Paging All Executives!
An Interview with John Palmer, Chairman of Mtel
Today, the ability to communicate quickly and globally is the most important tool a business can have.  In fact, John N. Palmer, chairman of Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Corp. (Mtel) says, "The enhancement of a company's communications system makes that company much more competitive. By staying on top of information, they can serve their customers much better."
Palmer should know. He founded technology-based SkyTel, Mtel's core business - a nationwide, satellite-based messaging network.
In the following interview, Palmer discusses and explains the communications revolution - international mobility, voice mail via satellite, Mtel's new two-way paging system and more. "Techology is such today that you don't have to know where a person is - he could be in South America or Toronto or Las Vegas. You can get a message to him and he can get one back to you - without access to a telephone," Palmer says here.
In creating new businesses and expanding internationally, Palmer cites the importance of creating solid partnerships. "Where we've got good local partners we've had good success," he says. In general, Palmer says, "We're a little paranoid. We run scared, we like to compete, we like to be out in front, and we're bold."
You say in your annual report, "Our mission is revolutionary: to change forever the way people around the world communicate." That's a mighty big statement. How are you going to do that?
Mtel's enhancements to one-way paging in text and data services, such as news and financial information, kept us ahead of the industry for several years. But what's revolutionary now is our new two-way paging and messaging network. SkyTel 2-Way has the ability to page someone wherever he may be, and to receive a response instantly from that person's pager. Technology is such today that you don't have to know where a person is - he could be in South America or Toronto or Las Vegas. You can get a message to him and he can get one back to you - without access to a telephone. That's what's revolutionizing the way we communicate.
And that's only the beginning. What will happen next?
The enhancement of digital two-way messaging will go beyond personal messaging into special alerts - having a computer trigger a digital message to you about certain events so you'll automatically be informed. In addition, you'll see a range of applications that are industry specific and even adapted for customers with special needs in communications. 
The potential is endless. 
How much of the world does SkyTel cover?  Is it global?
That's one of our goals, to make this a truly global system. We have had our biggest success in Latin America. We've had a fair amount of success in Asia. We're working on breaking through in Europe. The entire world will have and use this system in short order.
But global is a matter of time. 
Yes. There are obstacles to overcome.  But we think we have the key to the future.
When you started back in the '60s in telecommunications, paging meant receptionists and hard-wired intercoms and pink message slips. Then you created Mtel. What is Mtel and what are its divisions as a company?
Mtel's core business is SkyTel, which is the nationwide, satellite-based network. We have some other small, air-to-ground, marine and ground dispatching services, but SkyTel is the core. So there are now three legs of development that make up Mtel. There's one-way paging, there's SkyTel 2-Way and Mtel International.
What does SkyTel mean to corporations around the world? How can they use SkyTel to better their businesses?
The SkyTel system has been critical to closing business deals, actually has helped save lives, and can let the grocery shopper know what his or her spouse wants to purchase. It has scores of uses.
A big part of our success has been that initially we zeroed in and focused on Fortune 500 corporate accounts. We saw the market to be the frequent business travelers and for the most part those people were in large companies.
What we do is integrate our product with a company's communication systems. Instead of receiving all his E-mail and possibly getting overloaded, an executive can identify which E-mail he wants to receive, and we can program the system so he gets only that. Also, we have integrated voice mail, so he gets a voice mail alert automatically by satellite. He can call a 1-800 number and retrieve the voice message or even download a fax to a fax machine of his choice. SkyTel's enhancement of a company's communications system makes that company much more competitive. By staying on top of information, they can serve their customers much better. Time 
is money, as they say.
SkyTel 2-Way will be a boon to Wall Street and to the paging industry in general, the first two-way messaging service to reach the public. Is there some risk in being the first to introduce untried technology?
