AirTouch Launches Powerband Digital Service in Metro Detroit; Nortel's CDMA Equipment Overlaid onto Ericsson Analog Network.

DETROIT--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 16, 1997--For the third time in 11 months, AirTouch Cellular (AirTouch Communications NYSE:ATI) is bringing the benefits of digital cellular technology to more U.S. customers by introducing its Powerband(SM) service in the metro Detroit area.

Powerband service has also been launched in the Seattle and Denver US West markets which provide cellular service under the AirTouch brand name.

In related news, AirTouch also confirmed that it is in the process of converting to 13 kilobit per second vocoder technology in its Los Angeles Powerband network.

"The 13 kilobit vocoder technology wasn't available when we pioneered service in LA nearly a year ago," explained Brian Jones, president of AirTouch Cellular. "Thanks to the CDMA architecture, customers will be able to use their existing Powerband phones to take advantage of the enhanced voice quality available with 13 kbps," Jones said.

With the Powerband launch in Detroit, AirTouch Cellular now covers roughly 23 million POPs with its digital cellular service or 40% of all of its U.S. managed market POPs. The company expects to have digital service in every major AirTouch market by the middle of 1998.

Detroit customers will benefit from Powerband's enhanced features, improved call quality, reduced background noise, better privacy, and batteries that permit up to five hours of talk-time or as much as 200% more than analog phones offer today. Powerband CDMA phones operate in both the digital and the analog mode, giving customers two-phones-in-one and the ability to use their phone across the country.

This unique Powerband system uses Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) network equipment provided by Nortel (Northern Telecom) that has been engineered and constructed to overlay an existing Ericsson analog network. This AirTouch CDMA system covers approximately 90% of the company's analog traffic within the Detroit MSA.

"We're confident subscribers in Detroit will be delighted with Powerband service from AirTouch," said Matt Desch, president, Wireless Networks, Nortel. "The network includes the latest 13 kilobit (per second) vocoder technology to provide outstanding voice quality."

Different from companies launching digital as their only service offering, in Detroit AirTouch will follow a strategy of moving blocks of analog traffic to digital by targeting Powerband service at higher usage customers. "Our approach not only enables the fastest, most capital efficient transfer of capacity from analog to digital, but allows AirTouch's high usage customers to be among the first to enjoy the benefits of Powerband service," said Jones.

Powerband customers in Detroit will initially use QUALCOMM (QCP-800) phones. Standard accessories for these dual-mode (analog/digital) handsets will include car kits, hands-free kits, rapid chargers, cigarette lighter adapters and nickel metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries. AirTouch expects to launch voice mail notification, caller ID, and short messaging service in Detroit later this year as part of its Powerband service offering.

AirTouch has designed and engineered cellular networks worldwide for more than 600 million people, more than any other cellular carrier. "Around the world AirTouch's ventures have more than 300,000 customers experiencing the benefits of CDMA," said Craig Farrill, AirTouch vice president of strategic technology and chairman of the CDMA development group. "We've engineered digital networks using every known technology and now are using Nortel infrastructure overlaying an Ericsson network for the first time," said Farrill. "We're very excited about this milestone in CDMA development and the performance of Nortel's CDMA technology."

AirTouch Communications is a global wireless communications company, with interests in cellular, paging, personal communications services and the Globalstar satellite system in the United States and 11 other nations: Belgium, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden. The company, based in San Francisco, serves more than eight million wireless customers worldwide.

Nortel had 1996 revenues of US $12.8 billion and has approximately 68,000 employees worldwide.

CONTACT: AirTouch Communications

Amy Damianakes, 510/210-3645