AT&T started fixed wireless phone trials in Dallas
HOUSTON, May 19 (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. (NYSE:T - news) said on Wednesday it started its first free trials
of phone service in Dallas using so-called fixed wireless technology, which transmits services over radio waves
without using traditional phone lines or fiber optic networks.
AT&T plans to test the service with paying customers this summer.
The fixed wireless service would help AT&T provide phone and Internet services to customers it is unable reach
with its own infrastructure, such as over cable television wires. The plan is to serve some markets using either
fixed-wireless or cable, while covering other markets through a mix of technologies. Customers will not notice a
difference in service quality or product offerings, AT&T said.
The fixed wireless technology, called Project Angel internally at AT&T, had previously been too costly for the
company to roll out. AT&T has now reduced the capital expenses to $750 per subscriber, down from the
previous cost of $1,149 per subscriber.
The fixed wireless technology is part of AT&T's broad effort to reach homes and businesses directly, without
having to use the networks of the Baby Bell local phone companies. AT&T will still resell the Baby Bell's local
phone service in some markets.
Earlier this week, AT&T started trials with paying customers for its voice-over-cable service in Fremont, Calif.
The company has already tested the service with non-paying customers, so the latest trial will allow the company
for the first time to gauge customers' willingness to pay for the new type of service.
AT&T said its package of services, including multiple phone lines, three features such as caller identification and
call waiting, and phone service will cost between 18 percent to 34 percent less than comparable services offered
by the regional Bell operating companies.
The company did not provide complete price information, but said high-end package of services may cost about
$89 a month though cheaper packages will also be available.
''We're going to show up and compete, putting forward lower prices,'' AT&T Chairman C. Michael Armstrong
said in a briefing with reporters before the company's annual shareholder meeting in Houston.
The company will test the cable telephone service in about seven or eight other markets in the second half of the
year. The company declined to comment on which markets it will target next, but said it will move into areas
where Tele-Communications Inc., the cable company it bought earlier this year, has a presence.
''If you look at where TCI's major markets are -- Seattle, Denver, Salt Lake City, Chicago -- where do you think
we'll go?'' Armstrong said.
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