Armed with about 4,000 users on its digital specialized mobile radio system, the Southern Co. is marketing its services to businesses in the southeastern United States, going head-to-head with the nation’s largest SMR operator, Nextel Communications Inc.
Southern is the parent corporation for five utility businesses. Now Southern is offering its communications network-initially built so utility workers could communicate across state borders-to business users.
“Utilities historically have had sophisticated technology and some of the most demanding users that exist,” said Jimmy Miller, general manager of engineering and operations at Southern Communications Services Inc., the division that operates the SMR network. “We’ve built that system for them, and we feel that’s a strength for us.”
The service was designed to be used primarily by utility workers in Southern’s five operating companies-Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Gulf Power (Florida Panhandle), Mississippi Power and Savannah Electric.
Southern LINC operates at 800 MHz and uses Motorola Inc.’s integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network technology. The service offers a single handset that provides two-way dispatch, voice, short text, numeric messaging and wireless data.
The Southern LINC system costs about $182 million to build, an amount which won’t be added to the power customer’s bill because excess capacity is being offered commercially, Southern said. The five utilities buy the service at cost and currently comprise the bulk of customers. But Southern is working on marketing schemes to sell the service to area businesses.
State and federal laws prevent the utilities from bundling the SMR service with utility service or promoting the service in utility bill stuffers, Miller said.
Southern will compete for customers with Nextel, which also uses iDEN technology. Through its merger with Dial Call Communications Inc. late last month, Nextel gained SMR operations in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina, with about 10,500 digital customers at year-end 1995. Nextel continues to use the Dial Call brand name in those areas.
Southern said it has a brand as well.
“In this market, the network was built by a solid, popular corporation with engineering criteria second to none,” Miller said.
Southern and Nextel will go face-to-face in Birmingham, Ala., and Atlanta. Chadmoore Wireless Group also has announced it intends to deploy an iDEN SMR network in Birmingham.
“There’s plenty of room in the market for Southern,” said Nextel’s Paul Blalock, executive director of investor relations. “We think they are positioned a little differently, focused on a different part of the southeast.” Nextel’s emphasis is covering the southeast highway corridor; Southern’s network covers expansive rural areas, he said.
Southern has constructed 270 of the 300 sites it needs, using utility expertise in tower construction. The company is exploring the option of offering some sites to other wireless providers for colocation.
The move to create a comprehensive radio system for Southern’s utilities began several years ago. “The five (utilities) had five different radio systems. Some had UHF and another VHF, but nothing wide area and no way to talk to each other,” Miller said.
