Editor’s Note: The cities listed here represent the 20 largest cellular markets in the United States. Ranking is based on the total number of subscribers in each metropolitan statistical area.
Most carriers are unwilling to reveal subscriber numbers because of the highly competitive nature of the business.
Tallies for total market subscribers and penetration rates were supplied by The Strategis Group and represent year-end 1996 figures.
The RCR Top 20 is the property of RCR Publications Inc. and should not be construed as an endorsement for the companies listed below.
Ranking information obtained from this feature cannot be reprinted without written permission from the company. -Lynnette Luna. 1997, RCR Publications Inc.
Market#/Market Name Estimated Total Market Subscriber Estimated Penetration Rate A System Market Manager, Marketing Manager, Engineering Manager B System Market Manager, Marketing Manager, Engineering Manager
1) 2. Los Angeles 2,029,828 12.94 percent Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Co. (BellSouth Cellular Corp.) Hank Bonde AirTouch Cellular Nancy Hobbs
17785 Center Court Drive N. Dick Bryan 3 Park Plaza Sally Pelmear
Cerritos, Calif. 90703 Danny Bazerman Irvine, Calif. 92714 Jim Proffitt
(310) 924-0000 (714) 223-1500
2) 1. New York 1,510,253 10.02 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Dennis O’Connell Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile Rick Conrad
15 E. Midland Ave. Katharine Russel 2000 Corporate Dr. Lori Epstein
Paramus, N.J. 07652 Liam Mahoney Orangeburg, N.Y. 10962 Brian Jacks
(201) 967-3000 (914) 365-7200
3) 3. Chicago 1,403,260 19.04 percent Cellular One (Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems) Bob Nelson Ameritech Cellular Systems Jay Ellison
930 N. National Pkwy. Gina Macchitelli 1515 Woodfield Rd., Ste. 1400 Jacki Cirwinski
Schaumburg, Ill. 60173 N/A Schaumburg, Ill. 60173 Kathy Zelkovich
(847) 762-2000 (847) 706-7600
4) 8. Washington, D.C. 1,165,176 18 percent Cellular One (Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems) N/A Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile Gary Schulman
14. Baltimore 7855 Walker Dr. Lisa Woelfel 12520 Prosperity Dr. Adrienne Lanskold
Greenbelt, Md. 20770 N/A Silver Spring, MD 20904 Diane Croft
(301) 489-3918 (301) 680-2570
5) 12. Miami 1,086,339 23.10 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. N/A BellSouth Mobility Inc. Stephen Gray
72. West Palm Beach, Fla. 7819-21 N.W. 54th St. N/A 5201 Congress Ave. Vicky Foster
Miami, Fla. 33166 N/A Boca Raton, Fla. 33487 Don Riedel
(305) 592-5426 (407) 995-3000
6) 7. San Francisco 936,034 16.76 percent Cellular One (AT&T Wireless Services Inc./AirTouch Cellular) Sue Swenson GTE Mobilnet Inc. Annette Jacobs
27. San Jose, Calif. 651 Gateway Blvd. Alan Brune 12766 Alcosta Blvd. N/A
South San Francisco, Calif. 94080 Glenn Umetsu San Ramon, Calif. 94583 John Boyer
(415) 871-9500
7) 5. Detroit 894,810 19.94 percent AirTouch Cellular Terry Tindel Ameritech Cellular Services Deb Ravetta
350 E. Wilson Bridge Rd. Mike Benvenuti 32255 Northwestern Hwy., #143 Lisa Bahm
Worthington, Ohio 43085 Greg Szabo Farmington Hills, Mich. 48334 Bob Leger
(614) 325-2000 (810) 737-6700
8) 6. Boston 853,402 20.65 percent Cellular One (Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems) Kathy Dowling Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile Jack Plating
100 Lowder Brook Dr. Steve Kish 600 Unicom Park Dr. Deb Carroll