Yes, there's always a risk with untried technology, but we have a great deal of comfort because we have consistently been out front with new products and technology. There are more than 27 million one-way pagers, and a large percentage of those customers say their biggest problem is they don't know if their message has been received. From the very start, we can acknowledge and guarantee that your message has been received, and then you can respond to it digitally.
Right from your pager?
Yes.
And it's small enough to fit in your pocket?
Yes.
How soon before you fit it on your wrist, or in your ear?
Dick Tracy is on his way. A video format is not far off. 
The Republican National Committee chairman, Haley Barbour, loves this product. His staff sends him a page that reports, "I have talked with the senator," and he knows that's out of the way. It took less than a minute for him to know an issue was taken care of. Two-way will make it even easier - concise answers and responses eliminating telephone calls, which can get lengthy. It's hard to have a quick telephone call.
Was it Forbes that had a seminar recently? Someone was telling me that most of the CEOs there had Skypagers on. That's the appeal of alphanumeric; they're getting messages that contain all the facts they need. They don't really like to get a number to call. But they don't mind getting a confirmation or information in a concise way. Now with two-way paging, they can respond during a meeting without going to a telephone.
Do narrow-band, wireless communications technology and applications exist outside the paging and messaging industry?
Oh, yes. Federal Express, for example, has pickup stations throughout the United States. They make thousands of stops each day where there is no pickup, but they have to make the stop to find out. SkyTel can provide them with a service called telemetry, alerting their systems if, for example, there is no pickup at 93rd and Fifth. If they know that in advance, they'll save a great deal of time and money. Vending machines are another example. Say a Coca-Cola vending machine has a heavy run on it and is out of product, the machine can alert management that it's empty. 
How do things look for the international market?
What's unique about our service is that it's attractive both in highly developed markets and in lesser-developed countries and markets. Singapore Telecom has one of the most advanced telephone systems in the world, yet they also have the highest penetration of pagers; about 30 percent of people in Singapore have pagers. You can look at our success in Mexico and in other Latin American countries where the telephone system is not as developed by any means. The waiting list is years long. 
Messaging units are a way to provide communications to those who don't have sophisticated systems. So there is demand in both environments. Penetration in the United States is around 10 percent. Some Asian countries are up around 20 percent. The penetration in many countries in Latin America is less than 1 percent, so we feel there's tremendous potential there. I've mentioned that we're struggling in Europe. We've opened in Malta and we're operating in Norway, but it's been difficult to get into any major countries in Western Europe.
Because they have state-owned operations there?
Yes, with the European system they have already designed, they're just not interested. Maybe if we surround them, they might see the advantage of joining, of being a part of our system. It would be very easy for them to do that.
That's the philosophy many great generals have. What separates Mtel from its competitors?
We've always been in front. We have tended to lead the parade, going back to the predecessor company we started in a fragmented mom-and-pop industry, the paging industry. We were the first company to amalgamate and develop a national company - not nationwide paging, but an aggregate of local paging companies throughout the United States - and it grew to be the largest. 
We recognized the value of cellular early; we kind of bet the farm on cellular and were successful. We won the Los Angeles franchise in a competitive hearing, which was the way the top 30 markets were decided at the FCC. It was our engineering and our application that set us apart. We were up at midnight those last few days before the deadline, trying to develop the best application.
So what separates winners? What separates Agassi from the guy who's ranked 200 and is a damn good tennis player? It's discipline, performance, drive - all of those elements. I like what the chairman of Intel said, "To survive in the computer industry, you have to be paranoid." We're a little paranoid. We run scared, we like to compete, we like to be out in front, and we're bold. 
There were three licenses awarded for nationwide one-way paging. The other two licensees settled their licenses and would not develop them. We charged out because we knew there was a market there. So we pioneered one-way, and then Motorola bought one of those licenses and Bell South bought the other. That didn't bother us a bit. Those are two formidable competitors with deep pockets, but we've had those competitors for 20 years. 
