Nextel is not Nextel at all

IMAGINE OUR surprise when we learned that Nextel in the South America region is not affiliated with Sprint Nextel USA, and is a completely different thing, but "using the Nextel name".

This started when I contacted Victor Galvis at Sprint who's coming to a WiMax conference down here in a couple weeks to exchange ideas about the local marketplace and how Nextel could fill certain niches in the marketplace that are not well served by the incumbent local loop monopoly of Telecom and Telefonica.

Despite his busy schedule - Galvis speaks about WiMax at every telecomms conference on the planet, his title being "Business Development & Global WiMax Advocacy" at Sprint/Nextel- he answered my INQquiry promptly. But what he said caught me completely off-guard: Sprint/Nextel USA is only remotely linked to the Nextel that is operating in South America selling, well, Nextel phones and services.

Here's the explanation, in Victor's own words: "Fernando thanks for your comments. Sprint Nextel USA (S) does not control or manage Nextel International Holdings (NIHD), the company trying to acquire Velocom. Today, we only have a very small ownership position and Sprint is not even involved at the board level. NIHD is a complete independent corporation that is using the name Nextel in the region following an old agreement with Nextel USA".

This sounds to my untrained eye too close to "a franchise", and reminds me of IBM's several divisions, all with different "autonomous" strategies and more often than not stepping into each other's toes. Of course, I could be wrong, and I'm sure that when I met Mr. Galves at the WiMax event down here, he could shed some more light on the issue.

The writing on the wall seems to be that while Sprint Nextel has a WiMAX strategy, doesn't automatically imply that Nextel International Holdings (NIH) will apply the same one in the region, even if Sprint Nextel wanted -"we only have a very small ownership position"-. Galvin told the INQ "Nevertheless, I appreciate your interest in WiMax and I will happy to share ideas about the Sprint WiMax USA model". So Sprint Nextel USA sends its WiMax expert down under to talk about Nextel's WiMax strategy, to a market where Sprint Nextel USA has little influence, and Nextel International Holdings (NIH) might or might not apply Sprint Nextel USA's strategy, because it's a "complete independent corporation that is using the name Nextel in the region following an old agreement with Nextel USA".

Yet consumers down here have a Nextel phone, pay their Nextel bill, and think there's a single Nextel. They're wrong. Organization charts have more surprises than you think, and while some corporations resemble Godzilla, other resemble a hydra with several heads. Which one is more effective, remains to be seen.µ

L'INQS
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See Also
Broadband should be symmetric, says 'Father of the Internet' Vint Cerf
Alvarion grabs WiMAX market in South America
Mexican billionaire snaps WiMAX ISP in Argentina
Argentina ends 2006 with record-breaking e-figures
Intel creates software development centre in Argentina
South American UMTS vacuum-cleans your wallet