Part 2: inside the Sprint PCS wireless computing strategy

.KEYWORD sprintpcs0901
.FLYINGHEAD THE PALMPOWER INTERVIEW
.TITLE Part 2: inside the Sprint PCS wireless computing strategy
.OTHER
.SUMMARY We continue our fascinating interview with Jay Highley, Vice President of Business Marketing at Sprint PCS. Jay shares with us more details on Sprint PCS’s relationship with Palm, Inc. and gives us a look into the future of mobile computing.
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.BEGIN_TABLE 2

This month, we continue the fascinating interview Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz conducted with Highley about the strategic relationship between Palm, Inc. and Sprint PCS. You can find part one of this interview at http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200108/sprintpcs001.html.

.Q DG
What can readers expect to see in the first few months of the relationship, and what can they do tomorrow to take advantage of this?

.A JH
That’s a good question. Actually, the readers can start to take advantage of this relationship, immediately. Not only have we already started to integrate some of the capabilities by providing adapters and connectors so they can wirelessly enable the Palm OS devices that they already have in their company, but also we’ve started to integrate a smartphone type of form factor, combining both the Palm OS functionality with the Sprint PCS digital phone capability. You already know about the device manufactured by Kyocera.

We’ve also announced a second device that will be coming out. That’ll be the first color-screen, Palm OS-based smartphone. It’ll be available at the beginning of September.

Because we recognize this is new technology, or a new experience for enterprise customers, we’ve created a real simple, easy-to-get-started package that we call Starter Kit. A Starter Kit is a very small investment. It starts around $2,500. For that, an enterprise can enable ten users inside the company and try the service for three months. These have been incredibly successful.

A very high percentage of the Starter Kit customers are now moving into broad deployment and production applications. So, the Starter Kit concept is a great way for our mutual enterprise customers to get started.

.Q DG
We’ve heard a lot of 3G, third generation talk. Do you see bandwidth increasing in the near term?

.A JH
Well, there’re a couple of steps. Let me take you through the migration path that Sprint PCS is on. Number one, we’ve been a market leader in improving wireless data throughout, when we launched the wireless Web for business, last fall. That included some compression in bandwidth optimization technology that we actually deployed in our network, so the customer doesn’t have to do anything different.

.Q DG
Is that any consumer or just the business customers?

.A JH
Any customer, consumer or business that deploys what we call a wireless Web modem, either onto a laptop platform or into the cradle of a handheld computing device. You can take that device now and instead of operating it at 14.4K speed, you actually get, through compression, a user experience that’s more in line with 56K.

As you probably know, we’ve publicly announced our deployment strategy for 3G and CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association) this last spring. That deployment is significant in the marketplace because we’ll be the first player that will be able to deliver a nationwide, seamless, high-speed experience for enterprise customers. That’s really critical because, I don’t know about you, but the enterprise customers I know don’t want to deploy patchwork applications.

They want to deploy it one way, nationwide, because they’ve got to be able to support it, and they’re committed to a consistent, seamless experience for their users. The R3G platform will let them do that. That platform, in its initial rollout starting this fall and continuing nationwide by the middle of next year, will take our speed up to peak performance, at 144K. And then, by the end of next year, as we launch phase two of 3G, we’ll actually go up into the 300K range.

.Q DG
When you get up to speeds like that, you’re competing against hardware DSL capabilities.

.A JH
Absolutely. We’re going to start bypassing the phone jacks altogether. Now, think about the power of that mobility as you take that mobile bandwidth with you wherever you go. Really powerful.

The beauty of the 3G migration for us is not only does it increase speeds for our customers, it actually doubles our capacity on our voice network. So, even on our existing network, when we deploy out to 3G, it’ll be just like automatically doubling the capacity. And that just means more availability for our users. Fewer dropped calls, fewer blocked calls for our users.

A side effect of this is that we improve the battery life because we get better power management. What that means for our Palm OS device users is because the 3G technology is more efficient at power management, you’ll start to see battery life in many cases actually double, once deployed on the 3G network.

.Q DG
Take out your crystal ball for a minute. What do you see as Sprint PCS’s vision of wireless Palm computing for the enterprise in, say, five years and ten years out?

.A JH
To get exciting, I don’t think you have to go five; I think you can start to go three. Again, in a three-year period, we’ll go into the next phases of 3G, which will take us up to 2.4MB per second types of speeds. And when you can get 2MB down to a portable device, you’re talking full-motion video, just a multitude of applications.

For the enterprise, you could do voice conferencing. You can do training applications, training the whole sales force. All they’d have to do is pull out their Palm OS device and literally listen to a nationwide address from the CEO of the company about their earnings performance.

I can envision a service technician using a device to try to troubleshoot. He’s on-site, and he can’t figure out how to make this stage of equipment work, so he pushes one button and creates a real-time video conference call with a technician who is back at corporate or in the technical center. He’s got a camera on his device, so he turns his device or swivels the camera back towards the unit he’s working on, and they talk through and solve problems together.

.Q DG
Oh, now that’s sexy.

.A JH
I don’t think you have to go five years to start to see those types of applications become reality in the marketplace. Think about a realtor. He’s driving down the street, and the customer says, "What about that house?" He could pull out his Palm OS device, access the Multiple Listing Service, and literally take a 360-degree visual tour of that home before they ever even set foot in it.

.Q DG
Finally, this is an opportunity to talk to millions of Palm handheld users and decision-makers, plus hundreds of thousands of Sprint PCS users and decision-makers. Is there any special message you’d like to leave these folks as we end our interview?

.A JH
Yeah. I think the most important message from Sprint PCS is that we can bring a complete, end-to-end solution that we call the clear wireless workplace. This solution integrates the capabilities of applications, solution partners, leading edge, and world dominant handheld computing partners, like Palm, along with the expertise and the power of the Sprint PCS Nationwide Digital Network. And, I think those, lined up together, is what really can help make the deployment of wireless services a reality, today.

.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
For more information on Sprint PCS, visit http://www.sprintpcs.com.

For part one of this interview in the August issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition, visit http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200108/sprintpcs001.html.

For the article, "The Kyocera QCP 6035: a powerful tool for the enterprise," by Jason Thibeault in the July 2001 issue of PalmPower’s Enterprise Edition, visit http://www.palmpowerenterprise.com/issues/issue200107/kyocera001.html.

For more information about Palm computers, visit http://www.palm.com.

.H1 Bulk reprints
Bulk reprints of this article (in quantities of 100 or more) are available for a fee from Reprint Services, a ZATZ business partner. Contact them at reprints@zatz.com or by calling 1-800-217-7874.
.END_SIDEBAR

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