ReFlex Carriers Grow Devices, WebLink To Step Up Distribution

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 4/7/2003

Sidebars:
American Wireless In Expansive Mood

New Orleans— ReFLEX-network messaging carriers are emerging from years of financial turmoil and limited device selections with an expanded selection of lower cost two-way messaging devices that they intend to market more aggressively.

The carriers — SkyTel, Metrocall and WebLink Wireless — will focus their reenergized efforts on the enterprise market with at least five keyboard-equipped devices. The devices are the first ReFLEX models manufactured by companies other than Motorola, which shipped its last pagers in late 2002.

WebLink Wireless, however, also plans to step up marketing through online and brick-and-mortar electronics retailers, said marketing VP Noel Gouldin.

"ReFLEX is going through a rebirth," he said. ReFLEX carriers, Gouldin said, have "clean balance sheets," are cash-flow-positive, and will be able to offer a greater selection of devices that are more enterprise-friendly than before.

The selection will include three ReFLEX-equipped PDAs. One, HuneTec's H500, will be based on the latest Palm 5.0 operating system, and another, the S-935 clamshell model from Sun Telecom, will be Linux-based. Both will leverage existing applications/development communities adept at creating enterprise-oriented applications, the carriers said. A third PDA, HuneTec's H200, will use a proprietary operating system.

For enterprises, WebLink will price the Palm and Linux models in the mid-$200s, and the other models will be available in the low- to mid-$100s. Prices to online and brick-and-mortar purchasers will be slightly higher: about $300 for the Palm and Linux PDAs and from $149-$199 for the others, with the HuneTec H200 PDA at around $169 if made available to dealers, Gouldin said. The products will have a staggered rollout starting in the early third quarter through the fourth quarter.

Carriers often sell two current Motorola-made ReFLEX devices to enterprises for around $150, for a model without PDA functions, to $330 for a clamshell model with proprietary PDA OS. These prices, however, include carrier subsidies. The new models can be sold to enterprises for less without carrier subsidies, carriers said, pointing in part to the new suppliers' lower overhead compared to Motorola's.

Although the three carriers will focus on selling the devices to enterprises, WebLink sees some additional opportunity in brick-and-mortar retailers. WebLink has continued to sell its services through Fry's and select e-tail sites, but now, WebLink plans "to do more e-tail and select more brick-and-mortar retail," said WebLink's Gouldin. The carrier will target SO/HO-oriented consumers, or "pro-sumers," rather than teenagers and soccer moms, he emphasized.

These consumers will be able to take advantage of a suite of e-mail redirection solutions: server-based redirection software for Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes, and Novell servers; desktop-based redirection software for home and office PCs with always-on broadband connections; and a WebLink-hosted service that redirects POP3 and IMAP4 e-mail from ISPs.

Although SkyTel and MetroCall have largely abandoned CE channels, both continue to sell through resellers, wireless-specialty stores and select online retailers. Like WebLink, both also offer their products on their Web sites. MetroCall's sole CE account is Ritz Camera, according to MetroCall's Web site. Last year, MetroCall closed the chain of strip-mall stores that it operated, although it accepts walk-in traffic at its local sales offices. MetroCalls' reseller accounts include select AT&T Wireless stores.

In launching the new devices, the three carriers will promote what they see as ReFLEX's advantages over cellular-based messaging. A key advantage is reliability, said SkyTel president Kerry McKelvey. "IT [departments] can't rely on [cellular] SMS for mission-critical messaging," he claimed.

WebLink's Gouldin called ReFLEX networks "mature" because they're fully built-out and "proven." The networks also feature "store-and-forward" technology, which stores messages in the network and resends them until they're received. The networks also simulcast a message simultaneously from multiple transmitters in a market to improve in-building penetration compared to cellular networks, he said.

Because ReFLEX devices use QWERTY keyboards, they're easier to use to compose messages than standard cellphones, he noted. Message-centric cellphones also feature QWERTY keyboards, but their prices are mostly in the $400s, he said.

The ReFLEX battery life of three to four weeks on a single AA exceeds that of cellphone-based messaging devices, he added.

The new ReFLEX devices, carriers added, offer many advantages over existing Motorola models, including pricing. "It's possible to get some of them soon under $100 without carrier or manufacturer rebates of one-third the price," said SkyTel's McKelvey.

Another advantage is the use of open PDA operating systems rather than closed proprietary ones. For the Palm 5.0 device, about 16,000 horizontal and vertical applications are available, said Albert Chu, PalmSource's business development VP.

The existing Motorola T900, carriers added, couldn't send a message simultaneously to multiple recipients.

Almost 1.5 million people subscribe to ReFLEX service, the carriers said.
 

American Wireless In Expansive Mood

By Joseph Palenchar

Campbell, Calif. — American Wireless, a major master agent for wireless prepaid and postpaid services, has adopted an expansive view of the prepaid market.

The company is expanding its distribution of prepaid wireless-phone service to more retail channels, and it's expanding its suite of prepaid services to include downloadable games, ring tones, screensavers and Java-based applications provided by content distributor nReach of Golden, Colo.

The company's core mission is to make it practical for small retailers to enter the wireless-retail business. These retailers don't have the sales volume to qualify for status as a carrier's direct agent. American pools the associates' volume to negotiate competitive commissions and phone prices, provides activation services and phone to the dealers, and manages their co-op funds, merchandising and training.

In expanding its prepaid-service distribution, the company plans to roll out prepaid-service point-of-sale terminals beyond its current base of associate agents, which consist mainly of independent wireless specialty stores but also include car stereo stores and truck stops. Now, American plans to roll the terminals out to nontraditional outlets such as convenience stores, gas stations, check-cashing chains and electronics chains. The terminals print out PINs that purchasers use to recharge a carrier's prepaid phone service.

American's terminals, launched in January 2002, have been rolled out to 900 associate agents. "We saturated our agents with the terminals, and now we want to go with nontraditional outlets," said senior marketing director Mitch McCoy.

In recent weeks, American has expanded the terminals' suite of services to print out nReach PINs, which consumers buy to download cellphone games and ringtones via nReach's Web site. Alternately, consumers can download applications from nReach's Web site after they punch in a credit-card number.

In return, nReach will offer American Wireless's prepaid services — wireless and landline long-distance — through nReach's own retail-store Mobile Content Kiosks, which incorporate A/V equipment to let customers view downloadable applications, including games, and hear the ring tones.

nReach's downloadable applications include apps that let consumers use their handset's screen to view e-mailed attachments and view HTML Web sites.

American's suite of services also include Telemac prepaid phones and Boost Mobile's youth-targeted prepaid wireless-phone service and phones. Boost is a Nextel reseller, or virtual network operator (VNO), that offers Boost-branded service in California and Nevada. The company eventually plans a nationwide footprint.