Powertel, a wholly owned subsidiary of InterCel Inc., launched its personal communications services network in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and plans to launch service by Oct. 30 in Memphis, Tenn. PCS service began in Montgomery, Ala., and Jacksonville Fla., earlier this month, the company said. Several other metropolitan areas are being drive-tested for voice quality and transmission coverage, Powertel said. “Our aggressive testing allows us to meet shareholder expectations, to have our [markets] up and running on time,” said Allen E. Smith, president and chief executive officer of Intercel.
MCI Communications Corp. added five Ohio markets-Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Toledo and Mansfield-to its wireless network. The company is offering business and residential customers free domestic cellular long distance calling from their home coverage area for a limited time. MCI said customers will not be charged roaming rates in any of these five markets because it has expanded its Ohio home calling areas across the entire region. “Our customers have told us that they like the concept of consolidating all communications usage to one account, regardless of the kind of services they utilize,” said Whitey Bluestein, vice president of wireless strategy and development for the company.
Audiovox Corp. announced it has created a new wholly owned subsidiary from its former cellular division. The new company, Audiovox Communications Corp., will focus on increasing its cellular business while pursuing new growth strategies, the company said. Philip Christopher, who serves as executive vice president of Audiovox Corp., will be the president and chief executive officer of the new division.
GTE Mobilnet Inc. said it will debut its Prepaid Airtime Service in seven markets this month. Customers in Houston, San Francisco, San Diego, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Memphis, Tenn., and Honolulu will be able to prepay for cellular service by purchasing prepaid vouchers. The vouchers, which represent minutes of cellular use, work much like long-distance debit cards and vary in price by market. GTE said customers may provide their own phone or buy a phone, and must pay an activation fee. Customers are not bound by a one- or two-year contract and pay no monthly access fee. All charges are included in the per-minute rate, said the company.
American Personal Communications selected Coral System Inc.’s FraudBuster profiling solution for use in its personal communications services/Global System for Mobile communications system. FraudBuster creates individual subscriber models based on typical usage patterns that can be monitored in real time. The product can be used with GSM, Advanced Mobile Phone Service, Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access technologies.
