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Technology Stocks : NEXTEL -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TPN35 who wrote (8248)	11/27/1998 1:35:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Respond to of 10227

TPN, of course I don't mind. There isn't anything new in the article, but it summarizes the Nextel story rather well. Regards. Anthory

To: TPN35 who wrote (8248)	11/27/1998 5:52:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10227

Ericsson to Soon Sell Group-Calling Cellular Equipment in U.S. Bloomberg News November 27, 1998, 2:16 p.m. ET Ericsson to Soon Sell Group-Calling Cellular Equipment in U.S. New York, Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Ericsson AB said it will soon start selling equipment in the U.S. that enables wireless phone users to call several parties simultaneously. AT&T Corp. and SBC Communications Inc., two of the largest U.S. cellular phone companies, will be among the first customers for the equipment, people familiar with the companies' plans said. The equipment, which also will include walkie-talkie features, will put pressure on Motorola Inc. and Nextel Communications Inc., analysts said. Motorola is one of the largest suppliers of such wireless equipment in the U.S., while Nextel is the largest provider of the services. Nextel has grown rapidly because of its walkie-talkie-type service that allows groups of people, such as construction workers, to instantly communicate while at different locations. AT&T and SBC want to offer similar services since they attract valuable business customers who spend more each month and stay with the service longer than most consumers. ''It's a product that is clearly trying to capture and share in the success that Nextel has been able to generate,'' said Bradley Williams, an analyst at Legg Mason Wood Walker, who has a ''buy'' rating on Nextel. Ericsson declined to name customers or be more specific. AT&T and SBC also declined to comment. ''We will be doing a major product launch and advertising campaign shortly,'' said Walter Deal, total solutions manager at Ericsson Inc., the U.S. unit of Ericsson AB. ''We are in talks right now with a couple of customers for joint advertising.'' Ericsson's Deal said tests of the equipment in Chicago have been successful. Tests are expected to begin in other markets in the next few months, and the service could be available soon thereafter, the people familiar said. Ericsson is expected to introduce the equipment before the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association trade show in early February. Nextel and Motorola declined to comment. Existing Networks The equipment will work on any wireless network, not just on networks with Ericsson-made wares, as well as with existing wireless phones, Deal said. It also will work on wireless networks that use different technologies such as time-division or code-division multiple access. TDMA and CDMA are among the world's leading digital standards. Ericsson also will introduce new wireless phones in the middle of next year that have the group-calling features. Nextel added 375,300 customers in the third quarter, bringing its total to 2.42 million. That outpaced the increase at AT&T, which added 325,000 customers, for a total to 6.8 million. In the third quarter, Motorola's land mobile products sector, which includes sales to Nextel, had a 3 percent rise in sales. Orders, however, rose 20 percent at the unit. Motorola said orders for its radio dispatch equipment known as iDEN was ''significantly higher'' than that, the company said. Callers using Stockholm-based Ericsson's new equipment will dial a code to activate the service, which calls multiple people at different locations. The hardware will be sold to phone companies and located within switches that direct traffic on phone networks. Still, some believe the Ericsson equipment won't be as robust as Motorola's. While Nextel's service with Motorola offers instant group calling, some say Ericsson's equipment will take several seconds to set up. ''It falls short of being any sort of serious threat'' to Nextel, said Jeffrey Hines, an analyst at BT Alex Brown, who has a ''strong buy'' on Nextel. --Colleen McElroy and Andrew Brooks in the Princeton newsroom