US WEST has re-entered the wireless phone market in Utah, launching services Wednesday that are new to the state and not yet part of the company's wireless business elsewhere.
The launch makes the Salt Lake area one of the most competitive markets in the country, as customers now have six wireless phone vendors from which to choose."You'll find our wireless coverage along the Wasatch Front is going to be world-class," US WEST chairman, president and chief executive officer Solomon D. Trujillo said at Wednesday's launch.
The company's all-digital PCS network stretches from North Ogden to Payson along the Wasatch Front and extends east along I-80 through Park City and into Heber. The footprint of the network reflects the corridor US WEST is focusing on as a telecommunications provider for the 2002 Winter Games.
The wireless network is built using new "PICOcell" mini-tower antennas that are much less noticeable on the skyline than traditional cell antennas. A number of the antennas are mounted atop existing utility or street light poles. Hardware completing the cell site consists of 78 pounds of hardware that also can be mounted on the pole. More traditional cell antennas have 1,500 pounds of equipment housed on the ground next to the antenna tower.
A unique interconnection between US WEST's wireline and wireless networks allows customers to link a home or office phone and a wireless phone to the same number. If the mobile phone is switched off, incoming calls automatically ring on the designated home or office phone.
If the mobile phone is turned on but the customer chooses not to answer it, the call is routed back to the home or office phone. The one-number system is different than call forwarding because the network decides which phone to send the call to.
US WEST plans to use two retail outlets of its own, existing resellers and its existing customer service network to sell the new wireless phone service, said Sue Schaefer, vice president of marketing and sales.
US WEST also is integrating Internet-based services with its wireless service. Available immediately is an information service package that lets customers choose as many as six categories of information pushed directly to the display on their handsets. The categories include sports, stock market results and weather conditions. A data mail service allows customers to receive text and numeric messages on their handsets.
Phones on the system also can be used as digital modems, connecting laptops with Internet service providers, or as a phone conduit for fax machines.
US WEST plans to roll out additional text-based services next year, including access to the US WEST DEX online Yellow Pages and white pages directories, send-and-receive e-mail functions and more content from Internet sites.
US WEST spun off its previous New Vector cellular business in a 1995 merger with AirTouch. US WEST has ongoing wireless business in Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, Portland, Seattle and Minneapolis/St. Paul.