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Finding Your Way Through the Wireless Maze
By yearend, most U.S. cities will have three different types of service
available. Here are some standard prices and features for each technology in
the New York metropolitan area:
ANALOG CELLULAR
The original wireless service converts a call to electric impulses that travel
in the form of radio waves.
PRICE* FEATURES
Service: $24.99/month includes Caller ID,
30 minutes of free airtime. voice mail
After that, 69 cents/minute plus Battery life
long-distance charges. 2 hours of
Phone: $20 to $1,000 talk time.
PROS CONS
Available across the country, so Analog is subject to distor-
you can use your phone almost tion and interference, so the
anywhere. Because the system calls are frequently lost. It is
is so widely used, the phones not suitable for data transmission
are relatively inexpensive. and can be less secure.
Voices sound almost as natural as
on a regular phone call.
DIGITAL CELLULAR
Uses the same radio frequency as analog cellular, but it converts calls into
the binary language of computers.
PRICE* FEATURES
Service: $24.99/month Voice mail
includes 30 minutes of caller ID
free airtime. After that, text messaging
59 cents/minute for local calls. Battery life
Phone: $149 with a phone 5 hrs.
trade-in, $199 without
PROS CONS
Eliminates hiss and distortion. The price of the phone is much
Built-in encryption codes eliminate higher, and not all areas have
fraud, and it is better suited digital cellular, so coverage is
for data transmission. spotty. Voices on digital phones
Can be used as a pager and for can sound clipped and tinny.
transmitting E-mail and receiving
information services, such as news
headlines.
PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE (PCS)
Available in major cities by yearend, the technology is digital but transmits
at a higher frequency than cellular services.
PRICE** FEATURES
Service: $9.99/month, including $5 Paging, E-mail,
of free phone calls and 10 caller ID, fax
minutes each of free paging and messages,
E-mail. After that, local calls cost information
25 cents to 49 cents a minute. services. Battery
Phone: $99 to $249 life: 4 hrs.
PRO CONS
The price is the edge: This service Coverage: PCS systems are by
less than local wired service. definition local--the phones
Like digital cellular there are not compatible with
is little distortion. It is secure cellular frequencies, so they
from fraud and is suitable for data. don't work outside the
DATA: *BELL ATLANTIC-NYNEX MOBILE AND **OMNIPOINT CORP.
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Updated June 15, 1997 by bwwebmaster
Copyright 1997, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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