The gift that keeps on giving: BellSouth targets holiday shoppers for digital phones

BellSouth Mobility DCS is testing the sale of a package that includes a digital phone, service and airtime together for one price.

BellSouth Prepaid to Go is now available in Savannah and Augusta, Ga. The Atlanta-based carrier offers a digital mobile phone with $50 in airtime and service for $199.95. No enrollment fee is required. Once the airtime account balance falls below $20, customers are notified with a phone display message. The customer can replenish the account by telephone with a credit card or with cash at one of BellSouth Mobility's 40 stores.

"We're doing this in the fourth quarter to target the gift segment," said Carmen Andia, senior manager of market planning.

The DCS phones include voice mail, three-way calling, caller ID, short messaging and number messaging. The Prepaid to Go package also offers access to the advanced technology to the "credit-challenged," said JoAnn Blount, director of marketing.

"What's nice about the bundle is that, because there is no enrollment requirement, you automatically bypass credit checks. So if you haven't been able to establish credit or you have bad credit, you can still do DCS."

The trial is expected to last through the end of the year, and BellSouth plans to launch the package in early 1998.

"We want to change the way consumers think of mobile communications service," said Eric F. Ensor, president of BellSouth Mobility DCS. "We will continue to develop value-added services and plans that simplify customers' lives and make communicating in today's fast-paced world easier."