Cable & Wireless Inc. has signed a cellular resale agreement with Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile, one of the first steps in introducing its own branded wireless service package into the United States.
CWI said it initially will offer its Business First Cellular service this fall in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
The company, a subsidiary of the international telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless plc, said it is already an established long-distance service provider to more than 100,000 business customers in the nation. It reported $736 million in revenues for its most recent fiscal year, ended March 31, and has some 2,500 U.S.-based employees.
“As CWI becomes a cellular provider, customer care and billing will be our strategic imperatives, providing us with a competitive edge in the fight for differentiation,” according to Gabe Battista, the company’s president and chief executive officer.
“CWI’s cellular service, featuring industry-leading billing solutions and dedicated customer satisfaction and support, provides businesses an array of options that help them stay connected to their office, their employees and to their customers,” he said.
A spokesperson said the company already has 46 sales offices nationwide providing long-distance and paging services as well as local service in some areas.
Cable & Wireless cut a deal to resell paging and messaging services from MobileComm, a subsidiary of MobileMedia Corp., last April.
CWI’s Business First Paging service went nationwide in June.
The company focuses on mid-sized business customers with between $1,000 and $2,500 per month in telecommunications bills.
“Our approach is to get the customers, then build the service to meet their needs, which is something different in this industry,” according to a Cable & Wireless spokeswoman. “Our entire company is dedicated to business users. We go in with a consultative approach and focus on what they want.”
Earlier, Cable & Wireless attempted to enter the U.S. wireless arena by partnering with North American Wireless Inc., the all-but-defunct network services provider for emerging C-block personal communications services operators. CWI reportedly planned to contribute its long-distance telecommunications muscle to NAWI’s package of turnkey services.
But both C-block PCS carriers and NAWI itself have had a rocky road in getting started. (RCR, July 22, p.1)
“We decided the delays in the PCS auctions would hold us back. We really wanted to take a faster approach to this market and resale was a quicker solution for us,” the CWI spokeswoman said.
The company plans to resell service from both cellular and PCS carriers.
