KIRKLAND, Wash.-AT&T Wireless Services Inc. has signed another deal with a wireless company in its quest to fill in the missing links of its nationwide digital wireless network.
The company has entered into a joint venture with TeleCorp Inc., an Arlington, Va.-based F-block personal communications services licensee, to build and operate a Time Division Multiple Access network in a number of markets across the Midwest, the South and in New England.
The agreement calls for TeleCorp to deploy Interim Standard 136 technology in its markets, operating under its own name supported by a tagline affiliation with AT&T Wireless. Customers will be able to roam on the two systems according to a 20-year agreement. Lead financing for TeleCorp has been arranged by Chase Capital Partners of New York.
“Our strategy is to expand into new markets with partners,” said Dan Hesse, president and chief executive officer of AT&T Wireless. “We plan to add additional coverage in existing AT&T Wireless markets in 1998 so that customers will have more places to call or connect to our digital network.”
AT&T Wireless already has announced a similar joint venture agreement with Triton PCS for a PCS network buildout across Virginia, North Carolina, parts of Washington, D.C./Baltimore and Savannah, Ga. The company last month signed an operating agreement with Oklahoma City-based Dobson Communications Corp. to provide cellular coverage in areas of Oklahoma, Texas, California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Kansas and Missouri.
