Hat’s off to Nextel
The FCC is so supportive of innovative uses of the spectrum that lead to
increased efficiencies, it is willing to push the rules to (you may say
beyond) their limits.
Let’s say Nextel or nothing like it had ever come along. Do you think the
Mom and Pop SMR operators would be providing anything even remotely close to
a service that serves as many users with so many innovative WANTED features?
I don’t think so.
Most of the SMR operators I ever met couldn’t even agree on a simple roaming
agreement because of their paranoia.
Most of the SMR operators I ever met were more interested in programming
controllers rather than attracting investors to help them grow.
Most of the SMR operators I ever met saw their sales people as overhead and
their bench techs as revenue producers.
As in most things there have been a few excellent exceptions. Unfortunately,
they have been painted into a corner by the general lack of business plans
in the rest of the SMR community.
The most innovative, resourceful, well planned, forward thinking,
aggressive, SMR licensee to ever exist has been Fleet Call, now Nextel. I
believe they are the only SMR to ever go Public, attracting the funding to
provide the business community with much needed and desired services. I
applaud their business acumen, while recognizing that their aggressiveness
puts them in a league with Microsoft and many other successful entrepreneurs
in the minds of the defeated.
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