Cook Inlet Region Inc. will roll out personal communications services this week in Tulsa, Okla.,-just the second C-block player to launch commercial PCS operations. Airadigm Communications Inc., another C-block licensee, launched its PCS service in March in Appleton, Wis.
Cook Inlet, an Alaskan Native American corporation based in Anchorage, is teaming with Western Wireless Corp. in the venture. Western Wireless has been working with Cook for about two years and will be a limited partner in the Oklahoma operation.
“We’re going to launch June 5 in the greater Tulsa area and will market under the name VoiceStream,” said Jim Healy, Cook general manager.
Western Wireless also markets its services under the VoiceStream name in a number of areas including the Oklahoma City market.
Cook has successfully trialed its new system and “at some level,” Healy said, “service in the Tulsa area has already been operational for about 60 days.”
Cook will employ Global System for Mobile communications technology. Healy believes GSM is “the most secure wireless voice communication that end users can buy today.”
Healy does not plan to disclose pricing plans until the launch. “We certainly have plenty of competitors in the area,” he said. “On the PCS side, both Southwest Bell and Sprint (PCS) are active. And there are a number of existing cellular competitors, too. It’s an extremely competitive market, no question about it.”
Cook plans to offer a variety of options in addition to its basic service. “Part of our plan was to incorporate data transmission technology as an integral part of the design,” Healy said. “I believe GSM data is the first truly reliable circuit switch system in existence.”
Cook’s GSM system transmits at 9.6 kilobits. “GSM data will be faster in the future,” Healy predicts, “both because individual channel speed will be increased and because GSM is designed to put together multiple time slots for people who need more speed.
“Especially in the data transmission world, although wireless is not your first choice,” Healy added, “there are circumstances in which wired alternatives just won’t work and that’s the niche that wireless needs to fill.”
Eventually, according to Healy, Cook plans to use a number of handsets, but initially will go with equipment manufactured by Nokia Corp. and others, employing switching equipment manufactured by Northern Telecom Inc.
Cook’s marketing plans, Healy explained, will be a “mix of retail, direct and indirect marketing. We plan to have a number of our sales people dealing directly with end users, especially at the corporate level.
“We’ll draw on Western Wireless’s experience any way we can to bring the service to new markets,” Healy added. “Our plans are to continue to build and expand on the base we have already established.”
