ATLANTA-GTE Mobilnet Inc. switched 250 cellular customers in Austin, Texas, from its analog network to a trial network using Code Division Multiple Access technology.
GTE said it intends to gather customer response on voice quality and special features, such as caller identification and numeric messaging. The test also will indicate the “operational readiness” of CDMA for network deployment, GTE said.
The Atlanta-based company intends to launch CDMA service in its San Jose, Calif., cellular market later this year, with other CDMA deployments scheduled for early 1997.
Austin customers are using 13-kilobit-per-second voice processing technology.
GTE Mobilnet is a wholly owned subsidiary of GTE Corp. Mobilnet reports having more than 2 million cellular subscribers throughout the United States.
GTE also holds personal communications services licenses for the major trading areas of Cincinnati-Dayton, Spokane, Wash./ Billings, Mont., and Seattle. It intends to deploy CDMA technology in those markets as well, with service scheduled to be launched in 1997.
“GTE believes CDMA is the digital standard that will ultimately best support our customers with future wireless applications,” said Ron Grawert, executive vice president of operations for GTE’s wireless business.
