GREENVILLE, S.C.-PCS Development Corp. announced it has purchased infrastructure equipment from Motorola Inc. and Glenayre Technologies Inc. to construct a prototype advanced messaging system in Atlanta and Boston.
“The purchase of this advanced equipment enables PCSD to immediately begin building beta systems that will provide messaging coverage of Atlanta and Boston,” said Jerry Leonard, senior vice president of engineering and network operations at PCSD. “During the next several months, we expect to conduct the first tests of our mobile voice messaging technology in `real world’ settings in these two cities. This is a major step toward building a nationwide system by 1997.”
PCSD said the beta networks will rely on Motorola’s InFLEXion technology, a high-speed wireless voice and data transport protocol for nationwide, regional and local messaging.
Mobile voice messaging will be the first service PCSD will test using Motorola’s Tenor voice pagers, which function much like portable answering machines, PCSD said.
“We have designed the PCSD network to provide the end user with exceptional reliability,” said Leonard. “Because the subscriber’s handheld unit will transmit a low-power signal to the network to identify its location, the network will be able to re-route messages until they are received.”
The Atlanta and Boston beta tests are expected to be completed in the first half of 1996 with commercial service launched in 1997.
