Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Nextel Steps Up Wireless Business Solutions

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 24 Oct 2002 21:35:06 -0400

Wireless Business & Technology October 2002

http://www.wbt2.com/

Nextel Steps Up Wireless Business Solutions

Nextel is building on its industrial voice service success with a
broad professional data service that features 30 new J2ME
applications, with 20 more in the works. Starting with several
choice partnerships and customers old and new, it is now set up to
deliver tailored mobile data solutions.

Applications
The available applications bring more than access to corporate
databases, and e-mail and Internet access to the table. The various
developer offerings provide a range of utilities from fleet
management services, such as GPS, to package shipping automation
that interfaces with current package delivery systems. Whether a
business has its own Java applications or any of the 30 from Nextel
or Nextel partners, they need to deploy and update them. Nextel's
Wireless Business Solutions include its Mobile Application Manager,
which does just that.

"Businesses end up with a collection of applications, but now they
need to distribute those applications to their end users," says
Ernie Cormier, VP, Enterprise Solutions, Nextel Communications,
Inc. "They need to maintain user lists and applications.

"Along with our partner Motorola and a partner called Fourthpass, we
developed a hosted service that we deliver to our customers that
gives them a place to store those applications. We maintain
distribution lists and make it easy for that list to be generated.
We populate it from our own database.

"Then we give them a means to select a group of applications and
send that group to a list of users.

You never have to tether your phone; you never have to connect it to
a PC. This service [Mobile Application Manager] goes out over the
air and downloads those applications into the user's phone," he
explains.

Data Network As Good As the Apps That Cross It

The iDEN network built by Nextel (licensed from Motorola) provides
reliability and sufficient speed for the new Java applications,
which are, by nature, quick and light. The iDEN network, or
Integrated Digital Enhanced Network, is an always-on network that
accepts any applications or traffic that the Internet or any other
IP network does. "It runs at up to 19.2Kbps. We have customers like
ABF, FedEx, Airborne, and many others who are running applications
on our network today that are mission critical to their businesses"
says Cormier.

Device Friendly
As logic would lead you to believe, this combination of an IP
network and J2ME applications does not limit you to just one device
type. Nextel's primary device is its phone (equipped with Java for
almost two years now, with 2 million owners and counting). With
Nextel's iM1100 type 2 card modem (PCMCIA), you can connect to the
iDEN network with a laptop or handheld. Nextel's BlackBerry device
(see WBT v.2 n.3), due out soon, also uses iDEN.

"Developed with partners Research-In-Motion and Motorola, our
BlackBerry device has everything that's on a BlackBerry advanced e-
mail device plus everything that's on a Nextel phone, including
Direct Connect, which is our long-range, Walkie Talkie feature, plus
Java", says Cormier.

Supportive Indeed
But Nextel isn't serving up a bare-bones network, devices, and Java
with a laissez-faire approach.

Rather, a full complement of maintenance and support can be assumed.
With a legacy of serving an 85% business customer base, Nextel has
firsthand awareness of the necessary components of delivering
quality data and voice network services for mission-critical
business initiatives. "It's all oriented around delivering quality,
necessary uptime, and management capability to our customers," says
Cormier.

The Money Bodes Well
Despite the accounting shenanigans others have been caught in of
late, slow and steady growth toward profitability is still a
reliable barometer of future success. "We had a great last quarter.
We were profitable for the first time. We have been able to
consistently meet our numbers," says Cormier.

Scott Ellison, program director, Wireless and Mobile Communications,
IDC, agrees: "They've made their numbers; they've been doing quite
well from a financialSperspective."

How will Wireless Business Solutions affect Nextel's bottom
line? "From an analyst perspective it should only help," says
Ellison.

Nextel is making the most logical move toward growth. By leveraging
several consistently good quarters (which overall exceeded analyst
expectations in terms of customer additions), it intends to
successfully enter new markets, building on its strong foundation.
Nextel has been able to affirm and reaffirm its ability to deliver
in the face of record economic and technology sector lows. By
organizing its sales force around verticals, growing and enhancing
the sales force itself, attracting experts who can create new
solutions, and developing top industry partnerships where
appropriate (to be able to deliver what the customer needs), Nextel
has positioned itself to meet future numbers.

Speaking of Partners

Current partners include SUN, Motorola, IBM, EDS, and RIM.
Many more are expected in the weeks and months ahead. What's
interesting is Nextel's approach to collaborating. While asserting
its strengths in its platform, and the numerous solutions it will
give birth to in just the next year alone, Nextel maintains and
proffers an attitude that it will seek and establish any number of
partnerships to meet its customers demands for specific solutions.

Where they are not hardware providers for new handhelds or laptops,
or systems integrators or software providers, they will find
partners that are the best names in the business. "It's important
for our potential customers to realize that we are probably the best
of breed in the business in that we can deliver the solution they
need, each partner bringing its own strengths to the table," says
Cormier.

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