SAN FRANCISCO-AirTouch Paging and American Paging Inc. have signed an agreement for the companies to conduct a joint test of the digital, spread-spectrum, two-way messaging system developed by Nexus Telecommunications Systems Ltd., AirTouch announced.
The companies will evaluate Nexus infrastructure equipment and TAG Pager two-way messaging devices as well as determine customer preferences for new service offerings. The test will be conducted in Chicago beginning in March and continuing through August, AirTouch said.
“This is a revolutionary technology,” said John Schaaf, president and chief executive officer of American Paging. “The Nexus system provides a low-cost entry into two-way messaging and sets the groundwork for future telemetry applications.”
AirTouch said the technology enables carriers to add a low-cost wireless return overlay network to an existing outbound paging system, minimizing additional capital and operating expenses.
The Nexus system uses existing paging channels for outbound communications coupled with a return channel over the unlicensed industrial, scientific and medical band, AirTouch said.
In 1994, AirTouch won one nationwide and three regional narrowband personal communications services licenses covering the Northeast, Central and Western regions of the United States. AirTouch said it plans to use these licenses to provide acknowledgment paging and other two-way services, such as messaging, e-mail and fax notification.
