Using the existing Ardis two-way data network, ConectUS Wireless Communications of Thousand Oaks, Calif., plans to launch two-way nationwide messaging services next month, initially targeting business users.
ConectUS is a subsidiary of Executive Page, which is an Ardis master reseller and distributor of products for Motorola Inc.’s Wireless Data Group. ConectUS will be a full-service provider for the new two-way service and also plans to resell service.
Dennis Scully, Executive Page founder and ConectUS president, said, “From day one this network was designed to do what we’re doing … We didn’t reinvent anything on the network.” In contrast, added Scully, other paging and messaging providers are building two-way systems by adding functionality to existing one-way paging systems.
The Ardis network, which was designed by Motorola and IBM Corp. in the early 1980s, “is a mature and successful network … it has survived hurricanes and earthquakes,” said Scully.
Ardis and ConectUS started discussing plans for two-way messaging more than a year ago. Working from experience in wireless data, the companies resolved to introduce a device with greater functionality than a one-way pager, but with less complexity and cost than a personal digital assistant. Selling PDAs has been an uphill battle, said Scully. In fact, Motorola announced it would discontinue its Marco and Envoy PDAs earlier this month, said Scully. “We wanted to start with the idea of a simple pager. People who want more can do it.”
Ardis sought Research in Motion of Canada to develop the two-way messaging product, called the Inter@ctive. The unit is a belt-top device built with an Intel processor. Additional Microsoft Corp. software can be downloaded from a PC to create customized units, said Scully. For instance, ConectUS is supplying a Los Angeles hospital with units that allow communication in two languages.
A person calling an Inter@ctive user can choose to key in a numeric page or send a text message via the network operator. When leaving an alpha message, the caller receives a confirmation number and can check back to find out if and when the message was received by the unit and also, when the user read the message. The Inter@ctive user can key in a response that the operator relates back to the caller by voice. ConectUS said an automated text-to-voice function soon will be implemented in the network.
Scully said the Inter@ctive unit can communicate with any station with an Internet address, which could include a personal computer, fax machine and various types of pagers. The Inter@ctive unit has store-and-forward capability so users on an airplane, for instance, or those who have turned off their units, can retrieve pages once within the system’s reach. The RIM device transmits at equal speeds inbound and outbound, up to 19,200 bits per second, said Scully.
ConectUS is awaiting type acceptance from the Federal Communications Commission, expected Dec. 1., and the product is scheduled for commercial availability by Jan. 1, said Scully. The company is conducting product trials with various companies and pursuing reseller relationships for selling in the business market. Scully said the unit will retail around $500, and service will cost between $40 and $50. “As volume goes up, prices will go down,” he noted.
The business traveler is ConectUS’ chief target. Scully said there is not yet enough interest in the mainstream market for wireless data. “We’ve called it a religion and kept the faith,” proclaimed Scully, adding that Ardis has been successful in creating custom applications and fulfilling the requirements of specific companies.
ConectUS is not to be confused with Conxus Communications, the name recently adopted by the Greenville, S.C., company previously called PCS Development Corp., also a licensed nationwide two-way provider. Scully said, “We’re aggressively protecting the name we established in 1989,” and noted his company’s legal department was addressing the issue. He did not say whether ConectUS would file a lawsuit against Conxus.
Scully founded Executive Page in 1974 as a wireless reseller. The company, which remains family owned, “has been a vehicle for several start up companies,” he added. Executive was one of PacTel’s (now AirTouch Communications Inc.) first resellers through a business called Cellular Mobile Phones Co., which later was sold.
The company currently resells wireless data products to dealers and to end users. A mainstay of its Motorola business is the Personal Messenger wireless modem, marketed in conjunction with Hewlett-Packard Co.’s HP-100 and HP-200 palmtop units, said Scully. Executive Page also develops and maintains rooftop antenna sites for narrowband PCS in Southern California and Nevada.
While Scully said Motorola announced a few weeks ago it will discontinue making its Marco and Envoy products, Motorola was unclear about the status of the products. Cheryl Beck-Ruff, public relations manager for the Wireless Data Group, said the company currently is “making decisions on those products,” but did not confirm or deny whether the products are being discontinued.
When asked about the Envoy and Marco being discontinued, Albert Lopez, spokesman for Motorola’s Messaging Information and Media Sector, told RCR, “that is my understanding.”
