New entrants should learn from Wind’s mistakes: Seaboard

New entrants should learn from the mistakes of Globalive Wireless Management Corp.’s’ Wind Mobile, suggesting the company wasn’t sufficiently prepared for its launch, says a Seaboard Group research note. On March 3, Wind announced a corporate reorganization, including the departure of chief customer officer Chris Robbins and chief information officer Scott Waller, just 10 weeks following its launch on Dec. 16, 2009. “A major corporate reorganization this soon suggests that the company’s expected results have not been met,” says the research note, released last week. “Certainly reports of network faults, limited and expensive handset selection, e-commerce challenges, and a small retail presence have dampened some consumer enthusiasm for this new entrant’s services.” Wind Mobile also announced the appointment of board member Michael O’Connor to the position of business development and corporate strategy officer. Subsequent to the appointment, Wind launched a program offering a $150 credit to customers who terminate their current contract for a move to the new carrier. Seaboard says the move shows the company was “under extreme pressure to get to market before it was fully ready” and is experiencing disappointing results. “Evidence suggests that in the combined markets of Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary, a pool of some nine million people, Wind has only managed to sign-up less than 30,000 customers,” the report says. “Contrast this with the achievement of Microcell in 2003, when it launched CityFido in the single market of Vancouver: Fido captured that many customers in its first week.” Globalive chairman Anthony Lacavera recently told ITWorld Canada that his company has been suffering from “teething problems,” but that it remains competitive. He said the departures of Waller and Robbins should not be interpreted to mean the company is facing problems. “I don’t know how another new entrant can catch us now,” he said. Seaboard says new entrants in the mobile phone market should take note of Wind’s challenges. The research note says it believes Mobilicity and Public Mobile will launch their new wireless services in the second quarter of 2010, Vidéotron in the third quarter, and Shaw, EastLink and Novus in 2011.

New entrants should learn from Wind’s mistakes: Seaboard

Brief | March 8, 2010

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