The wireless arms of the regional Bell operating companies are riding a new wave of revenue by offering long-distance service to their cellular customers.
Until the Telecommunications Act was passed in February, RBOC wireless companies could not deliver calling services across LATAs. By law, interLATA calls were handed off to a long-distance carrier and billed to customers by that long-distance carrier, explained Lisa Bowersock, spokeswoman for the markets owned by U S West NewVector Group, now branded AirTouch Cellular. Also, RBOC wireless companies had to provide their customers equal access to all long-distance providers available in their markets.
Today, all RBOC wireless carriers are offering customers their own brand of long-distance service, but continue to offer equal access to whichever long-distance provider the customer chooses.
For wireless customers, choosing the RBOC for long distance means receiving only one bill for mobile calls and in some instances saving money on long-distance charges.
Ameritech Cellular Service is the only RBOC cellular provider offering its own long-distance network and service, switches, software and all. Margaret Densley, spokeswoman for the company’s long-distance unit, said the network serves a five-state region. Calls originated in but received outside of the region are terminated by WorldCom Inc., the nation’s fourth largest long-distance carrier, said Densley. Ameritech Cellular’s long distance is priced at a flat rate, which varies by call package, and saves customers between 23 percent and 33 percent over other long-distance rates, Densley added.
Most other cellular carriers offering long-distance services reported reselling another provider’s services under their own name.
The U S West cellular markets that offer their own brand of long-distance to wireless customers include Washington state and Arizona, where calls are billed at a flat rate of 20 cents per minute peak and 12 cents per minute off-peak, Bowersock stated.
Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile is reselling three different companies’ long-distance services across the nation, said company spokesman Jim Gerace. Bell Atlantic Nynex buys wholesale and sells retail at a smaller margin, which costs customers less than other long-distance services, he said.
About 95 percent of Bell Atlantic Nynex’s new wireless customers are choosing the company’s long-distance service, Gerace noted.
BellSouth Cellular’s new customers automatically receive BellSouth Cellular Long Distance, but have the option to change providers later, said spokeswoman Nicole Lipson.
“The one-bill option” is the most important aspect in offering customers long distance, said Lipson. BellSouth’s long-distance service is priced competitively. The company is using bill inserts and telemarketing to market long-distance service to customers who signed up for cellular service before February.
Holly Anderson, a spokeswoman for Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems and its Cellular One subsidiaries in Illinois and the East Coast, said their customers “always have a choice of carriers, but we stress the benefits of one-stop shopping*…*bundling long-distance with local calling services.” Customers are billed for long-distance at a flat rate, which varies market by market. Anderson added Southwestern Bell Mobile’s long-distance service is only the first step in a long-term plan to offer current customers all telecommunications services. A few other carriers indicated similar plans.
3601/82/37/8 Communications Co., Sprint Corp.’s cellular spinoff, currently is in trials marketing residential wireline long-distance service to its wireless customers, said spokesman Sal Cinquegrani.
It is no surprise that 3601/82/37/8 Communications and Sprint Spectrum L.P., a personal communications services joint venture of Sprint and three cable companies, offer wireless customers Sprint’s long-distance service. Neither was previously bound by the equal access provisions that RBOCs were.
Sprint Spectrum’s PCS customers are provided Sprint long-distance service automatically, as part of a complete package, but have the option to chose another long-distance carrier, said spokesman Ed Mattix.
AirTouch Cellular spokeswoman Amy Damianakes said more than 80 percent of the company’s wireless customers chose its long-distance service, which is offered at a discount from what other long-distance providers charge. The company started delivering long-distance service shortly after it spun off from Pacific Telesis Group.
While U S West’s cellular properties are marketed as AirTouch Cellular, the merger of companies is pending.
