Traditionally, relationships among paging resellers have been characterized more by fierce competition rather than by open communication. But one California reseller hopes to change that by spearheading a campaign to create a national trade group for paging resellers.
“Our industry has come of age and it is ready to be represented in the industry by its own association,” said Jeff Gould, manager of a Huntington Beach, Calif.-based reseller called Pony Express, in a release sent to several California resellers. Pony Express resells paging, cellular and personal communications services and claims about 7,000 customers.
Gould said that because of the changing nature of the paging industry-which has carriers focusing on profitable growth-carriers have put the squeeze on resellers, insisting on more demanding and expensive resale agreements.
“The carriers are playing a numbers game, trying to show Wall Street growth while their stocks plummet,” read Gould’s release. “Prices have dropped and profits have disappeared completely. In their desperation, the carriers are allowing every corner liquor store, pizza parlor, gas station and record store to become a reseller and market pagers. This not only hurts the industry as a whole, but it makes the pager look like a non-entity, it takes away from the importance of the pager as a communication tool.”
As an example, he pointed to the recent collapse of Econopage, a behemoth reseller with more than 100,000 customers that survived on credit until it became so overextended that its carriers shut off service and the company was forced to close down.
“This reseller ripped off the consumer as well as the paging carriers. They also hurt the rest of the industry, the reseller in particular. The carriers are keeping a closer eye on the reseller, and in some cases treating him as if he were Econopage. The veteran reseller has to sell more than ever before to merely survive.”
As such, Gould said he is trying to create what he called the National Association of Paging Resellers, which so far exists in name only. Gould said he is now looking for members.
“In order for us to survive, we must form a union, an association of pager resellers/agents that will help us better deal and negotiate with the carrier, manufacturers, etc. for better airtime/pager pricing,” he said. Gould’s first order of business is to create a newsletter dedicated to paging resale issues and foster communication among others.
Gould is the first to admit he doesn’t have the resources to build this organization by himself, though. “I couldn’t do it by myself. Maybe in my area, but not the whole country. I’m only getting the word out,” he said. “I don’t know the answer. I’m just the person with the motivation and the right idea. But I’m willing to learn.”
