IP: Metricom shutting down Ricochet August 8.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Date: Fri, 03 Aug 2001 09:29:26 -0700
From: Ari Ollikainen <Ari () OLTECO com>
Subject: Metricom shutting down Ricochet August 8.
X-Sender: ari () mail olteco com
To: farber () cis upenn edu


        You might want to trim this...but don't trim out your quotes.
        I concur with your comments, having been a Ricochet user for
        about as long as the service has been commercially available.

        Interestingly the various reports of Ricochet's demise differ
        in the tally of subscribers:

        SJMercury        51000
        IDG News Svc     34500
        WSJ & AP         51200


http://www.siliconvalley.com/docs/news/svfront/metric080301.htm
Posted at 1:20 a.m. PDT Friday, Aug. 3, 2001

Ricochet wireless service won't see rebound

Metricom plans to terminate it and lay off all but 28

BY JENNIFER FILES
Mercury News

Metricom, a pioneer in the emerging field of wireless data, will
terminate its Ricochet wireless data service Aug. 8 and lay off all
but 28 of its more than 400 workers to conserve money in its Chapter
11 bankruptcy case.

The San Jose company was the first to offer high-speed data
transmission without wires, freeing subscribers to surf the Web from
their laptop computers in more than a dozen major U.S. cities at
speeds up to twice as fast as a typical dial-up connection. Shaky at
first, the innovative service improved enough to gain kudos from
reviewers and attract 51,000 subscribers.

Despite investments from corporate heavy-hitters including WorldCom
and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Metricom never gained the
momentum it needed to survive.

Metricom plans to auction off assets including its network and
licenses, as a whole or in pieces, Aug. 16. No serious bidders have
yet emerged, according to people familiar with the case, and a
burgeoning, much cheaper, wireless networking technology called
802.11 threatens to make the Ricochet service obsolete.

``It's a shame,'' said David Farber, a University of Pennsylvania
professor who served on the company's technology advisory board. ``It
was really sort of strange to see a company snatch defeat from the
jaws of success.''

<snip>


High-speed Internet access looked to be a no-brainer business
opportunity a few years ago, as consumers and businesses clamored for
the service.

<snip>


NorthPoint Communications Group, another Bay Area company, shut down
earlier this year after a bankruptcy proceeding, and rival Rhythms
NetConnections of Englewood, Colo., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection Thursday.

At Home, of Redwood City, the leading provider of high-speed cable
Internet access, has said it will need additional funding by the end
of the year to stay afloat.

Metricom's problems included difficulty getting permission to install
its network equipment. Some analysts say Metricom should have offered
service in smaller cities and that its price -- $79 to $85 a month
for its high-speed service, plus a wireless modem that ranges from
$99 to $299 -- was too high.

``If you used it, you loved it. But getting people to use it had a
lot of impediments in its path,'' Farber said.



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