BOLDstreet dares to be different in marketing and business strategy

The head of one-year-old BOLDstreet Wireless Internet says using a direct sales force approach to build out a national Wi-Fi network makes bad business sense and could ultimately lead to the failure of some of the industry’s budding players. The Ottawa-based firm has opted for a channel sales model and has convinced some ISPs to do the grunt work of building a network. The channel sales model takes some of the risk out of the equation as it provides the Wi-Fi operator with a revenue stream while it builds out its network, as opposed to the direct sales model where the capital expenditures are made prior to revenue generation, explains Tom Camps, president and CEO of BOLDstreet. The company gains revenue through the money charged to the location for the installation of the service and then it takes all revenue gained through the use of the Wi-Fi service. "I can blow my brains out chasing onesies, twosies all over the place, but that’s not what our intent is," Camps tells Report on Wireless. "Our intent is to put our sales and marketing resources into building channels so other people will grow the footprint for us, other people will recruit subscribers for us." Camps discounts the direct sales force approach as being too expensive. He admits that Wi-Fi operators employing that type of model may get some early traction, but building a national network then becomes problematic. "You need hundreds of guys to pull this off," he notes. BOLDstreet has assembled a roster of high-profile partners that will help increase the number of locations and number of subscribers. Camps refused to provide specific details of the company’s partner program in a lengthy meeting at Decima Publishing office on June 18, but did spell out the broad nature of BOLDstreet’s relationship with ISPs. (Specifics pertaining to BOLDstreet’s ISP partner program are expected to be unveiled on July 14 and Report on Wireless will provide those details in an upcoming issue.) Camps explains that partnering with ISPs was a natural fit because it gave BOLDstreet access to a quick and easy way to build the footprint, but also allowed the ISP to go into locations and sell a product with greater value. The ISP now has the ability to sell a high-speed connection to a location that normally wouldn’t buy one or couldn’t afford to buy one because it gives that location the ability to add value for its patrons. Says Camp: "(The ISP) can walk into a location and say ‘I have a service for you that will allow you to increase business traffic, increase customer loyalty, create new kinds of promotions. Are you interested?’" Camps says BOLDstreet has received some interest from a promotion it is offering for the summer. For $525, the location receives a high-speed Internet connection with three months of free service and a wireless access point to service users at that location. He explains that the company has negotiated some sweetheart deals with partners so that it can offer the service at such a low price. BOLDstreet has also implemented a two-pronged market strategy by dividing up opportunities into two areas: lifestyle locations and premium locations. The company has a series of hotspots, considered premium locations, along the highway corridor from Windsor to Montreal. For $9.99, users have access to any one of those hotspots over a 24-hour period. The lifestyle locations, such as the Lonestar and Big Daddy’s Crab Shack restaurants in Ottawa, offer customers free access. There are, however, words of caution from Camps about the future of the Wi-Fi market in Canada. "So many companies have put a charge on this right off the bat and this will throttle off this market before it even starts. "Our industry needs to create enough value - that’s application value as well as pipe value - that you will pay some amount for. The question is how much. Would it be $9 a day? Will it be $40 a month? Will it be pennies a day? We’ll have to see. But if we start charging right now, we’re going to crush off demand."

BOLDstreet dares to be different in marketing and business strategy

News | 07/09/2003 4:00 am EDT

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