U S West attempts wireless re-entry Carrier starts out with software contract and resale >BY JASON MEYERS, Wireless Networks Editor

The billing and customer care contract that U S West Communications granted to American Management Systems last week is just the beginning of the Bell company's long climb back to wireless.

U S West relinquished its wireless holdings earlier this year when its U S West NewVector division merged with AirTouch Cellular and the former U S West properties adopted the AirTouch service brand. As far as U S West's presence in the wireless industry was concerned, that was all she wrote.

But last week's announcement of the deal with AMS may be a sign of wireless rebirth. The carrier is currently bidding on 10 MHz personal communication services licenses in the Federal Communications Commission's D and E block auctions and just last week began reselling cellular service in Billings, Mont., and Rapid City, S.D.

The AMS contract relates to both prongs of that strategy, as well as U S West's wireline presence.

"They wanted a system that would handle high volumes of transactions and could be integrated into their legacy infrastructure," said Mike Murphy, vice president of telecommunications at AMS.

The carrier has implemented a baseline Mobile2000 system initially, but the contract with AMS also covers modifications for future services, said Joanne Warner, vice president of wireless systems at U S West.

"We'll have one point of contact for sales and service, and it will be integrated on the bill," Warner said.

The AMS platform has provisions for metering and thresholding call record information and allows for real-time rating of and access to call records, said Murphy. The graphical user interface for customer service representatives is based on Netscape, he said.