Since the narrowband personal communications services licenses were awarded nearly two-and-a-half years ago, many companies have pushed ahead with plans to offer commercial service. Yet others seem to be creeping slowly, biding their time by determining market position or waiting for commercial grade equipment.
The troubles experienced by SkyTel Corp. about a year ago with its two-way network have been resolved. The company has added 36,700 subscribers to its ReFLEX 50 system it launched in September 1995, said spokesman Johnny Hales.
The company has directed its sales focus to the new SkyWriter service, which is marketed in conjunction with Wireless Access Inc.’s AccessLink pocket-sized device. AccessLink allows users to exchange messages in near real-time and via Internet e-mail, create custom messages and responses using an on-screen keyboard or send preprogrammed messages.
SkyTel recently introduced its one-way product SkyWord Plus, its guaranteed message delivery service, on the ReFLEX 50 system. The company said following customer satisfaction trials in Chicago, New York, Dallas and Atlanta, more than 70 percent of participants signed up or switched to SkyWord Plus. In addition, 2,000 units were pre-sold after the company launched a series of teaser advertisements. SkyTel holds two nationwide licenses, including a pioneer’s preference license.
The SkyWord Plus service is available beginning at $25 per month, SkyTel said. Customers purchasing the SkyWord pager for $150 receive an incentive package including an activation fee waiver, coupons for free basic service during the 12th and 24th months of their subscriptions and a two-year product warranty from Motorola Inc.
Paging Network Inc., which holds three nationwide NPCS licenses, was the first to launch voice paging service in February using Motorola’s InFLEXion protocol in Dallas. Since then, it has introduced VoiceNow service in northern California, Nevada and Georgia. Within the next few months, PageNet expects to provide service in Chicago, Miami and Los Angeles and in 30 markets by the end of the year.
Scott Baradell, spokesman for PageNet, said about 80 percent of potential customers inquiring about the product are not paging users. The company lowered its pricing structure at the end of March in Dallas to test a variety of pricing alternatives, said the company. PageNet is offering three local packages for $10, $15 and $20 per month, which include the lease of the pager and 50, 100 and 200 messages, respectively.
Trailing closely behind PageNet is Conxus Communications Inc., which plans to roll out its InFLEXion voice paging service, Pocketalk, by Sept. 1. Conxus must wait for the exclusive agreement between Motorola and PageNet to expire. The agreement bars Motorola from providing InFLEXion hardware to any other carrier for six months. Conxus, which owns five regional licenses and is 10 percent owned by Arch Communications Group Inc., said it has been installing equipment in several of its markets and is beta testing in Atlanta and Boston.
PageMart Wireless Inc. is pushing forward with ReFLEX 25, but is waiting for commercial grade equipment, said Wayne Stargardt, vice president of PCS business development. PageMart expects to launch service by the end of the year in Dallas and Austin, Texas. The company has finished testing its Motorola equipment in Dallas and is currently testing the service in Austin with Glenayre Technologies Inc. equipment.
PageMart said it plans to kick off its ReFLEX service with an exclusive feature. The company’s proprietary Enhanced Services Platform paging terminal will allow ReFLEX users to interconnect with a variety of sources, including the Internet, corporate intranets, specialized databases, news services and other information feeds, said the company. Users can preprogram different canned responses for every unit and responses can be changed over the air.
PageMart said InFLEXion technology is still on hold as the company is studying PageNet’s success in the marketplace.
Benbow PCS Ventures Inc.-owned 51.1 percent by June Walsh, owner of Cal Autofone in San Diego, and 49.9 percent by Arch-is beta testing InFLEXion in San Diego. Walsh said the company also will test ReFLEX 25 in San Diego once the software becomes available. Benbow holds two regional licenses.
After experiencing continual poor financial results for the first quarter, Minneapolis-based American Paging Inc. announced it will halt spending on NPCS to focus on its core business. The company owns five regional NPCS licenses and was leaning toward the ReFLEX 25 protocol. American Paging also is a joint venture partner in American Messaging Systems Inc. with Israel-based Nexus Telecommunications Systems Ltd.
AMS announced in January that it was entering into the two-way market with an alternative to ReFLEX, Nexus’ spread spectrum, frequency-hopping technology. The technology is being used as an add-on return channel to existing one-way paging networks.
Ameritech Cellular Services, which owns one regional license in the Midwest, said it plans to launch NPCS by the end of 1997 using ReFLEX 25 technology.
AirTouch Paging said it will beta test ReFLEX 25 with Motorola and Glenayre this year in Dallas and plans to resell SkyTel’s 2-way service. Commercial service likely will not begin this year.
AT&T Wireless Services Inc. spokesman Ken Woo said the company is still reviewing its systems plan for its two nationwide licenses. The company pulled the plug on the personal Air Communications Technology advanced paging protocol in March, saying its decision was a financial one. AT&T Wireless was the only carrier with stated plans to deploy pACT-based services.
