On Strategy: Analyzing Opportunities
By Jack Mixner 714 449 1040 www.mixnerstrategy.com
About two years ago at a Tech Coast Angels (www.techcoastangels.com) screening session (where they look at new deals) one of the Angels suggested that they should all be on the look-out for investable companies with WiMax technology. WiFi was all the rage at the time. Not many people were thinking about wider area technologies.
Last year, the City of Anaheim announced a deal with Sprint to install a WiFi network in Anaheim. This was in the same timeframe of the announcement of a similar deal in San Francisco.
Now Sprint is announcing WiMax nationwide.
The technology is enticing. The roll-out will cost up to $4 billion.
Strategic Implications
For some time, Sprint has had a problem in that they didn't have a growth engine that was different from everyone else. This is different all right, and expensive, too. Now we get to watch and see if Sprint can make money on the huge investment.
Reference
Sharma, Amol and Don Clark. Sprint Bet on New Wireless 'WiMax'. Wall Street Journal. 8 August 2006. Page B1.