PageMart Wireless Inc. announced its international paging network is now operational, as a result of recent agreements with telecom companies in Mexico, Panama and El Salvador.
These agreements-added to those established in Canada, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Bahamas-flesh out the international network the company has sought since 1993 to establish among North American Free Trade Agreement countries. PageMart plans to incorporate other Central and Latin American countries like Haiti, Nicaragua and Costa Rica by the end of the year, and Guatemala by early 1998.
The most recent agreements were signed with Telefonos de Mexico’s wholly owned subsidiary, Buscatel, Mobilephone de Panama and TeleVip S.A. de C.V. of El Salvador. All countries in the network operate within certain guidelines-such as being a leading telecom provider operating on the same 900 MHz frequency as PageMart-and have signed intercountry rate agreements, said PageMart.
“Our vision for international wireless messaging is based on the simple concept of `one pager, no borders,’ ” said John Beletic, president and chief executive officer of PageMart.
The network allows users of any participating carrier to receive paging service when in the coverage area of another participating carrier, thus making each company’s network that much more valuable. PageMart’s goal is to “accommodate a growing demand for easy-to-use, cost-effective, coverage area-transparent communications services.”
The NAFTA trade agreement allowed for greater ease in establishing these types of agreements, PageMart said. Mobile Telecommunication Technologies Inc. also has a similar NAFTA coverage. “Business within NAFTA is booming and we expect NAFTA coverage to become the standard for wireless networks,” Beletic said.
Because of the NAFTA-created cross-border economy, more U.S.-based companies are opening operations in NAFTA signatory countries, increasing the need for such extra-border paging, the company said. Also important is the local marketing ability each region’s carrier brings to more efficiently reach the potential subscribers of each area. “The network has the potential to generate substantial new sales opportunities for our retail partners,” said Richard Nelson, president of PageMart International.