What separates SkyTel is that we developed the intellectual capital that makes possible much of what is happening today. We developed the technology, we anticipated the demand, and we bring products to market better, quicker than anyone else. Several have tried to copy us, but we believe we are a good five years ahead of the pack. The two-way paging system, which no one else really has, is ours. We are already working on the next generation, and when it's ready it will really set business on its ear around the world. 
How have you done all these things for 35 years from a place called Mississippi?
The major problem we've had being 
in Mississippi is the poor image our state has, and that's hurt. But, at the same time, we have very fine people and good government, and we've brought in people from all over the world. It's no different than Wal-Mart succeeding in Bentonville, Arkansas
What's been your greatest frustration?
I've had very few frustrations. At times I've been frustrated dealing with regulatory bodies, but in our industry that's a way of life, so you learn to cope. Our success and our work is very enjoyable, very fulfilling and there are not a lot of frustrations.
What annoys you the most?
Negativism. I like people who are smart, work hard and have can-do sense about them. I get frustrated with people who don't have a positive attitude.
How do you change them?
I'm not sure you do.
Mtel has been very aggressive in creating partnerships with other companies. Has that been a critical factor in your growth lately? Do you have other partnerships you're planning to create?
Partnerships are a way of life in the cellular business. We've found out how valuable a good partner is and how bad a bad partner is. We have a plan and a test for each partner we do business with, and we take a lot of pride in really making a strong effort to be a good partner. With the convergence of computers and telecommunications, that's the nature of this industry. In this business and environment, partnerships can be a matter of survival.
Since 1989, when Mtel became a public company, our growth has come primarily from our direct efforts and then reseller agreements, which I don't think translates directly into partnerships. We sell our products to Bell companies at wholesale and they resell to their customers. This year we're having very good success with MCI as a partner. We also have a partnership with Sony we think will be significant. Sony will enable us to move right into the high-end retail channels using their infrastructure and their expertise. This not only gets us there early, but we avoid the problems of trying to develop something we know nothing about - the retail business - which would take us two or three years to get close to perfecting. So they bring us retail experience, and we bring them the best product in the industry.
Partnerships will be more meaningful in the future.  They were meaningful in cellular in the '80s, not as much as when we kicked off SkyTel, but now they're coming into play again. Our partnership with Microsoft will be very important because its worldwide leadership in software development can take full advantage of our wireless communications network.
How about partnerships overseas?
One of our rules is to always have a good, strong, local partner. We have a fine partner in Mexico with Televisa; they've been a big factor in our success. Where we've got good local partners we've had good success. 
Is there a chance of partnering with European government telecoms to further European distribution?
There is. We've met with France 
Telecom, Telefonica in Spain and Deutsche Telekom in Germany. We're partnering with the telephone companies in Norway and Malta. But with the large telecoms in Western Europe we seem to get right up to the door and then it never really opens.
You're still a reasonably young person, but, as you grow older, do you find it nice or bothersome?
I find it both. I'm 61, but mainly I think I'm 40. I don't think of myself as 60, but I am. It's nice. You gain a little wisdom and control your emotions better as you get older. It's certainly time to work on your tennis a little more and improve your fly fishing.
Are you concocting new business and new ventures even now?
Yes. I do not intend to fully retire, but I hope to spend more time with my family. I guess I've been immersed in the business world and it's time to diversify a little; your family pays the price.
But you're still going to create new businesses?
Yes. Right now we're going to make sure the two-way service is healthy and gets off to the right start. When that's over 
I might shift gears. I get a lot of pleasure out of the international work and, in my new role as chairman, that will probably be an area I'll work in.
I enjoy the relationships we've developed, and I think it's important as chairman to be involved in that most of all.
My grandmother used to write poetry. She loved Edgar Guest. I don't know pwhether this is one of Guest's poems or one of hers, but it ended by saying, "I smiled and think I done my bit." If SkyTel could be truly global, if we could make a truly global system, then I'd smile and think I'd done my bit.