Highlighting its major stake in the in-building arena, SpectraSite Inc. is making an unusual move for a tower company, directly marketing its infrastructure to the consumer.
The company’s “Talk On” marketing campaign will alert wireless users in certain shopping malls and casinos that they have been “wired for wireless” by SpectraSite and names which service providers offer wireless service in that facility. SpectraSite’s “Talk On: Wireless works here” logo will appear in numerous locations in the malls and casinos, including at entrance ways and in internal and external mall or casino advertisements, such as kiosk displays and local newspaper ads.
As part of the campaign launch, SpectraSite offers suggestions on how malls can take advantage of promoting indoor wireless coverage. The company suggests, for example, holding an “AT&T Wireless Day at the Mall” in which the carrier could hold demonstrations and offer promotions touting its in-building wireless service. Such an event would drive mall traffic, carrier customer sign ups and usage on the in-building network.
SpectraSite provides in-building wireless service in nine casinos and nine malls and plans to finish networks in three more casinos and 11 more malls by the end of this quarter. “The sheer volume of what we actually have up and running” distinguishes SpectraSite form other in-building network providers, said Noreen Allen, SpectraSite’s vice president of marketing.
In addition, SpectraSite has rights to provide in-building coverage in 225 multi-tenant office buildings, 10 Park Place casino properties and more than 300 shopping malls. The casinos the company has already enabled include the MGM Mirage businesses in Las Vegas, which host Verizon Wireless, Nextel Communications Inc., Sprint PCS and AT&T Wireless Services Inc., with Cingular Wireless L.L.C. soon to be added.
SpectraSite’s shared infrastructure systems allow carriers to simply plug their base station equipment into the in-building system SpectraSite has already built and owns, manages and maintains. Allen notes that in addition to the obvious benefits of offering in-building coverage to subscribers, an in-building network can help “free up space” on carrier macro-networks, especially since large malls are commonly located along major thoroughfares.
