IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 6, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- USURF America, Inc. (AMEX:UAX), the developer of Quick-Cell(TM), a broadband Fixed-Wireless Internet access system, today addressed the overwhelming number of inquiries it has received from stock market participants since Metricom, Inc. announced the demise of its Ricochet(TM) wireless Internet access network. The company's assets, including the network, which Metricom built from the ground up, will be auctioned off at a bankruptcy hearing scheduled for August 16. Wireless Internet service provider GoAmerica Inc. (Nasdaq:GOAM) said on Friday that it will shift subscribers from Metricom Inc.'s (Nasdaq:MCOMQ) Ricochet high-speed wireless service to other, lower-speed services after Ricochet shuts down next week. Subscribers did not get service from Metricom directly, but rather through re-sellers like GoAmerica, EarthLink Inc. (Nasdaq:ELNK), Juno Online Services Inc. (Nasdaq:JWEB) and WorldCom Group Inc. (Nasdaq:WCOM) subsidiary SkyTel.
The inquiries received by USURF America can be summarized: "Why will Quick-Cell succeed where Ricochet(TM), a heavily-funded wireless Internet access service, failed?"
USURF America's answer: low infrastructure costs, small-cities first.
Infrastructure Costs
"For our small market Quick-Cell build-outs, initially we will deploy a single server cell, complete other necessary activities and place the first customer online for less than $10,000," said David Lolfin, USURF America's President. "These small Quick-Cell server modems cover approximately 7 square miles and can handle about 125 wireless DSL (256 Kbps) customers, 256 Kbps being our minimum speed service. When that server modem nears capacity, we will deploy another identical, completely integrated server modem at a cost of about $3,000."
In various published reports, industry analysts have attributed Ricochet(TM)'s demise primarily to such high network build-out costs that profitable operations became impossible to achieve.
In commenting on the comparable Quick-Cell system infrastructure costs, Mr. Loflin said, "Our per-cell deployment costs are exceedingly low compared to those associated with the Ricochet(TM) network; for example, a system feature that we have continually focused on as we have refined the Quick-Cell system. Even our large-city cell configuration has a per-cell deployment cost of about $10,000. Comparatively, we understand that many millions were spent on infrastructure in each of Ricochet(TM)'s markets. So, with our low build-out costs and per-customer monthly revenue expected to average $75, one can understand our excitement about our future return on investment," Mr. Loflin stated.
Small Cities
USURF America also sees another little discussed inherent flaw in the Ricochet(TM) model -- that is, only the most populous cities could, in theory, support Ricochet(TM)'s high infrastructure costs. However, competition in these cities is fierce, with a wide variety of Internet access choices available to consumers. Obtaining and keeping customers in these markets is difficult and costly.
These competitive factors influenced USURF America's decision to offer its Quick-Cell wireless Internet access service first in cities with populations under 100,000 located within a geographic cluster of similar cities. These markets, in general, are marked by relatively minor competition for Internet access and a lack of affordable high-speed Internet access service. In these environments, USURF America believes it will be able to distinguish its Quick-Cell service from other available services.
Again, it is Quick-Cell's low build-out costs that permit USURF America to pursue this strategy. The Quick-Cell system currently being constructed in San Angelo, Texas, is an example of this small market strategy.
Having secured a reliable source of funding and utilizing this strategy, it is USURF America's objective to place 5,000 Quick-Cell customers on line by the end of March 2002 and 10,000 customers on line by the end of August 2002.
What Ricochet(TM) Proved
"In its time, Ricochet(TM) did prove one thing, that there is strong demand for fast, affordable, reliable wireless Internet access service, like our Quick-Cell service. We are on our way to picking up where Ricochet(TM) left off," concluded Mr. Loflin.
What is Quick-Cell?
`Quick-Cell' is the brand name of USURF America's proprietary wireless Internet access system. Each Quick-Cell system is comprised of one or more server modems, or cells. Server modems, which are less than one cubic foot in size, are mounted on tall structures, towers, tall buildings or billboards, for example. Each server modem relays transmitted data directly into the Internet via a T1, or larger, telephone line.
Installed customer modems, which are slightly larger in size than a deck of playing cards, transmit data to, and receive data from, a server modem. Each customer modem and an antenna are mounted on the outside of the customer's place of business or home, as the case may be, and connected by a thin cable to the customer's computer. The installation process for customer modems is quite similar to that of cable television: the installation crew mounts the modem and antenna outside, connects the modem and computer with the cable and tests the connection.
Within a particular system, each additional server modem is configured to share transmitted data with the other server modems, so as to provide an uninterrupted connection to the Internet. In a Quick-Cell system with multiple server modems, the server modems are geographically located in a honeycomb fashion, for technical reasons. Data transmission speeds remain constant within a Quick-Cell system's transmission radius, regardless of the distance from the server modem.
USURF America has developed software that enables it to control the data transmission speed of each customer modem within each Quick-Cell system, all from a single location. With this software, USURF America is able to increase or decrease a customer's data transmission speed in just a few minutes' time. This software also permits the monitoring of each Quick-Cell server modem's bandwidth usage. This capability will enhance USURF America's ability to provide customers data transmission service at speeds for which they contracted.
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More Information
For more information about USURF America and Quick-Cell, please visit its Web site at www.usurf.com.