In Brief

* Motorola intends to brand Hollywood. The company plans to conduct a frontal marketing assault on television, film, music and theater by targeting entertainment's key influencers with its array of consumer products. Motorola launched its efforts with a Hollywood-style premier that was attended by luminaries such as Courtney Cox Arquette, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ice T, Kate Moss and Rod Stewart. Noted Hollywood public relations firm PMK will collaborate with Harrison & Shriftman to conduct Motorola's celebrity outreach campaign, while Burbank's UPP Entertainment Marketing will handle placement of Motorola's products in productions. Motorola phones and pagers already have been placed in "Frasier," "Friends," "Law & Order," "Eyes Wide Shut" and "The World Is Not Enough."

* Cellular Towers 101 could be coming to a campus near you. According to published reports, Sensormatic Electronics in Boca Raton, FL, weeds out job applicants among hungry college students by assigning them to teams that must use toy pieces to build miniature cellular towers according to certain rules. One added bit of realism: After 15 minutes, the rules are changed.

The combination of increasing competition and decreasing rates likely means lower per-subscriber revenues. A recent Strategis Group study suggests that PCS average monthly service revenue per subscriber, or ARPU, will fall to nearly $34 in 2004. In 1991, ARPU was at an all-time high of $72.74.

All handsets are not created equal. The following carriers explain why the other carrier's phone just won't work on their networks.

NEXTEL Total Hold Time: 0 minutes

Transfers/IVR Layers: 2

CSR: Customer care. My name is (name). May I have your Nextel cellular number?

WR: I don't currently have service with you. I was calling to find out if I already have a phone, would it work with your service or would I have to buy a different phone?

CSR: Is it a Nextel unit?

WR: No.

CSR: OK. If it's not Nextel, you would have to purchase a unit specifically that would work with our system.

WR: Would your phone work with another carrier?

CSR: No, unfortunately it doesn't. Our phones have a unique feature on them -- they've all got a built-in 2-way radio on them. With Nextel, you do have to purchase the phones outright and then you can get the service. So maybe you are paying a little more up front because of the equipment purchase. Also Nextel is based in most major metropolitan areas. We don't have coverage yet in Iowa or Nebraska, so if you're looking for a phone you can take anywhere in the country and use, Nextel might not be the phone you want to go with. The good thing about Nextel as opposed to some other carriers is with our units, you can actually power them off in your home market and back on in another city and then use that phone just like a local phone. There's no roaming charges and the only thing you're using are the minutes on whatever particular plan you have.

US WEST Total Hold Time: 0 minutes

Transfer/IVR Layers: 5

CSR: Thank you for calling US West. This is (name). How can I help you?

WR: Would I need to use one of your phones (with your service)?

CSR: Umm ... it's gotta be a compatible phone. The ones we use are Qualcomm or Nokia.

WR: I have a Qualcomm (model number). Would that work?

CSR: Umm ... how old is that?

WR: I've had it about three or four months.

CSR: OK. Umm, yeah, cause right now the only phones that are supported from Qualcomm are the 2700, the 1960 and the 2960 -- those are the only three we are working with right now.

WR: Do you have your own phones?

CSR: We also use Nokia phones. We have those manufacturers put them together for us.

WR: Would one of those phones work with another carrier?

CSR: It might. It depends on their technology.

PRIMECO Total Hold Time: 0 minutes

Transfers/IVR Layers: 2

CSR: Hello. This is (name). How can I help you today?

WR: If I already own a phone, can I use it with your company?

CSR: Is it a PrimeCo phone?

WR: No.

CSR: OK. It has to be a PrimeCo phone because of the software.

WR: Oh. OK. So if I bought your phone, it wouldn't necessarily work if I used another company?

CSR: No, it wouldn't. The only way it would work is if that company took our software out and put their software in.

WR: So it is possible?

CSR: It's possible, but it's very expensive. You'd be better off just buying a new phone.

WR: Are there benefits to having a phone that works with only one company?

CSR: Well, every company has its own software in those phones because it has a lot to do with picking up a signal. You have to be able to pick up a certain signal in order to use your phone.

WR: So every company's signals are different?

CSR: Yes, because they're paying so much for those antennas and satellites. That's why they have to put in their software to make sure everybody else doesn't use it.

WR: Oh. I thought some phones could be used with other companies.

CSR: Umm ... no. That's why most companies put their names on the phone. That's to let you know that the phone can only be used by that company because of the software it has inside.

WR: So I can tell what company someone uses by the name on their phone?

CSR: Uh-huh. That's right.

Mystery Caller is Wireless Review's ongoing series of random calls to carriers to determine how a customer might be treated and the accuracy of distributed information.