DMR | Detecon Management Report
Font:
(1 vote)
Interview Atish Gude: Digital Entertainment 2.0
Atish Gude serves as the senior vice president of Business Operations in Sprint Nextel‘s new 4G Mobile Broadband business unit called Xohm. Sprint recently selected mobile WiMAX as the technology platform for building its next generation mobile broadband business. Atish was appointed head of business operations. In this role, he is responsible for building operations including sales, marketing, product/ service delivery and customer management. Prior to this, Atish was the senior vice president of Corporate Strategy for Sprint Nextel. His team has driven the company‘s three year strategic plan including the company‘s SmartGrowth coverage strategy for managing growth and profitability, managing Sprint‘s Balanced Scorecard and performance metrics, and developing Sprint‘s broadband strategy including program managing two market trials.
DMR: The focus of this Detecon Management Report is "Digital Entertainment 2.0"– how effectively do you think Telcos can play in this space and how is Xohm planning to address the evolving digital entertainment market?
A. Gude: Xohm is working to mobilize the Internet, which includes making information and entertainment services available in traditional and non-traditional places. With high speed networks will come innovative devices – many getting a wireless capability or Internet functionality for the first time – which will allows users to create, share, access and enjoy content, much of it user generated. They won’t be limited to work or home locations. We, at Sprint, have been long active with digital entertainment, having introduced the first camera phone and first over-the-air music download service. Sprint was the first carrier to launch mobile TV (in 2003). Our Sprint TV service is the most extensive, with over 50 channels. Sprint created and launched PowerView – the industry’s first and only made-for-mobile sports, music and entertainment video programming network. New mobile multimedia services will become possible thanks to our network portfolio. I’d say it’s in our culture, and we will continue to innovate.
DMR: Sprint, being the US leader in mobile data services including mobile TV, is again launching a first: large scale WiMax rollout for 4G with Xohm. What is Sprint’s vision for this strategic investment?
A. Gude: We definitely have data leadership: data contributed 16 percent of overall ARPU in 1Q 2007 and Sprint has the industry’s highest reported data APRU of $9.25. Data is worth $4.6 billion in Sprint’s bottom line. WiMAX is a data-centric service, and with it we intend to take advantage of two important trends – the desire for mobility and the power of the Internet – which are essential mainstays of modern life. Technology is merely an enabler for new capabilities Xohm intends to champion and pioneer. We will mobilize the Internet experience for customers who are frequently on the go and less inclined to be limited to place-based communications options. We will also champion WiMAX capability in a range of new access devices and many household devices that would create customer convenience from enhanced connectivity.
Next page
DMR: The focus of this Detecon Management Report is "Digital Entertainment 2.0"– how effectively do you think Telcos can play in this space and how is Xohm planning to address the evolving digital entertainment market?
A. Gude: Xohm is working to mobilize the Internet, which includes making information and entertainment services available in traditional and non-traditional places. With high speed networks will come innovative devices – many getting a wireless capability or Internet functionality for the first time – which will allows users to create, share, access and enjoy content, much of it user generated. They won’t be limited to work or home locations. We, at Sprint, have been long active with digital entertainment, having introduced the first camera phone and first over-the-air music download service. Sprint was the first carrier to launch mobile TV (in 2003). Our Sprint TV service is the most extensive, with over 50 channels. Sprint created and launched PowerView – the industry’s first and only made-for-mobile sports, music and entertainment video programming network. New mobile multimedia services will become possible thanks to our network portfolio. I’d say it’s in our culture, and we will continue to innovate.
DMR: Sprint, being the US leader in mobile data services including mobile TV, is again launching a first: large scale WiMax rollout for 4G with Xohm. What is Sprint’s vision for this strategic investment?
A. Gude: We definitely have data leadership: data contributed 16 percent of overall ARPU in 1Q 2007 and Sprint has the industry’s highest reported data APRU of $9.25. Data is worth $4.6 billion in Sprint’s bottom line. WiMAX is a data-centric service, and with it we intend to take advantage of two important trends – the desire for mobility and the power of the Internet – which are essential mainstays of modern life. Technology is merely an enabler for new capabilities Xohm intends to champion and pioneer. We will mobilize the Internet experience for customers who are frequently on the go and less inclined to be limited to place-based communications options. We will also champion WiMAX capability in a range of new access devices and many household devices that would create customer convenience from enhanced connectivity.
Next page
