As the fourth quarter comes to a close, it seems ReFLEX 25 paging operators will not get the two-way pagers manufacturers promised would be available by now.
Neither Motorola Inc. nor Glenayre Technologies Inc.’s Wireless Access Group have delivered two-way paging units for use on ReFLEX 25 networks, despite predicting fourth-quarter shipments in August. Motorola had said its PageWriter 2000 two-way pager for ReFLEX 25 would be available in mid-October, while Glenayre said its ReFLEX 25 AccessLink II would be ready even earlier.
ReFLEX 25 carriers Paging Network Inc. and WebLink Wireless Inc., formerly PageMart, are waiting for the devices. This fall, all involved said the delay was a result of both device issues and incomplete networks. But carriers today say their networks are ready to go and they are just waiting for pagers.
Motorola said it expects to announce the availability of the ReFLEX 25 PageWriter 2000 in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, with shipments following soon after. Glenayre did not return calls for comment.
Neither PageNet nor WebLink seem overly concerned about the delay, as two-way paging services are not expected to ramp up significant subscriber numbers for some time. Both are currently focused more on assured messaging, or 1.5-way, paging services.
But the delays put some scrutiny on the device manufacturers.
Industry insiders have said Motorola, traditionally the leader in paging technology, has distanced itself significantly from it, without abandoning it altogether. Motorola has taken employees from its paging products group and moved them to other divisions in the company.
On the infrastructure end, Motorola has all but ceased operations. It has offered to outsource up to all its infrastructure concerns to Glenayre, and negotiations for that are still ongoing.
For its part, Glenayre is in the midst of a restructuring. It is organizing its various businesses into divisions focused on products, worldwide sales, operations and a consumer products strategic business unit. Glenayre’s pager manufacturing concerns fall under that last unit.
Glenayre struggled with manufacturing problems concerning the ReFLEX 50 version of the AccessLink II two-way pager as well, which among other things led to several disappointing quarterly financial results and the departure of Gary Smith, former president and chief executive officer.
Whether the recent delays are indicative of respective internal issues at each manufacturer or merely normal problems associated with any new technology is unclear, as neither company has provided much detail. For now, the paging industry can only wait to see what develops next quarter.
