GSM in North America:
GSM CLOSES IN ON 5 MILLION NORTH AMERICAN CUSTOMERS, ADDING 2.5 MILLION NEW
CUSTOMERS IN PAST 12 MONTHS
MONTREAL, Oct 19, 1999 /CNW-PRN via COMTEX/ -- The North American GSM
Alliance LLC reported today that in the third quarter of 1999, more
than 620,000 customers signed up for Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) wireless service in Canada and the United States.
'This brings the total of GSM customers in North America to about 4.8
million,' said Bob Stapleton, Chairman of the North American GSM
Alliance L.L.C., and President of VoiceStream Wireless. 'This once
again reflects an increase of more than double the number of customers
from a year ago. We expect to soon reach 5 million customers in North
America and 6 million by the end of 1999.'
According to Stapleton, GSM service providers in North America now
offer commercial service in nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 46 U.S.
states and four Canadian provinces.
'In the past 12 months, GSM Alliance companies in the U.S. and Canada
added about 2.5 million new customers -- the equivalent of adding 5 new
customers a minute,' Stapleton said. 'With 205 million GSM customers
in the world, GSM remains the world's overwhelming choice for digital
wireless service, and is the fastest growing!'
Each month, almost eight million people sign up to GSM networks across
five continents of the world. Globally, GSM customers now equal about
50 percent of the entire world wireless market, and two-thirds of the
global digital market.
North American GSM Alliance members include: Aerial Communications,
Inc., Airadigm Communications, Inc.; BellSouth Mobility DCS; Conestoga
Wireless Company; Cook Inlet VoiceStream Wireless PCS; DIGIPH PCS; Iowa
Wireless Services, LP; Microcell Telecommunications Inc.; NPI Wireless;
Omnipoint Communications LLC; Pacific Bell Wireless; Powertel, Inc.;
STPCS Joint Venture, LLC; TWS, Inc.; Western Total Communications;
VoiceStream Wireless Corp.; and Wireless 2000 PCS. The GSM Alliance
works in cooperation with North American GSM equipment manufacturers:
Siemens, Motorola, Lucent Technologies, Nortel Networks, Nokia and
Ericsson.
SOURCE North American GSM Alliance LLC
CONTACT: Mike Houghton (703) 799-7383, houghton(at)communicreate.com |
