A long time ago, like last summer, San Diego was a quaint duopoly. In bureaucratese, that meant just two companies AirTouch Cellular and GTE were allowed to provide wireless telephone service. Buyers of their analog cellular offerings were, mostly, happy.

    Now four wireless providers are scrambling for that business with a fifth (NextWave) on the way and more expected. The two newcomers are offering competing versions of gee-whiz digital technology, an occurrence the advertising brains have made hard to miss if you read the newspaper, watch television, listen to the radio or open the direct-mail pieces rolling into the office. Prices are falling and the marketing whizzes are growing the customer base by taking aim at everyday folk who, via the lower costs, see the phones as a safety device or a way to stay in touch with the kids.

    Pacific Bell Mobile Services raised the competitive bar when, on Nov. 1, it began offering its PCS-1900 pure digital service and a cornucopia of standard features with phones you could buy for $159 at places like Long's Drug store and activate in the parking lot. Sprint PCS broke out of the gate almost two months later (Dec. 27) with its own $199 phone-in-the-box that, while a few features short of the Pac Bell offering, required no monthly fees whatever, charging users only for time used. Neither phone requires an annual contract and both are full of free stuff like voice messaging.

    Responding to this competition, the original players are trimming prices and moving into the digital fray. AirTouch introduced an analog/digital phone in November called Powerpoint. At $259 and requiring a two-year contract (the price is $499 for a one-year contract), Powerpoint is more expensive than the straight digital products but has superior coverage. Competitor GTE expects to counterpunch with its own dual-mode handset sometime the middle of this year.

    If that wasn’t enough to make it interesting, the two sole-digital providers are using rival technologies. Sprint is going with the Code Division Multiple Access technology developed by San Diego’s Qualcomm Inc. and put into phones made locally by Sony. (AirTouch and GTE also have chosen CDMA.) Pac Bell is betting on the more established GSM technology that dominates Europe. And with the more mature product, Pac Bell will be first with new models of the phone and personalized services such as scrolling financial news.

    Claims, counterclaims, truth, fiction and everything else aside, what it all adds up to is a marvelous time to be considering a wireless telephone. In the old duopoly days, consumers had little choice. "If your customer became dissatisfied, he came to me. And if mine was dissatisfied he went to you," explains Bob Rosenberg, president of The Insight Research Corp., a New Jersey-based telecommunications market research group. "All things being equal, it was a wash. At the end of the day we would both walk to the bank and we had no sleepless nights. Today if my customer leaves, I may never see him again."

    So the competition is fierce. For example, print advertising from February 1996 shows one of the best package deals (free phone and service) available was one priced at $29.95 a month with air time as high as 74 cents per minute. Today, a store like A-Plus Wire-less in Sports Arena is offering a 21-21 plan that, for $21 a month, includes air time at 21 cents per minute.

    Rosenberg expects the consumer field day will last two to three years. By then, he says, "the weaker (companies) will have fallen by the wayside and the survivors will look to get back some of this horrendous investment they have made."

    Decisions, decisions. You’re new to the wireless market, attracted by the promise of digital technology, or you’re an existing cellular customer who has had one too many conversations fade away to static, suffered the cloning nightmare or worried that Newt Gingrich's enemies may be listening in on you.

    If you want a phone that works immediately almost everywhere, analog remains by far the best bet. Prices for AirTouch Cellular and GTE phones are down dramatically, and for as little as a six-month contract a phone is included.

    The analog phones are proven and the network has had 12 years to work out the kinks. AirTouch spokeswoman Lisa Ackerman says the solidity of her company’s platform is keeping customers satisfied and that the cellular firm experienced its lowest churn ratio ever in November and December, a period when Pac Bell was turning on the digital marketing heat.

    If the technology of the future is too seductive to resist, not to mention the basket full of no-charge extras such as voice mail and caller ID, the digital offerings of Pac Bell and Sprint really are crisper sounding, although not quite as clear as a good land-line phone in your home. The noise-suppression technology does a great job of filtering out non-voice background sounds, sometimes disconcertingly so. For example, if your spouse calls from the car while listening to radio talk show host Roger Hedgecock, it will sound like the ex-mayor is riding along. And digital is virtually impossible to clone.

    But the pure digital network is in its infancy, range is limited and service "black holes" common. Borrego Springs, for example, is not on any near-term maps for digital service (analog is already established in the desert), and if you break down on the way to Mammoth for skiing you may as well leave the digital in the glove box. Both Sprint and Pac Bell promise to aggressively ferret out network weaknesses, and each offers a generous return policy.

    For consumers desiring the reliability of an established network along with the new technology, AirTouch has a "Powerband" telephone that contains both digital and analog equipment. Essentially, if you get out of range of the digital network, you are automatically switched over to analog. It’s more expensive (at least $259 for the phone alone) than either pure analog or digital, but has that enticing techno sex appeal. GTE expects to offer a similar service mid-year.

