Fixed Wireless Business

DragonWave Embraces Customers With a New CEO

DragonWave's new CEO, Peter Allen (that's Peter, not Paul) promises a renewed customer focus at a company better known for its engineering prowess.

by Alex Goldman ISP-Planet Managing Editor [June 29, 2004]

Peter Allen became CEO of Ottawa, Ontario-based DragonWave Inc. in February of 2004. Previously, he was CEO of Innovance Networks, an optical networking innovator that closed shop in December of 2003.

The move reminds us of something Francis McInerney told us a few weeks ago: "People told Nortel not to focus on long distance and optical technology, but on replacing the local loop. They were replacing the heart in a man with no blood. That operation was not going to succeed."

Allen's move is from a backbone technology company to a last mile technology company. He believes that DragonWave's customers are anyone trying to evade the phone company. "We're looking at guys paying leased line access charges. There's a strong business case for doing something different," he explains.

But it's about more than just lowering costs. "People want to own the customer," asserts Allen. That means they want to own the infrastructure. At present, the only infrastructure worth building is wireless.

However, Allen is enthusiastic about the potential of hybrid fiber and wireless networks too. "The percent of companies in the U.S. without broadband is huge. Although building fiber to every business is unrealistic, using wireless for fiber extensions is realistic."

These opportunities exist in a tremendous number of verticals, such as schools, municipalities, and governments. The company is discovering new verticals regularly. "I've just heard about the opportunities at concert venues," enthuses Allen.

In every case, the selling point of wireless broadband is that it is relatively easy to deploy. "Wireless technology is at the point where it is considered deployable in a whole range of applications."

When we first learned of DragonWave, we were told the company's strength lay in a manufacturing process that made it possible to offer high bandwidth radios at a relatively low price by tuning them automatically instead of manually. That's still the strength of the company, Allen says. "We believe we've done a good job of moving this technology from a green-fingered black art to a technology where we can [sell at a good price for consumers] while making a business case for ourselves too."

Allen believes that the skill he brings to this engineering-centric company is a focus on customer needs. "We need to focus on their business case. We need to understand how we deliver value to them," he explains. One method is greater price flexibility, executed in the company's new product, the AirPair Flex (see related articles below).

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