Westwood, Mass. 02090 Mike Gerdes Woburn, Mass. 01801 Dave Heverling
(617) 462-4000 (617) 932-1552
9) 4. Philadelphia 810,708 16.44 percent Comcast Cellular Communications Inc. David Watson Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile Robert Stott
480 E. Swedesford Rd. Charles Moir 8 Neshaminy Interple, Ste. 317 Susan N. Mullin
Wayne, Pa. 19087 Ray Dombroski Trevose, Penn. 19053 Hans Leutenegger
(610) 995-5000 (215) 638-8001
10) 17. Atlanta 769,746 24.4 percent AirTouch Cellular Brian Shay BellSouth Mobility Inc. Craig Sparks
4151 Ashford Dunwoody Rd. Steve Livingston 5600 Glenridge Dr. Robert Haulbrook
Atlanta, Ga. 30319 Owen Lichtenwalner Atlanta, Ga. 30342 Mike Pietropola
(404) 257-5000 (404) 847-3600
11) 9. Dallas 706,868 15.44 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Gary Flemming Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems Lowell Whitlock
5757 Alpha Rd., Ste. 1000 Todd Felkner 15660 Dallas Pkwy., Ste. 1300 N/A
Dallas Texas 75240 Mark Jules Dallas, Texas 75248 Tom Carmichael
(972) 776-4400 (972) 774-0000
12) 10. Houston, Texas 684,545 17.83 percent Houston Cellular Telephone Co.(AT&T Wireless Services Inc./BellSouth Cellular) Don Kovalevich GTE Mobilnet Inc. Karen Puckett
1 West Loop S. Paul Golden 100 Glenborough Scot Harris
Houston, Texas 77027 Mike Hanafin Houston, Texas 77067 Keith Surratt
(713) 850-9933
13) 20. Seattle 532,836 24.34 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Doug Johnson AirTouch Cellular (U S West Cellular Inc.) William Bettencourt, Jr.
617 Eastlake Ave. E N/A 3350 161st Ave. SE, MS 231 Ron Rinkle
Seattle, Wash. 98109 Nick Kauser Bellevue, Wash. 98008 Gregg Clausius
(206) 624-5700 (425) 603-2700
14) 18. San Diego, Calif. 459,356 15.86 percent GTE Mobilnet Inc. Kurt May AirTouch Cellular Ujjal Kohli
6925 Lusk Blvd. N/A 5355 Mira Sorrento Pl. Nancy Brisbois
San Diego, Calif. 92121 Bill Simpson San Diego, Calif. 92121 Bob Sampson
(619) 674-0774 (619) 625-7878
15) 26. Phoenix, Ariz. 442,877 17.57 percent Cellular One (Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile) Greg Klimek AirTouch Cellular (U S West Cellular Inc.) Terry Kramer
7975 N. Hayden Rd., Ste. A-200 Wendy Wheeler 2201 E. Camelback Rd., Ste. 600-B Don Sarason
Scottsdale, Ariz. 85258 David McCarley Phoenix, Ariz. 85016 Amir Rajwany
(602) 948-8543 (602) 224-7600
16) 22. Tampa, Fla. 441,959 20.05 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. N/A GTE Mobilnet Inc. Mike Hartman
501 E. Kennedy Blvd., Ste. 1150 N/A 600 Westshore Blvd., Ste. 204 Richard Crane
Tampa, Fla. 33602 N/A Tampa, Fla. 33609 Bill Hogg
(813) 222-5555 (813) 282-6000
17) 15. Minneapolis 438,100 16.68 percent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Gordy Simanton AirTouch Cellular (U S West Cellular Inc.) LeAnn Talbot
5900 eres Ave. S., #301 Carrie Grant 5500 Wayzata Blvd., Ste. 500 Ron Rinkle
Minneapolis, Minn. 55431 Tim Kivlan Minneapolis, Minn. 55416 Greg Carek
(612) 831-3531 (612) 595-2650
18) 11. St. Louis, Mo. 408,459 16.52 percent Ameritech Cellular Services Derrick Hill Southwestern Bell M
obile Systems Mark Royse
500 Maryville College Dr., #200 Connie Taylor 13075 Manchester Rd., Ste. 100N Chris Pickel
St. Louis, Mo. 63141 Jim Sliger St. Louis, Mo. 63131 Steve Mullins
(314) 920-4000 (314) 821-7257
19) 19. Denver 407,811 20.45 pe
rcent AT&T Wireless Services Inc. Kim S. Whitehead AirTouch Cellular (U S West Cellular Inc.) Virginia Mott
1001 16th St., S
