SkyTel, an MCI WorldCom company, announced it will add new paging protocol technology to its network to make it compatible with the next generation of ReFLEX two-way pagers.
Today, two-way and assured messaging paging devices have either ReFLEX 50 or ReFLEX 25 software installed, and can only function on networks of the same technology. SkyTel is the only paging carrier with a ReFLEX 50 network. Paging Network Inc. and WebLink Wireless Inc. both operate two-way paging networks based on ReFLEX 25.
SkyTel’s network upgrade essentially combines vestiges of its ReFLEX 50 two-way network with ReFLEX 25 technology, eliminating the incompatibility of the two for the future.
Once SkyTel’s network is upgraded, and once the next generation of ReFLEX devices come out, all ReFLEX devices will be able to work on all ReFLEX networks, eliminating the need to distinguish between ReFLEX 25 and ReFLEX 50. This will allow for cross-network roaming among ReFLEX paging carriers, similar to the roaming abilities of cellular networks.
“It’s a leveling of the playing field,” said Bruce Deer, SkyTel’s chief technical officer. “It allows us to not only get economies of scale from the manufacturers, but also to share the engineering focus on one product. In other words, economies of scale on both price and features.”
Existing ReFLEX 50 devices will continue to function on the upgraded network, Deer said, but current ReFLEX 25 pagers will not. Only the next generation of ReFLEX pagers will be able to work on both networks.
He said he expects the upgrade will be completed by the fourth quarter, in advance of the availability of next-generation ReFLEX pagers.
