ALLAS-Paging Network Inc. announced the United Kingdom government will grant it a nationwide European Radio Messaging Services channel.
The company plans to build out the frequency in 1997, initially offering local paging service in selected major cities and eventually expanding to regional and nationwide service.
“The U.K. represents an opportunity for PageNet to enter a country with a large population, a good economy and low paging penetration rates,” said Barry A. Fromberg, senior vice president of PageNet and chairman chief executive officer of Paging Network International Inc.
The U.K. government has also awarded licenses to BT Mobile, Mercury Paging, Hutchison Telecommunications, Vodapage Ltd., London Pager Co. and Message Telecommunications.
Dallas-based PageNet is the nation’s largest paging operator, with about 7.3 million subscribers.
The company also offers paging services in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, Canada.
“Our goal is to create a portfolio of international operations, ” Fromberg said. “Our success in securing a license in the U.K. represents another step in that process.”
In the United States, PageNet offers its paging and wireless messaging products through 90 sales and service offices, 6,000 resellers and a number of national and regional marketing affiliates.