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Follow on Google News |  CEO-CFO Magazine Interview with Etheric Networks CEO, Alexander HagenREDWOOD CITY, CA – July 15, 2013 – Etheric Networks, a leading provider of wireless internet services, sat down with CEO-CFO Magazine to discuss the company's vision, technology and future.
By: CEO-CFO Magazine Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine (http://ceocfointerviews.com/ CEOCFO: Mr. Hagen, would you tell us your vision when you started Etheric Networks and where are you today? Mr. Hagen: In the late 90's, before starting Etheric Networks I worked at a gigabit switch router company called Berkeley Networks. I also worked as a financial analyst for a technology stock investing, as well as a journalist. From there, I worked at the Japanese phone company's research and development department at NTT Docomo in San Jose. The idea behind Etheric Networks started because the technology provided by high-speed internet via broadband was starting to become more viable. Therefore, rather than simply doing abstract research, I felt that it was time to actually commercialize the service. The main motivation basically stems from what was called the Bell-Head versus Net-Head argument, where there are two different reasons for how networking would work. With the Bell-Head vision the network is smart and the terminals, traditionally, were dumb, like telephones. Therefore, you had a very dumb device, but a very smart network. The companies at the time, like AT&T and the big telecoms had many inefficiencies the way that provided internet, to have a command and control system that was obsolete from the point of view of Net-Heads. What actually happened was that in deploying the network we were able to overcome much of these problems. There were rather technical problems. I will not go into them now in detail. One problem is that packets were encapsulated. What this meant was that some applications were not working properly on networks like AT&T. That was because you did not get the full size of the envelope for every packet that you sent. Their other problem with these networks was the lack of symmetry; the download is very big but the upload is very small. That is why they call it ADSL, Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line. We always intended to make sure that our service was symmetric, which also lends itself towards the Net-Head argument, which is that we do not want to have the internet built as a replication of the television system where the people who are receiving are simply consuming information. We wanted interaction. For applications such as video conferencing and voice, you need to have a symmetric service. Those were the basic motivations; The main difference between Etheric Networks and many other parties that are providing internet is that we have a wholly owned network. Many small providers are resellers. They may be able to add value here and there and put in some of their own equipment, but essentially they are relying lines of larger companies. Therefore, the advantage of using microwave wireless gave us a lot of freedom. It also reduces the delay in communication. CEOCFO: Who is using your services today? Mr Hagen: Right now, our service is broken up into three groups: Residential, Small/Home Office and Large to Enterprise companies. CEOCFO: How do people find you? Mr. Hagen: Most of our customers come via word of mouth. We do have web presence. It took us about nine years to get to the point where we wanted to sell our network on a wholesale basis, because we have organically grown. What this has meant is that we put most of our resources into engineering and network "build-out" instead of marketing. That is because there is only a finite amount of money and cycles. However, in the last year we have been able to put more effort into taking on the big system integrator's here in the Bay Area. Therefore, we are getting a considerable amount of business from system integrator's and consultants who handle the telecom means of companies. I would say that now, traditionally about half of our customers came from word of mouth and the other half through web searches. Our customers really love us. Therefore, we have a very powerful word-of-mouth growth engine. CEOCFO: Is there much competition in your area? Mr. Hagen: We have a few competitors. MonkeyBrains, Unwired, Webpass and a few others wireless networks. Of course we have to compete with people who are doing different things, which are, of course, the big companies. Then we compete with resellers; people who have been given access to the big companies networks and rent the lines. CEOCFO: Is customer service a big component for you? Mr. Hagen: Yes. Having a real person to communicate with rapidly is very important to our customers. We do not have any overseas call centers. We do however, work with a call center in Wenatchee, Washington. We also have our own support staff. This is key in maintaining a good reputation and retaining the customers. The amount of support calls that we get per customer per year is probably one call a year per customer. It is very important to be there for them when they call. Obviously, some people call because they have their own problems and they are trying to trouble shoot. Then there are some people who never call at all. Read more at CEO-CFO Magazine (http://www.ceocfointerviews.com/ About CEO-CFO Magazine Headquartered in Palm Harbor, Florida, CEO-CFO Magazine, is a weekly print online publication, marketing engine, interview, news, publicly traded and venture capital company in the United States. For more information, please visit http://www.ceocfointerviews.com About Etheric Networks Etheric Networks is an Internet Service Provider dedicated to delivering fast, reliable and affordable connectivity while providing customers access to real bay area network engineers. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Etheric’ End
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