Sprint Nextel’s Forsee paying close attention to iPhone buzz

CLEVELAND-The world is in the midst of a “mobility revolution” that is leading telecom companies to make huge investments in networks that will enable customers to engage in e-commerce or electronic banking on the go as easily as they do now from their desktop computers.
That’s the view of Sprint Nextel Corp. CEO Gary Forsee, who spoke to a business group in Cleveland.
“The need for access to data transcends whether you’re at work, at home or on the go,” Forsee said during his half-hour presentation about the future of the telecom business, which was followed by about 20 minutes of responding to audience questions.
Forsee described the mobility revolution as “a search for connections, both social and emotional.”
Sprint Nextel now processes more than 100 million photos each month over its wireless network, Forsee said, and only Apple Inc. handles more music downloads than his company.
However, the wireless technology to handle such services does not come cheap.
Forsee said the company will spend $8 billion in 2007 to upgrade its networks throughout the United States. Included in that estimate is the cost of implementing the carrier’s planned WiMAX network, he said.
Asked about competition from Apple’s iPhone, which is scheduled to be released in June by Apple and AT&T Inc.’s Cingular Wireless, Forsee said he’d “have to be crazy” not to pay close attention to such a high-profile product from two powerful marketers. But he said the iPhone, while impressive, will have glitches like any first-generation technology, and the $500 and $600 price tags may prove too steep for many consumers.
He also noted that Sprint Nextel, with products such as the UpStage by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a duel-sided music phone, has “a very strong presence” in such consumer-friendly technology.
While technology innovation is critical, he said, “At the end of the day, we’re a service business, and we have to keep providing superior service.”
One way Sprint Nextel is doing that, he said, is by offering customers more training up front so they know how to use the gadgets they just bought without having to read unwieldy manuals.
There’s little doubt such training is useful for even the most sophisticated users. Forsee, who carries a Treo, acknowledged he uses only about 20 percent of the device’s capabilities.
Scott Suttell is a reporter with Crain’s Cleveland Business, a sister publication to RCR Wireless News. Both publications are owned by Crain Communications Inc</a..