Associated Press
REDMOND — Cellular phone service rivals AT&T Wireless and Cingular Wireless said Monday they will join forces to build faster wireless networks along major interstate routes in the West and Midwest.
The joint venture, which aims to have the networks in place by early 2003, will allow both companies to offer the faster service months earlier than if they had tried to install networks separately, they said.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
AT&T Wireless, based in Redmond, and Cingular, a joint venture of SBC Communications and BellSouth based in Atlanta, will build networks based on two technologies: the Global System for Mobile Communication and the General Packet Radio System.
The GSM/GPRS system allows people to establish a wireless connection to the Internet at speeds similar to home Internet connections on regular land lines — much faster than most current wireless connections.
Such faster connections are key to selling more advanced wireless products such as handheld devices that also send and receive e-mail.
The venture aims to connect about 3,000 miles of roads in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah, the companies said.
The partnership also will lead to further network construction, the companies said, if their partner companies and the Federal Communications Commission approve them.
Shares in AT&T Wireless were up 11 cents to $11.75 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares in SBC were up 52 cents to $36.04 and shares in BellSouth were up 66 cents to $39, also on the NYSE.
Copyright ©2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
