricochet remains to be seen.

Aerie estimates it took $1 billion to build up Ricochet’s old customer base, and major customers like WorldCom may be reluctant to re-sign, especially because it was owed $355 million as Metricom’s largest creditor.

--Kevin Fitchard, staff writer