“The industry created two decades ago to foster dispatch wireless communications in the United States stands at a crossroads as regulatory, technological and market forces conspire to put mom-and-pop two-way radio businesses out to pasture.
“Nextel Communications Inc., the largest specialized mobile radio operator, has grabbed headlines in the press in recent years by aggressively acquiring local SMRs around the country and converting clusters of systems into cellular-like networks that provide users with a package of dispatch, paging, two-way messaging and mobile telephone services.
“But Nextel’s success has created a schism in the fledgling SMR industry. Small dispatch radio system licensees believe new laws and ground-breaking regulatory changes under consideration are being driven by big business and by the government’s desire to enrich its coffers.” RCR, Nov. 7, 1994.
There are many fights within this industry we call wireless: CDMA vs. TDMA, reseller vs. carrier, paging vs. cellular, cellular vs. PCS, etc. But the one that seems to have touched a nerve recently has been the small-business vs. big-business fight.
And small business is mad.
But mad doesn’t pay the bills, and concentrating on perceived or real past injustices doesn’t leave much time to plan for the future.
The SMR industry is still hurt that the Federal Communications Commission granted Nextel’s request to cluster its SMR licenses.
Those who weren’t fans of Al Sikes’ FCC for granting Nextel’s petition certainly are not fans of Reed Hundt’s FCC.
Small business was supposed to be given a chance to compete in PCS, and we all know how that turned out-spectrum was more expensive for Tom’s PCS Co. than it was for AT&T.
And yet, American consumers have more choices than ever before over which companies will provide them telecom service.
Nextel isn’t going away (except to be swallowed by a bigger company). AT&T isn’t going away. The big are getting bigger. They feel they have to in order to compete in this crazy marketplace.
And the small that want to survive are going to have to be creative. Marketing experts drone on and on that price is not the smart way to compete and that customer service does matter.
If the big companies aren’t listening, maybe the small ones should.
