In Other News ...

* Bell Atlantic Mobile (BAM) donated car cards to be displayed in Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority subway trains as part of its ongoing awareness campaign to help prevent domestic violence. The cards sport the same design as the thousands of posters BAM previously distributed throughout its own offices and to all state agencies including Employers Against Domestic Violence and 32 domestic violence programs in Massachusetts.

* The FCC has exempted wireless carriers from the stricter portions of its newly adopted truth-in-billing ruling for common carriers. Only three of the FCC rules will apply to wireless carriers: to provide the name of the company offering the service in the bill, to provide a toll-free number for customers to reach the service providers and to describe federal requirements such as the Universal Service Fund charge.

* Unwired Planet has donned a new moniker -- Phone.com. A Phone.com official said the company changed its name to complement its "unique" position in the newly merging wireless and Internet marketplace.

Wireless Review's ongoing series of random calls to carriers determines how a customer might be treated.

SPRINT PCSTotal Hold Time: 1 minute

Transfers: 0

Wireless Review: What is the difference between analog and digital?

CSR: Better clarity. Sounds pretty much like you are talking from your home phone.

WR: Is that the only difference?

CSR: It is a secure way to have a phone. You don't have to worry about the cloning, the dropped calls as much. You know how sometimes analog phones will incorporate two different phone conversations at the same time? Somebody else may be on the same signal, like cordless phones do? That exact same thing.

WR: What is the difference between PCS and cellular?

CSR: PCS is just a name. It is just personal communications service. That is all it really stands for. There is digital and analog. That is all there is out there.

WR: What is a personal communications service, then?

CSR: Digital. It is personal. It is like carrying a phone. Consider that personal. You can take it with you.

WR: Couldn't you do that with analog?

CSR: Understand that when you see Sprint PCS, that is just a name. There is nothing that has to do with it. There are digital phones and there are analog phones. There is not "and PCS." It is just digital and analog. We just call it Sprint PCS for personal communications service. That is just what we are trying to offer is personal communications services.

WR: Some carriers I have talked to said they have PCS, they don't have cellular, and others say they have PCS and not cellular.

CSR: No, it is just personal communications service. It is pretty much just a name. One is digital, one is analog. That's all it is.

CELLULAR ONETotal Hold Time: 0 seconds

Transfers: 0

WR: What is the difference between analog and digital?

CSR: Well, there is a lot. Digital is the newer technology, so your sound and your clarity are much better. The digital phone batteries last much longer than your analog phone. And it is going to give you all the extra features. It would include free voice mail, caller ID, call waiting, 3-way calling. When people call you, you get your first incoming minute free. So you get a lot of the extra features.

WR: So what is the difference between cellular and PCS?

CSR: Same type of deal. Analog to digital and cellular to PCS.

WR: So cellular is analog and PCS is digital?

CSR: Yeah. Pretty much.

WR: Pretty much?

CSR: Mmm hmm.

WR: So are you a cellular carrier or a PCS carrier?

CSR: We are a cellular and a digital. The difference between digital and PCS essentially is that they are just using different frequencies on a radio, like 93.3 and 107.3. Just different frequencies.

ALLTELTotal Hold Time: 0 seconds

Transfers: 0

WR: What is the difference between analog and digital?

CSR: Analog pretty much runs off of radio waves, and digital signals, how can I put this? It is a little more secure. It is easy to clone numbers off of analog systems; the digital system runs more off of computer bytes and is clearer, harder to clone. It is just a more advanced system.

WR: What is the difference between PCS and cellular?

CSR: PCS is the same thing as digital.

WR: So you are a PCS carrier then?

CSR: In some areas. There are several areas where we are analog.