APC signs agreement to purchase Nokia handsets for nation's first PCS system; Order for feature-rich handsets is first for U.S. PCS industry Business Editors.

BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 1995--American Personal Communications, Inc., which plans to deploy the nation's first Personal Communications Service (PCS) system by the end of this year, today announced it has signed a contract valued at about $10 million with Nokia Mobile Phones, Inc. for wireless handsets.

"The Nokia handsets are the most feature-rich wireless instruments available in the world today," said Scott Schelle, APC's chief executive officer. "Since we are introducing the PCS era in the United States, and this contract is the first awarded for PCS handsets, we wanted to be sure we had the best," Schelle added.

APC plans to launch PCS, an advanced wireless telecommunications service, throughout a population base of more than eight million people in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

"PCS will introduce customers to a number of new features not readily available with other traditional wireless systems," said Osmo Hautanen, vice president and general manager of Nokia Mobile Phones' PCS Group. "We are very pleased to be working with a leader like APC as the first to offer this exciting new service to people here in the United States."

The lightweight Nokia handsets -- model 2191 -- have the ability to transmit data as well as voice, have a five- line liquid crystal display panel for short messages and offer excellent voice quality and security because they are digital. The handsets weigh only 8.3 ounces and measure less than one inch thick, and are capable of transmitting data at a speed of 9,600 bits per second, with the ability to be upgraded to transmit at a speed of 19.2 kilobits per second.

Additional capabilities of the handsets reflect attributes of the digital technology behind them, Schelle said. APC's system is being built on the PCS 1900 standard, a U.S. version of a worldwide digital standard known as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications). There are some six million customers on GSM systems around the world, Schelle said.

"Our PCS 1900 system will offer features our customers will associate with their home phones, such as caller ID and call screening, which allows users to decide whose calls they wish to accept," Schelle said. "In addition, APC will offer some proprietary services of its own when we commence service later this year."

Nokia delivers handsets to more than 100 countries throughout the world for all system technologies used, said Hautanen, positioning it as a leader in supplying PCS equipment -- in both infrastructure and terminals.

The contract with APC is the first PCS handset agreement in the United States, said Hautanen.

The Nokia handsets will be manufactured at the Nokia's Fort Worth, Texas, plant, which illustrates a key element of the PCS story.

"A great part of our excitement about PCS is the opportunity it gives the U.S. to participate in a global enterprise of enormous promise," Schelle said.

"Government officials have estimated that the introduction of PCS here will lead to the creation of 300,000 high-quality American jobs, and the infrastructure investment necessary to construct PCS systems across the U.S. will be equally impressive -- several billion dollars," Schelle noted.

"APC's system will add more the $100 million to the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia economies, and that story will be repeated everywhere as other companies follow APC into the market."

APC, which is affiliated with Sprint, has secured more than 300 transmitter base station sites, has opened switching centers in Maryland and Virginia, and earlier agreed to purchase some $60 million worth of switching and transmission equipment.

PCS is a generic term for a variety of digital, wireless voice and data services aimed at both general consumer and business users. Because it is based on digital technology, its signals will offer more clarity and security than analog cellular systems. It will also offer data services such as facsimile and short messaging.

Finland-based Nokia is Europe's largest, and the world's second largest, manufacturer of cellular telephones, is a pioneer in digital switching and cellular telephone technology and is a leader in supplying PCS infrastructure and terminals. Nokia shares trade on six stock exchanges throughout the world, including the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NOK.A. The company posted 1994 net sales of $6.4 billion.

Nokia is the title sponsor of The Nokia Sugar Bowl college football classic held annually in New Orleans.

CONTACT: Crescent Communications

Bill Maguire, 404/698-8650, ext. 119

Fax, 404/698-8651

or

American Personal Communications

Anne Phillips Schelle, 301/214-9200

Fax, 301/214-9490