Pacific Bell Mobile Services to Debut New Wireless Phone Service
Mike King
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 1996 07:23:57 -0700
From: sql...@list.pactel.com
Subject: Pacific Bell Mobile Services to Debut New Wireless
Phone Service at Republican Convention
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Linda Bonniksen
(213) 975-5061
John Britton
(619) 237-2430
Pacific Bell Mobile Services to Debut New Wireless Phone Service at
Republican Convention
Personal Communications Services Offers GOP a More Secure Alternative to
Cellular
SAN DIEGO - The 1996 Republican National Convention will use a new
wireless telecommunications technology that offers a secure and private
alternative to cellular.
The new technology is Personal Communications Services (PCS). It will
be provided by Pacific Bell Mobile Services as the Republican National
Convention's official provider of wireless Personal Communications
Services. The convention will be in San Diego Aug. 12 through 15.
Unlike cellular, PCS technology is 100 percent digital. Being digital,
PCS offers superior sound quality and reliability, as well as built-in
complex encryption for maximum privacy and protection from "cloning," a
form of cellular theft that costs consumers $650 million a year.
"Pacific Bell's PCS is the only secure wireless telecommunications
technology available to the GOP," said Terry Valeski, Pacific Bell
Mobile Services vice president.
Valeski explained that every PCS call passes through three levels of
encryption - first at the phone, next through the phone's "subscriber
identification module," and finally at the network. At each level,
encrypted information must be exchanged and verified before a call is
completed.
"With Pacific Bell's PCS, candidates, delegates and security personnel
can discuss confidential matters without worrying about electronic
eavesdroppers - a freedom they didn't enjoy in Houston four years ago,"
Valeski said.
Pacific Bell Mobile Services will activate PCS service for the
convention next month. The coverage area will include the San Diego
Convention Center, downtown hotels, tourist attractions, the airport,
major transportation corridors and the coastline. Convention attendees
will use their PCS phones to send and receive calls and short-text
messages. The phones can also be plugged into laptop computers for
wireless faxing and Internet access.
"Our groundbreaking use of PCS will make the 1996 Republican National
Convention the most technically sophisticated event of its kind," said
William Greener, III, convention manager for the Republican National
Convention. "PCS will give us unprecedented freedom to move about the
convention and still stay connected."
"PCS is wireless in full bloom. With one pocket-sized phone, PCS gives
us voice, data and online access in every convention venue," said Jack
Ford, executive director of the San Diego Host Committee.
500 Phones Sport GOP Style
Manufacturers Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson have provided more than 500
phones to the convention. The Nokia and Motorola phones sport a
stars-and-stripes design, while the Ericsson model displays the
convention logo featuring the GOP's trumpeting elephant.
The phones integrate the features of a phone, pager and personal digital
assistant. With recent innovations in battery design, the phones have
more "talk" and "standby" time than available over today's cellular
phones.
An additional phone feature includes the "subscriber identification
module" - or SIM. A SIM contains network information about a particular
subscriber, including their telephone number, calling plan, custom
calling features and speed dialing list. In some phone models, the SIM
rests in a smart card that can be removed from the phone to disable its
calling capabilities.
The SIM is one of many PCS attributes exclusive to a network standard
called Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). Pacific Bell
Mobile Services selected GSM because it makes possible an array of
advanced PCS features, customer services and billing options not
available through other network standards. These include "over-the-air"
service activation and the ability to bill voice and data calls
differently. GSM has a long track record of proven performance and
reliability among nearly 15 million PCS users in 92 countries.
Consumer Launch in Early 1997
After the convention closes, Pacific Bell Mobile Services will prepare
for a consumer product launch in California and Nevada in early 1997.
The company plans to broadly distribute PCS phones through drug stores,
consumer electronics stores and warehouse retailers. Industry analysts
expect PCS to cost less than existing cellular service, particularly in
California where cellular subscribers pay among the highest rates in the
nation.
Pacific Bell Mobile Services is the wireless communications subsidiary
of Pacific Bell. Pacific Telesis Group, the parent company of Pacific
Bell and Pacific Bell Mobile Services, is a diversified
telecommunications company headquartered in San Francisco.
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Mike King * Oakland, CA, USA * m...@wco.com