デスパレートなアントレプレナーシップ?

今朝、日経産業新聞をバスの中で広げてビックリ!!

WiMAXでイー・アクセスとソフトバンクが提携
という話です。

あちこちで
「呉越同舟？」ソフトバンクとイー・アクセス、WiMAX参入へ共同調査
とか
「2.5GHzイス取りゲーム」が白熱・最後に笑うのは？
とか書かれていますね。

「アントレプレナーシップ、挑戦者精神が共通して・・・」
というコメントを本気で受け取るアナリストはいないという感じでしょうか。

WiMAX事業展開に向けアッカが子会社設立
とか
WiMAXフォーラムが日本オフィスを設立。日本での活動を強化
とか、日本でも WiMAX 展開が進むのでしょうか。

KDDI株主総会、WiMAXに積極的に取り組む姿勢は変わらない
という記事も見かけましたが

+++++
Selling the 4G vision
By Kevin Fitchard

You have to give Sprint 4G President Barry West credit. He's determined to make WiMAX successful, proving not only the merits of the technology but the superiority of his vision for an open mobile Internet, completely at odds with the business model the cellular industry has been operating under for years. And he's further determined that Sprint will be the carrier that fundamentally makes the industry think differently about mobile data.

"I think we're in the poll position, and I'll be damned if we're going to lose that position," he said at his keynote address at FierceMarkets' WiMAX strategies conference at NXTcomm.

I'm not quite sure if West is a religious man, but he seems to have staked his eternal soul on Sprint's success with WiMAX. That kind of single-mindedness is both admirable and a bit frightening, as West is leaving himself little escape if WiMAX doesn't meet the huge expectations he and other industry boosters are setting. The situation is particularly precarious because Sprint isn't exactly on the most stable ground. It's shedding its core CDMA customers and posting disappointing financial results ever quarter. The acquisition of Nextel -- which brought West to Sprint in the first place -- is having the opposite effect intended. Instead of boosting its growth prospects, Sprint is struggling not to shrink.

And in the middle of all this, Sprint is launching a $3 billion project to build a new network with a yet unproven technology, a move that is typical of Sprint in its daring, but one that may not sit too well with investors that want the carrier to focus on its operations. Already, news reports are circulating about Sprint seeking outside funding to help ease the pain of the WiMAX network for investors. While the benefits of a possible tie-up with its Pivot cable partners or fellow WiMAX operator Clearwire aren't immediately obvious, any sharing of the financial burden would probably be welcome. West didn't address those reports or any of Sprint's financial plans at his keynote, but listening to his speech, you can't help wonder whether West's vision of WiMAX would meld with those of those potential partners.

West faces some obstacles in seeing his WiMAX vision to its ultimate conclusion, and he'll probably have to make a lot more speeches like the one today before the radio goes live. Those speeches are powerful things, though -- it's hard not be swayed by West's argument. I'm not sure if it's possible to get a network built by force of will alone. But if anyone could do it, Barry West could.

Contact me at kfitchard@telephonyonline.com.
+++++

の中に書かれている、eternal soul on Sprint's success with WiMAX という部分に相当する気持ちを持っている人は誰なのかな〜と思いますね。