Ricochet Expansion Woes

Many engineers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, New York, Atlanta and other cities lucky enough to have Ricochet wireless Internet service were disappointed when Ricochet's parent, Metricom, filed for bankruptcy a few years ago and shut down the service. There was hope the service might return when Ricochet's assets were sold to Aerie Networks.

Aerie Networks was successful in restoring Ricochet service in Denver and San Diego, but an article in the Denver Post by Jennifer Beauprez, Ricochet Seeks Cash to Expand--Net Provider Trying to Regroup hinted they may be having trouble restoring service in other cities such as Los Angeles, where the shoe box-size radios are still visible on light poles around the city. The article said Ricochet had 6,000 customers in San Diego and Denver. Aerie Networks CEO Mort Aaronson resigned last week. Greg Sadler, who has taken the spot of interim CEO, said the company was looking for a strategic partner to finance the company's expansion into other markets.

Ricochet offered data rates up to three times available from current 1xRTT services offered by Verizon and Sprint.