San Francisco Business Magazine; Jan. 1994
Expect improved service from your cellular phone with
the introduction of digital cellular service by Cellular One. By
converting voice signals into the computer codes of ones and zeroes,
three times as many calls can be transmitted over cellular radio
frequencies. The result will be clear sound, no static, fewer dropped
calls, a longer phone battery life and more privacy.
Although the new digital phones cost about $500, $300
more than the standard cellular phone (which transmits sound waves like
a radio), Cellular One promises the new technology will save users 10
percent off their current rates. "Digital technology triples the
capacity of our system, which mean less investment per subscriber," says
Alan Brune, the company's vice president of marketing and strategic
planning.
The only other areas in the US offering digital
cellular service are Los Angeles, Florida, Chicago and the Pacific
Northwest. Look for local service along major highway corridors around
San Francisco and San Jose, the San Francisco financial district and
near San Jose where highways 280 and 880 intersect.
Cellular One, the only provider of digital service in
the Bay Area, says the new phones will eventually include pagers and,
because you can expect more calls with improved service, a screening
feature that will allow you to designate different rings to different
callers.
If you're groaning because you just bought a standard
cellular phone, no need to worry, according to Lee Dorfman, whose
company, Action Cellular Rent a Phone in San Francisco, rents cellular
phones to such famous names as Mikhail Gorbachev, Nelson Mandela, Al
Gore and Paul McCartney when they're in town. Dorfman says he thinks the
total switch to digital won't happen for years if at all. "The Bay Area
is oriented to technological advancements, but I don't think there's an
urgency for small businesses to switch to digital anytime soon." Says
Dorfman.
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