Tuesday September 9 10:32 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: American Paging, Inc.
American Paging Begins Launch of Two-Way Commercial Network in
Pittsburgh
DALLAS, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- American Paging, Inc. (Amex:APP) is launching North America's first commercial
two-way paging network using ReFLEX 25 protocol in Pittsburgh, according to Terrence T. Sullivan, the company's president
and chief executive officer.
Sullivan said testing of the Pittsburgh network began last month with commercial sales scheduled during the first quarter of
1998. American Paging's $2.1 million Pittsburgh regional program is the first in a series of commercial two-way systems
planned by the company.
``American Paging intends to be at the forefront in providing advanced wireless messaging solutions to its customers,'' Sullivan
said. ``We have believed in the value of two-way messaging for some time. Two-way systems bring guaranteed delivery,
store-and-forward messaging, and eventually free-text communications between users.''
American Paging has had a strong presence in the Pittsburgh area since 1986, according to James F. Kelly, the company's
vice president of sales, marketing and field operations. American Paging's Pittsburgh region has a population of more than 4.5
million people and covers western Pennsylvania and portions of eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia.
``The Pittsburgh market is ideally suited for an advanced, two-way network because of a significant growth in service-sector
and professional jobs,'' Kelly said. ``Pittsburgh's local demographics also are well matched to advanced messaging services.''
Kelly noted that the largest percentage of the area's population is in the 25-49 age range -- a group that comprises more than
70 percent of all paging customers.
``Two-way messaging will become an increasingly more important business need,'' Kelly predicted. ``We'll launch a series of
products and applications particularly suited to distinct corporate segments of the market.''
American Paging's Pittsburgh network is based on a two-way data system provided by Glenayre Technologies, headquartered
in Charlotte, North Carolina. Glenayre's basic messaging system offers a simple migration path and exclusive capacity
upgrades to provide an economical two-way solution for carriers. The system consists of one-way paging components such as
the GL3000 Wireless Messaging Switch (using the WMtp protocol), GL-C2000 Controller, and GLT8500 series 900 MHz
transmitters. Two-way functionality is provided by the addition of a CL3100 RF Director and GL-R9000 Receivers.
``We're pleased to lend our experience and support to American Paging and its customers in Pittsburgh,'' said Jim Marion,
president of Glenayre's Wireless Messaging Group. ``Our technology will support American Paging's aggressive entry into the
two-way messaging market.''
American Paging's Pittsburgh program will utilize Motorola's two-way PageFinder pagers. The PageFinder will enable the
confirmation of message delivery. Even if the recipient is temporarily out of range -- in a tunnel, out of the service territory, or
on an airplane -- the PageFinder ``finds'' and retrieves its awaiting messages when it comes back into range.
``American Paging is focusing on an especially fertile market,'' said Ellen Foreman, director of marketing for the Motorola
Paging Products Group in Fort Worth, Texas. ``We're pleased to support American Paging by supplying state- of-the-art
pagers for their customers, particularly business professionals who travel extensively and can't afford to miss any messages.''
``The range of applications that are opened up by this new two-way network technology and Motorola's new PageFinder and
PageWriter 2000 devices is virtually boundless,'' Sullivan added. ``We're also excited about the market-share opportunities
associated with being among the first to deploy commercial two-way systems in North America.''
American Paging, Inc., is a leading provider of wireless messaging services with offices in 21 states and the District of
Columbia. The company serves nearly 800,000 customers with a network that includes more than 1,000 message transmitters.
Its region covers a population of about 76 million people.
American Paging can be found on the Internet at americanpaging.com.
SOURCE: American Paging, Inc.
More news for referenced ticker symbols: APP, GEMS, MOT, and related industries: Semiconductor,
telecommunications. |
