Going back to our disc. on the future on PC/TV
PrimeCo to Offer Short Message Services on Lucent Platform
DALLAS, Nov. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU - news) announced today that its wireless intelligent network platform has
been installed in PrimeCo's nationwide PCS network to give customers access to messaging and information services.
The new wireless system, called Short Message Service (SMS), gives PrimeCo the ability to offer its wireless customers the ability to receive text
messages, e-mail, voice mail and pager messages on their PrimeCo phones. In addition, Short Message Service can provide wireless customers with a
link to the Internet to receive information such as stock quotes, sports scores, news headlines, lottery and weather information from their PCS phones.
PrimeCo, which mounted the largest network PCS launch in history last year, is one of Lucent's first customers to roll-out a SMS wireless intelligent
network product across its marketplace. PrimeCo is turning up its first Lucent SMS systems to support markets in Houston, Miami, Orlando, Tampa,
Jacksonville, New Orleans, Richmond and Norfolk, with other markets coming on line before the end of the year.
''SMS will enable us to offer our customers a new array of information services,'' said Limond Grindstaff, chief technical officer at PrimeCo. ''This
platform is the foundation of the other Internet-related data services we will launch in the future.''
To provide the service, PrimeCo is installing Lucent's state-of-the-art Service Node system, part of the company's family of intelligent network
products. The Service Node functions as a server within PrimeCo's digital PCS network to provide the Short Message Service feature and an array of
other new service capabilities.
''New wireless applications, like Short Message Service, increase the functionality of PCS phones by delivering new advanced features, such as
interaction with the Internet and voice mail systems,'' said Bob Bellion, vice president with Lucent Technologies. ''We're working with PrimeCo to
further differentiate itself in the marketplace.''
The Short Message Service application on Lucent's intelligent network platform was developed by TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) of
Annapolis, MD, as a result of a strategic relationship formed between the two companies in 1995. The Short Message Service application is one of the
first wireless products to conform to North American digital standards.
Lucent's SMS platform recently received the International Engineering Consortium InfoVision Award at the recent National Communications Forum
(NCF '97).
As part of a multi-million dollar agreement signed late last year, Lucent Technologies engineered and built end-to-end PCS wireless networks for
PrimeCo in ten cities including: Tampa, Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and Jacksonville in Florida; Richmond and Norfolk in Virginia; and New
Orleans, Mobile and Houston.
PrimeCo Personal Communications provides digital wireless service in the following major cities: Norfolk and Richmond, Va.; Fort Lauderdale,
Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and Tampa, Fla.; Chicago; Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans, La.; Austin, Dallas,
Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; Honolulu and Maui, Hawaii. The company, which is owned by AirTouch Communications, Bell Atlantic
and US WEST MediaGroup, has PCS licenses covering 19 states and 61 million potential customers in 11 MTAs and has more than 2,800
employees. PrimeCo sells its phones and service through its own direct sales force, the company's 57 stores, more than 2,000 indirect retail outlets and
a toll-free telephone sales line. The address for PrimeCo's interactive Website is www.primeco.com. |
