VoiceStream Taps Channel To Sell Wireless Services

The carrier this month also tapped Global Wireless Data (GWD), a national dealer and master agent, as one of its key partners. GWD, Norcross, Ga., will provision wireless services and offer a variety of wireless data devices to about 1,200 solution providers.

Wireless carriers, which once focused almost exclusively on the voice market, are working to quickly recruit data solution providers to promote and sell services on the new 2.5G networks. Those networks promise to take wireless to the next level with improved voice capabilities and packet-based data transfers starting at about 40 Kbps.

Carriers are reaching out to VARs and integrators for help building solutions around the up-and-coming networks.

"This is really a new channel for us," said Michael Coty, vice president of sales at VoiceStream, Bellevue. "Traditionally, VoiceStream has been very consumer-focused."

GWD is one of the few partners VoiceStream has signed on so far. In addition to selling the carrier's services, GWD has established relationships with most of the wireless carriers and a number of device manufacturers so it can better customize client solutions, said Steve Brumer, president of GWD.

Wireless products and services can be lucrative for solution providers, with wireless services averaging $75 to $300 per activation unit, he said.

"They earn margin on hardware and on every activation," Brumer said. "And the margins are a lot better than on computer products. We pay up to 15 points on hardware."

Solution providers can get involved in the wireless market in a number of different ways, Brumer said. They can outfit existing notebook customers with wireless modems to provide better access to back-end data. Or they can build enterprise solutions around Research In Motion's (RIM) Blackberry or phone-based devices.

And interest in wireless has been high indeed. Since late February, when RIM took the wraps off a voice-capable Blackberry, about one-third of all solution provider inquiries have been focused on the device and next-generation networks, Brumer said.

Carolyn Caniglia, president of Tailored Automation, a database and Goldmine-authorized VAR in Omaha, Neb., agreed that opportunities in the mobile market are exploding.

Caniglia said she was astounded by the quick sales cycle of Tailored Automation's first mobile Goldmine implementation for a local financial institution. Most banks take at least three months to approve new technology rollouts, but this one was approved within 30 days, she said. "It was just phenomenal,the ease of it happening and how it came together."

VoiceStream is listing the new Blackberry at $499. Data plans start at $39.99 on top of monthly voice charges and include 1 Mbyte of data downloads (about 350 Web pages) and unlimited e-mail. For $45, customers get unlimited e-mail, 1 Mbyte of data and 300 two-way text messages. VoiceStream offers two-way text messaging to VoiceStream customers as well as intercarrier subscribers.

A PC Card from Sierra Wireless is priced at $275 with data service starting at $20 per month for 5 Mbytes of data and additional megabytes priced at $5 each. For $50 a month, customers receive 10 Mbytes of data; additional megabytes cost $4 each.

Meanwhile, at the Cellular Telecom and Internet Association's conference in Orlando, Fla., this month, VoiceStream unveiled a Pocket PC 2002 Phone Edition device for its Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS) voice and data network. The device incorporates a phone into a standard Windows CE PDA with features including e-mail, calendar and contacts. It is expected to ship later this year. VoiceStream operates a GPRS network throughout the United States. The carrier also operates a WiFi (802.11b) wireless broadband network in more than 650 public locations, including airports, conference centers and Starbucks coffee houses.