WASHINGTON-The Personal Communications Industry Association voted to combine its membership with the National Association of Business and Educational Radio, formally completing months of negotiations between the groups.
The new organization will be known as the Personal Communications Industry Association. E.B. “Jay” Kitchen was named president and chief executive officer, while John Chapple of McCaw Cellular Communications Inc. will be chairman of the board.
The governing structure of the new group will allow key interests groups to maintain autonomy, PCIA said, while at the same time build unity through consensus. Each unit will be governed by its own council and able to establish positions and policies. PCIA’s seven units are paging and narrowband personal communications services, broadband PCS, specialized mobile radio, wireless systems integrators, users, technicians, and site owners and managers.
“Our members overwhelmingly approved the decision to move forward with the merger, believing as I do that by combining the respective strengths of PCIA and NABER we are creating a regulatory and legislative force for the entire wireless industry,” said Chapple.
The associations decided to merge because most paging operators will be regulated the same as a result of recent government rulings. NABER represents land mobile and two-way radio operators, while PCIA represents paging and PCS operators.
