APC contracts with Shenandoah Telecommunications to provide PCS service in I-81 corridor; agreement will bring new wireless service to rural areas faster.BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 1995--American Personal Communications has entered an agreement with the Shenandoah Telecommunications Co. (Shentel) to allow the Edinburg, Va. firm to act as manager of a portion of APC's Personal Communications Service Area, 24,181 sq mi (62,629 sq km). Pop. and Maryland. "By allowing Shentel to be our manager, to build and operate the system under our supervision and to our specifications, we will be able to honor our commitment to bring high-quality PCS service to the greatest portion of our market area in the shortest amount of time," said Wayne N. Schelle, APC's chairman. "We don't plan to make the people at the far corners of our service area wait ten years for PCS service as they did for cellular." APC (1) (American Power Conversion Corporation, West Kingston, RI, www.apcc.com) The leading manufacturer of UPS systems and surge suppressors, founded in 1981 by Rodger Dowdell, Neil Rasmussen and Emanual Landsman, three electronic power engineers who had worked at MIT. received a license from the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. last December to provide PCS, a new type of wireless telephone and data service, in the Baltimore-Washington area, the rest of Maryland, about half of Virginia and parts of West Virginia. The company, striving to become the first operational PCS entity in the U.S., plans to launch service by the end of 1995. Schelle said Shentel would install and operate the PCS system A PCS System in a personal communications service, is a collection of facilities (hardware, software, and network components) that provides some combination of personal mobility, terminal mobility, and service profile management. , under APC's supervision, from Harrisonburg, Va. north to Pennsylvania, following the route of Interstate 81. Areas serviced would include Chambersburg, Pa.; Hagerstown, Md.; Martinsburg, W. Va.; and Winchester and Woodstock, Va. plus connecting thoroughfares. APC will determine the services to be offered, and the prices, terms and conditions of those services. Shentel will use its expertise as a local manager to implement those decisions. Schelle said Shentel is part of a multi-service telecommunications organization which provides local telephone, cellular, paging, long-distance and Internet access See how to access the Internet. service. "Shentel is a successful, well-recognized provider of a variety of telecommunications services, and we are pleased to be joining them in bringing the latest all-digital, wireless communications wireless communications System using radio-frequency, infrared, microwave, or other types of electromagnetic or acoustic waves in place of wires, cables, or fibre optics to transmit signals or data. service to Virginia and other parts of our service area," Schelle said. "We are extremely pleased to associate with APC, which is truly a pioneer in the wireless communications industry," said Christopher E. French, Shentel's president. "This is a substantial commitment on our part to meet APC's schedule, and will require major financial and personnel resources. We are excited about our opportunity to participate in this new wireless service and to meet the needs of the 750,000 people in this area," French added. As an additional benefit of the APC relationship, Schelle said Shentel would market and sell products as APC's manager/agent under APC's Sprint Cable affiliation, a venture promising innovative media packages in addition to long-distance and wireless service. The Sprint Cable venture is APC's limited partner in the Washington-Baltimore PCS operation, and PCS service will be offered under the Sprint brand name throughout APC's service area when it is available by the end of 1995. CONTACT: American Personal Communications Anne Phillips Anne Phillips is Professor of Political and Gender Theory; The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE); Gender Institute and Government Department. Profile , 301/214-9200 or Shentel Christopher French, 703/984-5209 |
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