On-Line

Don't Lose 'Em, Even if You Don't Use 'Em Do your wireless packages force your customers, in a nice way of course, to use all of their allotted minutes, or else? What if someone were suffering from laryngitis and couldn't use the phone? No problem. BellSouth Mobility DCS has initiated a new rollover program where subscribers can roll over the minutes they don't use during the current month. The program is good for one year.

The new campaign is not a quick fix or a short-term promotion, according to Joe DePreta, BellSouth director of strategic planning.

"Our goal is to offer customers value for the long term," DePreta said. "Traditional wireless plans penalize consumers for not using their minutes, while the new DCS plan provides customers the flexibility and the freedom to use package minutes at their discretion. By marketing for the long term, we will build customer loyalty exponentially."

Customers can switch to the new plan by paying a $25 fee. As a bonus, DCS customers receive the first incoming minute free.

McCain Drafts Legislation for 911 Service and Site Spats U.S. Senator John McCain has collected kudos from CTIA for drafting legislation to provide a uniform emergency number (911), including provisions for resolving siting issues. McCain, chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said the legislation will ensure that wireless carriers can install transmitting antennas that will encourage ubiquitous wireless service in the United States.

PCS Report Card Issued J.D. Power and Associates has earned its livelihood by conducting market surveys for years. Recently the firm encountered a phenomenon that demanded evaluation -- PCS companies. It examined the impact of PCS on wireless competition in 18 markets throughout the United States, including Charlotte, NC; San Diego; and Washington/Baltimore, MD.

A few of the main points of the survey that may prove beneficial to carriers include:

* PCS carriers experience more customer satisfaction than traditional cellular carriers. Call quality, corporate image/credibility and flexible pricing plans are the key strengths noted by customers.

* 25% of wireless consumers have expressed an inclination to change carriers. This is due to increased competition, technology choices and new product introductions.

* PCS companies stimulate the demand for wireless services, capture one-third of new wireless customers, drive prices down by as much as 20% and gain market share in shorter time.

The survey suggested that the need for wireless service is growing, with no slow-down seen in the near future.

"Over one-third of United States households subscribe to a wireless service, and that is expected to increase 40% within the next year," said Peter Dresch, J.D. Power director of telecommunications market analysis. "New entrants utilizing the latest technology and employing aggressive pricing strategies are likely to capture a more substantial portion of the wireless market."

Calling Party Pays on Trial AT&T Wireless has announced plans to test and implement a "caller pays" option for its wireless customers across the United States. The company's goal is to create a seamless calling party pays (CPP) service, which would allow cellular customers to leave their phones on to accept incoming calls without having to worry about being charged for unwanted incoming calls.

The CPP trial is part of a new modus operandi at AT&T -- to increase the flexibility and customer appeal of using wireless phones for all communications.

Fourth-quarter earnings proved to be substantial, and Chairman C. Michael Armstrong plans to step up the carrier's quest to achieve a competitive cost position while investing for growth.

"We plan on building a new generation of universal communications services -- over any distance, in all forms, to any place or person," Armstrong said.

AT&T also has announced an agreement with Telecorp to build and operate a TDMA network in several markets across the United States. Upon its completion, more than 11 million people in Telecorp's licensed areas will have access to AT&T's digital network. Subscribers will be able to roam on the two systems under a 20-year agreement.

In 1997, AT&T launched similar ventures with Triton PCS for a network across North Carolina; Savannah, GA; Virginia and sections of the Washington-Baltimore area. In December 1997, AT&T announced an agreement with Dobson to cover parts of Arizona, California, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas.

The Walls Came Tumbling Down ALLTEL has created a way for customers to look at and purchase high-tech wireless equipment -- by making the retail outlet itself high-tech. ALLTEL's new stores eliminate physical barriers between sales representatives and customers and feature separate stations for various products.

Other highlights include recessed sales terminals and wall displays with new products.

Flexibility and customer ease was the goal when outfitting the new stores, according to the company.

"Everything today is about being user-friendly and how to accomplish goals with ease," said David Stafford, ALLTEL vice president and general manager of the company's mid-south market."We searched for ways to implement the main concerns of our customers. We wanted to offer on-site support and provide any technical services we possibly could."

ALLTEL currently has three stores that feature the new design. All future ALLTEL PCS stores will be outfitted in the same format.

In other news... AT&T Wireless Services said its joint venture in Taiwan, Far EasTone Telecommunications, has launched its dual-band wireless communication service, which was designed and constructed to operate as an integrated GSM 900MHz and GSM 1,800MHz frequency band network, according to AT&T. Service will be marketed under a co-brand of AT&T and Far EasTone.

