Noting the Federal Communications Commission recently ended state regulation of cellular service rates in California, AirTouch Cellular Communications Inc. announced lower prices and new service plans in its Los Angeles market. The carrier reduced the price of its After Hours Plan to around $30 per month compared with a previous price of about $35 per month. AirTouch also announced several new service plans, including a program that offers a 50 percent airtime use discount to customers who call or receive direct calls from another AirTouch mobile phone. That offer runs through Nov. 10.
Motorola Inc.’s Advanced Messaging Systems Division has signed an agreement with Ameritech Cellular Services for engineering studies and tests of Motorola’s ReFLEX 25 two-way paging system. Ameritech Corp. holds a license to operate narrowband personal communications services in the Midwest. Ameritech also will evaluate Motorola’s paging infrastructure equipment, controllers, linear transmitters and terminals for use on Ameritech’s narrowband PCS system. ReFLEX 25 is a member of Motorola’s FLEX high-speed transport protocols. Hoffman, Ill.-based Ameritech claims 1.6 million cellular customers and 700,000 paging customers.
Nokia Telecommunications Inc. and Northern Telecom Ltd. said they verified interoperability between Nortel’s DMS mobile switching center and Nokia’s PCS 1900 Global System for Mobile communications base station system. Voice, data, short messaging and fax were included in testing. “PCS providers want the flexibility to obtain radio and switching elements from multiple suppliers and the assurance that the resulting network will indeed work,” commented Dave Twyver, president Nortel Wireless Networks. “PCS 1900 provides that flexibility. These tests prove it.”
In its first expansion into New York, PriCellular Corp. said it plans to acquire New York rural service area 5 from Cellular One of Upstate New York Inc. PriCellular said it will pay $65.9 million for the license, which includes the counties of Ulster, Sullivan, Schoharie, Delaware and Otsego. The area includes 112 interstate highway miles and is less than 10 miles from the northern border of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc.’s New York City metropolitan statistical area. A publicly traded company, PriCellular lists the Price family, McCaw, Harvard Private Capital Group and Spectrum Equity Investors L.P. as principal stockholders.
Dial Call Communications Inc., a subsidiary of Dial Page Inc., received the necessary consents with respect to its senior discount notes due 2004 and 2005 for Dial Page to complete its merger with Nextel Communications Inc. Holders of the Dial Call senior redeemable discount notes due 2004 approved proposed waivers and amendments to the indenture governing those Notes, Dial Call said. The company also entered into a supplemental indenture with the Bank of New York as a trustee. Dial Call has received consents from holders of 99 percent of the outstanding principal amount of notes.
