Speed Can Kill

This month, Metricom and its Richochet service filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When Metricom launched its Ricochet service, it was dubbed the country's fastest mobile wireless network and hailed as a model of what wireless data should be like. It bragged of 128kb/s data rates, something other wireless networks couldn't hope to achieve until months, maybe years, later.

The network was knit together by small-box transmitters that could be mounted on traffic lights and light poles every few blocks. Smaller transmitters would help speed deployment and reduce zoning commission anxieties. Or so the thinking went. At the time of its demise, the company had signed up only 51,000 subscribers. Even though the company spent nearly $1 billion on network build-out, with help from the likes of WorldCom and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, it wasn't enough.

The Metricom case study provides instruction for wireless carriers moving forward with their own wireless data offerings — some hope and some red flags.

Analysts claim the company was ahead of its time, a nice way of saying good idea, bad execution. The company made its big commercial push at about the same time Sprint PCS launched its Wireless Web offering. While new subscribers were tapping their feet waiting to get from Sprint PCS' home deck to the Web, the Ricochet modem could supply you with snap-your-head-back speeds. With that sort of comparative performance edge, you would think Sprint PCS would be sucking air, not Metricom.

At the time, Ricochet's performance made Sprint PCS' wireless Internet service sort of, well, ho-hum. It backfired because Metricom saw speed as the silver bullet. This strategy actually ricocheted off of a few key fundamentals. First, customers want speed, but they also want functionality and sexiness. In the Sprint PCS-Metricom example, the Sprint phone may have been slower, but it wasn't a laptop. It was a small device that also could provide voice. The result: Customers decided to give other network operators a chance to catch up with always-on capabilities and faster speeds.

What else went wrong for Ricochet? The company didn't finish building the proprietary nationwide network. Sorry guys, you must have nationwide coverage. Although customers will wait somewhat patiently, your build-out has to be aggressive. Hear that, NextWave?

Then there was cost. Ricochet customers needed to buy a modem, which cost in the neighborhood of $300. The unlimited service plan cost $69.95 a month — kind of pricey for a wireless Internet connection. But if you absolutely had to have it, the service could have been worthwhile, had it been reliable.

Reliability was hit or miss. One of Wireless Review's editors tested the Ricochet modem at Supercomm in Atlanta this year. In an effort to file stories for the Wireless Review Web site, she eventually gave up and used the hard-wired computers in the convention center's press room.

“I was counting on not having to run to my hotel or the press room to file stories,” she said. “It was supposed to work in Atlanta, but failed. In theory, it was a heavenly concept. In reality, it was a huge drain on my time.”

Finally, there was the issue of product and brand recognition. Besides the 50,000 subscribers, who really knew about Ricochet? Maybe a few people in the 14 states that offered Ricochet service. Many of those potential customers, however, didn't understand its uses within its contained, non-roamable service area.

Metricom came to market with a speedy data product. And it left with a speedy data product. Future wireless data carriers will achieve success only with a complete package approach, and a keen memory of Metricom's mistakes.

What features of a wireless data product and service would make it a must-buy for you? Write rwickham@primediabusiness.com.

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Feedback

I enjoyed your letter about Metricom and Ricochet, but was surprised to hear that your staff criticized its performance. I was at Supercomm myself, with my Ricochet modem, and it was a life saver. I had no problem connecting at any time and didn't notice any performance degradation between my excellent service in New York and the service in Atlanta. Ricochet, though a bit pricey, was a great service. Amazingly, Worldcom still hasn't called or e-mailed to announce the fact that the service was disconnected.

If a wireless data service can do what Ricochet did - provide rapid connect times, reliable connections and throughput good enough for quick page loads and reasonable downloads, I'll take it.

Ed Finegold

Stylus Communications

ejfinegold@att.net (soon to be ejfinegold@styluscom.com)