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PTS TEAMS WITH ERICSSON TO BE COME PCS OPERATOR

Forget cellular. Personal Technology Services Inc.’s PCS business will compete with the phone company, said Colin Buckingham, PTS’ president and chief executive officer.

The company is seeking spectrum in the upcoming F-block auction for personal communications services with plans to offer full-mobility service, in buildings and on the street, using L.M. Ericsson’s SuperCordless system.

Wireless Customer Premise Equipment (WCPE) and Personal Wireless Telecommunications (PWT) are the standards names in the United States for the unlicensed and licensed, respectively, adaptation of DECT.

“The U.S. version is greatly improved over the original DECT standard,” stated Buckingham, who previously was in charge of Ericsson’s global paging business and head of the company’s product group that developed DECT. WCPE/PWT technology “always selects and hands off to the best channel,” with no degradation preceding the handoff, he added.

The U.S. market is primed for PTS to offer its PCS service as a wireline replacement, said Buckingham. “The combination of deregulation and PCS licensing is quite unique to the United States, where the operators have a choice of technology.” Too, that WCPE/PWT provides an alternative to the “last mile” of copper allows PTS and others to sidestep the market stronghold local Bell phone companies currently have. Further, PTS’ SuperCordless system can offer rates competitive with local phone service, said Buckingham. He said SuperCordless can be deployed quickly-within two or three days in a hotel-and inexpensively. As such, the payback is fairly immediate.

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To provide true one-number mobile service, users must be able to use their handsets around town and indoors, particularly at work, said Buckingham. People use a cordless phone at home, and cellular on the street, but “how often do you see cordless phones in the office?” said Buckingham. “That’s where a lot of phone calls are being made.

“There hasn’t been a technology around to handle that environment*…*Cellular is not designed for in-building with a wireline replacement strategy,” continued Buckingham. In a crowded building, cellular has a capacity problem due to the high-volume of calls, he added. In contrast, WCPE/PWT’s low power and high frequency reuse avoids such capacity problems.

PTS hopes to gain 10-megahertz licenses in markets totaling at least 20 million potential customers. But the F-block is only the first step. The company intends to become a regional service provider, and Buckingham expects the WCPE/PWT technology will be embraced by carriers nationwide over the next several years. Ten years from now, no more new wired private branch exchange systems will be built in the United States, he predicted.

Ericsson currently is PTS’ only vendor, and plans to help finance the network, said Buckingham. PTS is looking for additional vendors for base stations and handsets, as well as additional financing.

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