Integrated switches can allow carriers to offer more services Telephony

by NANCY GOHRING

As recently as the 1940s and 1950s, customers of Barry County Telephone Co. in Michigan maintained the local phone network themselves. If they had problems with their service, they would call a board member who would go out and try to fix the problem with them. If that failed, the board member would call the part-time repairman.

Barry has come a long way since then, amassing 8500 customers. Like many other rural operators, it wanted to offer a broader range of services. So Barry bought PCS licenses in the E block auctions for Battle Creek and Kalamazoo, Mich.

With licenses in hand and big name wireless competitors in region, Barry had to differentiate and find a low-cost way to build out.

"We said we won't be a cellular company like the big guys," said Bob Fisher, vice president of Message Express, Barry's wireless arm. Instead, Message Express plans to launch a "super cordless" phone service. The super cordless will be essentially a cordless phone in the house but also usable in commercial centers where customers might shop or work. "We don't plan on our customers giving up their cell phones or landline phones," Fisher said. He believes each of those products serves a different need.

Barry also may begin offering Internet access in the future. The most cost-effective way to offer all those services is to operate on one integrated switch, Fisher said.

TECORE's multiservice scalable switch fits the bill. "One platform allows a wireless or PCS operator to diversify its service offering. These carriers want to be one-stop shopping for customers," said Steve Chen, vice president of marketing for TECORE.

Barry can offer wireline and wireless services from the same switch, which is tiny in size and uses low amounts of power. There was a five- to-one price difference between a switch from a larger infrastructure vendor and TECORE, Fisher said.

When Message Express launches wireless service in June, it plans to offer some interesting services through the integrated switch. Customers will be able to choose calling options hat assign one number to up to three lines that will all ring at once or options that allow any one line to ring up to three numbers, Fisher said. (see figure)

The TECORE switch also includes a prepaid platform that can be applied to wireless and wireline services. On the wireline side, that capability allows Barry to comply with the FCC's requirement for toll limitation services, Fisher said.

Barry isn't alone in leveraging an integrated switch to offer multiple services. RT Communications in Wyoming also has about 8000 wireline customers. Its wireless arm, Pyxis, will roll out a code division multiple access mobile service operating on a Nortel Networks DMS 100 switch, which handles both wireline and wireless services. "We wanted to be a full service provider," said Stephen Jantz, vice president and general manager for Pyxis.

Many rural carriers, like RT, are looking for ways to add to their core services to increase revenues. "They are saying, 'What can I leverage — my facilities, my switching platform?'" said Brian Bortz, DMS 100 wireless marketing manager for Nortel.

Implementing an integrated switch was cost-effective for RT and will allow it to offer services such as single number plans, Jantz said. In addition, Nortel describes other potential capabilities such as integrating with Centrex systems for services such as corporate dialing plans.

Based in Columbia, Md., TECORE, Inc. is an international leader in scalable switches for the wireless industry. Currently, TECORE is developing innovative switching solutions for wireless providers in the United States and internationally from Antigua to Zimbabwe. Its cost-effective scalable Mobile Switching Center interfaces with a variety of wireless technologies, including GSM, TDMA, CDMA, and AMPS for systems operating in the PCS 1900, DCS 1800, 900 megahertz, and 800 megahertz frequency bands.