Sprint sees big future in handling data for new products - Kansas City Business Journal:

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Users can choose from more than 230,000 including best sellers, to downloacd wirelessly onto theportable reader, whose electronic display mimiczs the look of paper. What they don’t see is that thosew downloads are powered by Althougnh theOverland Park-based wireless carrier often is taken to task for chronicd retail subscriber losses, backstage it has been winniny high-profile deals powering consumer devices — and winningg points for innovation. Sprint, trying to put excess networjk capacityto use, has experienced flops in past wholesale dealxs to let others sell its wireless phone service under their brands.
But arrangementw like Kindle focus ondata — and introduces a radical new business model. “Ther point here is that it’ a fundamentally different businessthat we’res embarking on now,” said Jim president of wholesale services for Sprint. “The opportunitiez around this business are just starting to be That business involves many devices that consumse different amounts of Itleverages Sprint’s data which is very, very strong.” Devices such as Kindle departt from the traditional wireless in which customers are billed for Instead, costs are priced into the bookse and other content that Kindle users buy.
As the traditional wirelesa market becomesincreasingly saturated, this type of wholesalwe deal offers a novel path to growth. A Sprin spokeswoman said such deals have similar or better margina and lower overheadthan retail. “They’ved been a leader,” said Charles a principal analystwith “The othe r carriers, their competitors, have always had wholesale but they’ve been primarily very traditional prepaifd providers.” Kindle debuted in November 2007, and unit s of the enhanced Kindle 2 beganb shipping Feb. 23. Although Kindle, pricex at $359, has snagged headlines, metrics of its successd are difficult to findbecause won’y share unit sales.
Citi Investment Researchu analyst Mark Mahaney estimated in a recent note that Amazoj sold half a million Kindleslast year. By revenue from Kindle units and eBookl sales couldpass $1.2 billion. “I thin k many of (Sprint’s) competitors, as well as partners on the devicew side, are looking at opportunitie slike that,” Golvin said. Kindlwe isn’t the last chapter in Sprint’s wholesale story. The company is chasingy wholesale deals powering consumer devices that go beyon d reading and learning tomonitoringt homes, energy and pets. “Stick a name next to and we’ve probably talked to all of Patterson said.
Discussions include leading Kansas City-area “We look to have a much strongerr relationship with Garmin andother (personal navigationb device-makers),” Patterson said. said in Marcjh that computers in 2009 trucks and commercial vehicles wouldfoffer high-speed Internet through the Sprint Mobile Broadband Networki with a retail contract. Ford called it the “firsy broadband-capable in-dash computer in production.” The system allowa customers in their vehicles toprint invoices, checik inventories and access documents stored on home or office computee networks. provides navigation services forthe system.
And througjh a wholesale partner, Springt also provides “geosensing” to track fleets. Separate wholesale deals, many of whichy Patterson saidhave “reallyy blossomed in the last 12 to 18 include powering fleet management systemss for trucks, in-vehicle camerass and remote heart monitors.