When all wireless is local

As most of the rest of the wireless world races to implement the most cutting-edge technologies in their networks and introduce the newest applications to their customers--strategies that sometimes prove detrimental--a small wireless provider in northern California is setting an example by doing a little less and offering customers in its region a lot more.

SureWest Wireless, a unit of the independent formerly known as Roseville Telephone Company, covers 2.8 million pops and serves about 49,000 customers in the area around Sacramento. Its strategy is almost diametrically opposed to that of its wireline parent, which is rapidly extending its fiber footprint and offering triple play services to its customers: The wireless division waits until advanced technologies and applications become less expensive before deploying them and offers a relatively short and straightforward menu of services. The result, however, is a wireless service that stands out from the very congested wireless crowd in the region because it seems custom-designed for the local customers it serves, offering very competitive pricing for unlimited calling plans.

And despite that fact that wireless may not be the area where SureWest is the most technologically innovative, its wireless presence actually serves as the company's lead marketing vehicle because, as SureWest sees it, wireless is so well-suited to mass consumer marketing. In a commercial that shows people using wireless phones and talks about pricing plans, the word "wireless" is never mentioned. And in the company's home town of Roseville, its "showroom"--SureWest's term for its retail outlets--prominently features wireless but also has stations for ordering the company's video and high-speed data services, paying a bill or just picking up a phone book.

Given what it is building in its network and the range of services it's offering, it would be hard to argue that SureWest is not an innovative service provider. (You'll see coverage of SureWest's broadband efforts, as well as more in-depth coverage of its wireless unit, in upcoming issues of Telephony and Wireless Review). But one of the ways the company is proving most innovative is in the way it uses wireless to not only complete the array of services it can offer customers, but also to cement SureWest's local image.

E-mail me at jmeyers@primediabusiness.com