Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Wireless firms vie for buyers in midstate

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2003 12:30:25 -0500

Posted on Wed, Mar. 26, 2003

Wireless firms vie for buyers in midstate
By Maggie Large
Telegraph Staff Writer

Middle Georgia consumers have seven wireless companies to
choose from, and each is trying to stand out from the crowd.

The latest entrant is Verizon, which bought the rights to Cellular
One's network in August.

Besides introducing a new network and wireless data capabilities,
Verizon plans to grab another piece of the business market later
this year with its own version of push-to-talk technology, akin to
walkie-talkies, that Nextel and Southern LINC have popularized.

"We're going to be very aggressive and think there's room for
additional penetration in the Macon market. Georgia continues to be
a very dynamic market," said Mark Bartolomeo, director of business
sales for the region.

Focus on business

Trent Intorcia, general manager of Nextel Partners, said his
company has targeted business customers with its nationwide
service and push-to-talk technology, which it calls Direct Connect.
Nextel Partners is a separate company formed by Nextel to target
second-tier markets such as Macon.

Business users and public safety officials alike have taken to the
immediacy of the direct connect feature, which circumvents dialing.

"Our statistics show that over 150 million direct connect calls are
made every day," said Nextel Partners spokeswoman Katherine
Larson.

Southern LINC, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Southern
Companies, first developed its network in 1996 to serve internal
users at companies such as Georgia Power. The company uses the
same type of technology as Nextel.

"We built our network to utility-grade specifications. Our towers can
withstand severe weather like ice and high winds and are equipped
with backup generators," said Gretchen Crawford, a Southern LINC
spokeswoman.

Crawford said the company's reputation for customer service and
the quality of its network were big selling points for businesses and
government entities.

Telecommunications company Sprint has been offering wireless
service in Macon for four years now, most recently under the US
Unwired PCS affiliate, based in Lake Charles, La. Spokeswoman
Shelley Jennings said the company's voice and data products are
focused on business clients and the "tech guru" types.

"We have PCS connection cards, so laptops can wirelessly connect
to business (networks)," Jennings said. "People don't have to be
stuck at their desks all day anymore."

Consumer market

Cricket has its sights set on replacing your home phone. The
company, owned by Leap Communications, has flat-rate plans
targeted toward teenagers and people wanting to give up their
land-line phones.

"We've been very fortunate that Cellular One was sold to Verizon.
They had a comparable (flat-rate) plan to ours but quit offering it in
November 2002. We've been able to pick up a lot of their
customers," said Rocky Crossland, Cricket general manager in
Macon.

The company is introducing a docking station to connect cellular
service to existing phone lines. In other words, you can keep your
regular telephones and use Cricket as your sole provider.

"We call it our home phone replacement kit," Crossland said. "You
plug the docking station into the phone jack, and when your cell
phone rings, your home phones will ring."

Wireless company T-Mobile, owned by German company Deutsche
Telekom, promotes their whiz-bang technology and worldwide
network capabilities through its GSM phones. T-Mobile changed its
name from Voicestream Communications last year and also was
known as Powertel.

Zidar said using the GSM standard allows them to carry the latest in
wireless equipment, like camera phones, Pocket PC phones,
Research in Motion's Blackberry and color screens. They've also
invested heavily in developing a "wi-fi" service - basically a wireless
onramp to the Internet - available at places such as Starbucks and
Borders.

"We're just going to continue doing what we're doing. We were the
fastest-growing carrier in 2002," Zidar said.

Benefits of competition

Travis Larson, spokesman for the trade group Cellular
Telecommunications and Internet Association, said having seven
wireless companies competing in a market such as Macon helps
lower prices.

"Ah, the wonders of competition! We have seen prices fall over 30
percent in the last five years," Larson said.

Larson said that individual providers are trying anything to
differentiate themselves from the pack by offering free long
distance, buckets of anytime minutes, discounted phones and
wireless data services.

"They're really battling it out, and the consumer is the one that
benefits," Larson said.

To contact Maggie Large, call 744-4229 or e-mail
[email-masked].

http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/business/5482103.htm

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