NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I., Dec. 16, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Mobile Competency (www.mobilecompetency.com), a leading independent analyst firm in the mobile and wireless market, released its latest weekly Mobile Viewpoint report, "Nextel and Sprint Merge -- What Gets "Done!" To The Enterprise?" When the telecommunications world received the news that the Nextel-Sprint merger was imminent, Mobile Competency was ready with Egan's full assessment of the impact on the telecom market and enterprise customers.
The thought-provoking report clearly outlines the impact and significance of the merger which will create the world's third-largest wireless carrier. Egan believes the Sprint-Nextel union conjures images of a group of rappers sitting with traditional upper-echelon opera-goers at a Cirque du Soleil performance -- exciting, disruptive, disturbing and even provocative.
"The spectrum powerhouse created by this merger has the potential to reshape telecom economics and service availability," said Bob Egan, president and CEO, Mobile Competency. "The merged company has the resources at 2.5GHz to offer a unified service platform using broadband wireless for voice, video, and data services. This clearly could be the golden egg for every WiMAX supplier."
The report estimates that by 2H05, enterprise procurement centers will see pre-emptive strikes by Cingular and Verizon in the form of service and/or device discounts -- especially for PC card wireless modems and adjunct service packs. By 2H06, Mobile Competency expects wireless data use prices to collapse to the $35/Gigabyte/month range from the current $63-$79 range as the competitive landscape takes shape. CIO's and IT managers should brace themselves for wide adoption by individuals and specific business units at these price points. A similar evolution in pricing occurred in the Wi-Fi space.
Egan believes that by 1H06, Sprint-Nextel will have a high-speed wireless data network capability (CDMA2000 1xEV-DO) on par with that of Verizon. Despite Verizon's early lead, Sprint-Nextel has the advantage of starting with uniformly newer infrastructure then Verizon did.
"Sprint-Nextel will be aggressive because the merger will invigorate them both with 'fresh blood' and because they need to prove to investors and enterprise customers that they're serious about DO," concluded Tim Kridel, senior analyst, Mobile Competency.
Egan brings to Mobile Competency more than 25 years of experience in the wireless and mobile technology marketplace, including seven years as vice president of the Mobile and Wireless practice at Gartner. The company focuses on using technology to drive business value and separates the relevant data and key issues from the market hype surrounding mobility innovation.
About Mobile Competency
Mobile Competency is a leading market analysis and consulting company founded in 2002. Mobile Competency provides decision makers with clear, competent, actionable advice and experience that enables them to navigate the complex technical and business terrain of the mobile marketplace. The company is dedicated to bringing clarity and thought leadership about mobility to CIO's, IT Managers, product and service companies, and venture capitalists. For additional information, please visit www.mobilecompetency.com.
Mobile Viewpoint can be obtained via the Mobile Competency website, www.mobilecompetency.com. Beginning Jan. 10, 2005, the company's full-view weekly research brief and archives access will be available via subscription.