CIENA has acquired ATI Telecom, a Canadian corporation with headquarters in Norcross, GA, for approximately $52.5 million. CIENA expects the transaction will have a positive effect on its revenue during 1998.

ReadyCom will build a portable, 2-way, voice-mail product called the Responder. The Responder will be available this summer through various licensed carriers. Maxon America will build the pager-size device, which receives and stores voice messages sent over a cellular network. ReadyCom's proprietary network was designed to enable carriers to offer 2-way voice-messaging services over frequency reuse systems such as cellular, E-SMR and PCS.

Dobson Communications will build digital wireless networks in 12 cities in three states, spending $80 million to have Lucent employ its digital wireless platform.

CTIA has certified Noise Com's integrated CDMA test equipment. The certification program is held in conjunction with the CDG.

GTE Wireless has introduced CDMA digital wireless technology to Dayton, OH. The greater Cincinnati market was the first market for the GTE's new digital PCS technology.

On the Move Tectonic Engineering Consultants has opened a new office at 145 Mount Vernon Ave., Mount Vernon, NY 10550. Telephone 914-663-8688; fax 914-663-8662.

V-COMM has opened a new office at 8 Cedar Brook Drive, Cranbury, NJ 08512. Telephone 609-655-1200; fax 609-409-1927.

Mark Your Calendar March 17 - 20 Engineering the Telecommunications System; presented by the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Engineering; Madison, WI. For information, call 800-462-0876.

March 25 - 26 Location Technology; presented by ICM; Chicago. For information, call 312-540-3010.

April 27 - 28 Caribbean Telecommunications '98; presented by Cable & Wireless; Montego Bay, Jamaica. For information, call 212-952-1899.

April 30 - May 1 The New Wireless Reality; presented by Alexander Resources; San Francisco. For information, call 972-818-8225.

With the three standards groups slugging it out, it is becoming difficult to foresee which standard will withstand the trials and emerge as the third-generation (3G) ideal.

With urging from telecommunications leaders, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) recently declared a single air interf ace solution to serve as the standard for the approaching millenium. The Universal Mobile Telecommunication Service (UMTS) will be based on both wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) radio access technology and TD/CDMA.

The decision was made based on a proposal by nine of the world's leaders in telecommunications manufacturing -- Alcatel, Bosch, Ericsson, Italtel, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel, Siemens and Sony.

The combination, according to Nokia, will provide a comprehensive solution for both wide-area and low-mobility indoor applications.

In a joint statement, the companies said, "This is the first step toward achieving a worldwide standard for the next millenium, and we believe that our combined solution will facilitate a superior UMTS technology that will drive the timely development of equipment and applications for the benefit of mobile network operators and end users worldwide."

The seemingly streamlined process is not without its detractors, who believe the evolvement into one standard is impossible in today's fast-moving, ubiquitous world.

"I don't know why there has to be a choice," said Mike Buhrmann, Universal Wireless Communications Consortium (UWCC) president. "I feel there will be a number of standards, which will be beneficial. Carriers will be able to differentiate themselves. Rather than looking at it like a choice between Beta or VHS, I prefer the analogy of a big car lot, with lots of different cars and models to choose from -- something for everybody."

Chris Pearson, also with UWCC, agreed with Buhrmann. Pearson said it was "silly" for anyone to think there will be only one or two standards in 3G technology this early in the game.

"It is really early to be thinking about imposing 3G standards," Pearson said. "Right now, carriers are worried about how their third and fourth quarters are shaping up, not worrying about what is going to happen a few years from now."

Another key concept of the standards struggle is the phrase used so much it borders on cliche -- the bottom line. And the bottom line in this case is what the marketplace wants and how much it will cost.

"People don't really care if the technology is TDMA, CDMA or GSM," Buhrmann said. "They are more worried about getting the best value for their money, and when they are in Japan, can they talk easily to the United States."

Buhrmann also stressed deregulation and its effects, noting that standards are purely voluntary.

A boost for the ETSI decision is the Asian market, which has taken dramatic swings during the latter part of 1997 and into 1998. Asia is divided between GSM and CDMA second-generation standards, but many of the Asian GSM network operators voiced support for the W-CDMA platform, with European groups pushing for the split standard, creating a compromise between the two. Perry Laforge, CDMA Development Group executive director, said he believes the decision was the first step on a long road.

"We still need lots of details," Laforge said, "But the decision was gratifying from our standpoint. Trials have proved the CDMA interface will work on a GSM core. But there is a lot more work ahead. If a certain standard is locked out, we will see two global standards with a Family of Systems Concept (FSC)."

FSC will weigh heavily on 3G standards because it will allow users to enact global roaming with whatever handset they are using.