    Ultimately, smart shopping is the best advice. Estimate how much, in minutes, you will use the phone each month and at what times during the day, where you will use it and what features voice mail, paging, messaging, etc. are most important and how much you want to spend. Battery times vary as do hardware perks such as a car adapter (at $60, it is an expensive extra for the Sprint phone).

    When everything is written out on a legal pad, call each of the four providers, or a retailer, and see which product best meets your needs. Finally, once you do buy, stop watching the ads. Mobile telephones are like computers. The better deal will always be tomorrow, but that would be too late to call someone to help fix that flat tire you may get today.

Best Small Business Plan

Reward Plan. The $199 per-phone package includes the phone, rebates and 300 minutes of talk time each month. Additional minutes are 25 cents each.

GTE Small Business Package. After paying $35 for the phone and accessories, the $27.95 a month plan includes incoming call discount, 200 free cell-to-cell minutes per month and 21 cents per minute on other calls.

Talk Along Plus, $159. Package includes telephone plus service for six months. Features include voice messaging, paging and 20 minutes peak and 30 minutes off-peak per month

Customers with a Powerband phone ($259 with a two-year contract; $499 with a one-year ) can get a $26.95 plan with 15 peak, 360 off-peak minutes and 35 cents each for additional minutes.

Digital 30. Phone costs $149 plus $50 rebate. Requiring no contract, Digital 30 is $29.95 per month. It includes 30 minutes free airtime. Additional minutes are 30 cents each.

Best Consumer Plan

Pioneer Program. The $199 package includes phone, charger, $30 rebate and $50 in long-distance credits. No annual contract and calls are 35 cents per minute with first incoming minute free.

GTE To Go, $199. Includes phone, voice messaging, paging, no contract or access fees for a year. Calls are 35 cents per minute.

Talk Along Plus, $159. Package includes telephone plus service for six months. Features include voice messaging, paging and 20 minutes peak and 30 minutes off-peak per month.

Customers with a Powerband phone ($259 with a two-year contract, $499 with a one year) can get a $16.95 plan with up to 10 free minutes and additional minutes at 39 cents or 49 cents each.

Digital 10. Phone cost is $149 plus $50 rebate. Requiring no contract, Digital 30 plan is $19.95 per month. It includes 10 free minutes of airtime. Additional minutes are 40 cents each.

Best Plan For Family Wanting Two Phones

N/A

Valentine's Day promotion offering a second line for no monthly access fee and 200 free minutes of cell-to-cell calls. Other calls are 35 cents per minute.

The $16.95 a month, one-year contract plan that includes a

phone and 10 free local minutes with a second line at $10 per month.

Customers with two Powerband phones could get a second line for $10 per month.

N/A

International Service

Not available

Global roaming in 30 countries. With advance notice, customers can get calls on their existing number.

Available with prior arrangements

Available with prior arrangements with prior arrangements

In the future a smart card can be taken from the phone and plugged into widely used GSM network outside the U.S.

Long Distance Charge Per Minute

A flat 50 cents

Starting March 1, 14 cents per minute plus applicable per-minute usage fees.

10 cents in CA, elsewhere 10 cents off-peak, 20 cents peak plus applicable per-minute usage fees.

10 cents in CA, elsewhere 10 cents off-peak, 20 cents peak plus applicable per-minute usage fees.

15 cents per minute plus applicable per-minute usage fees.

Avg. Battery Life Standby: In Use:

48 hours

4 hours

16 hours

90 minutes

12 hours

70 minutes

48 hours

4 hours

48 hours

3-5 hours

Where It Will Work

In San Diego, Fresno, Milwaukee, Portland, Spokane, Pittsburgh, Albany, Syracuse, Seattle and Washington, D.C. today; 65 cities by year’s end.

With roaming agreements, virtually all of North America is covered.

With roaming agreements, virtually all of North America is covered

With roaming agreements, virtually all of North America is covered

In San Diego and Las Vegas. By year’s end all major California cities. Company has a consortium agreement to eventually cover areas with a population of 236 million in North America.

Where It Won't Work

The network is new so dead spaces abound.

Some wilderness areas and other places where carrier lacks a roaming agreement.

Some wilderness areas and other places where carrier lacks a roaming agreement

Some wilderness areas and other places where carrier lacks a roaming agreement

The network is new so dead spaces abound

Other Neat Stuff

No contract required. Pioneer program members never pay a monthly usage fee and receive a free handset upgrade after 5,000 minutes of use

Pre-paid airtime plans require no credit check, deposit or annual plan. Customers know exactly what they will spend each month. The Mr. Rescue emergency roadside assistance plan where Mr. Rescue answers the phone.

AirTouch Cellular's customer service team is located in San Diego. The company says it is ranked best in overall customer satisfaction by J.D. Power & Associates.

AirTouch bills for its digital in 30- second increments, offers free land-line telephone access to voice mail, voice mail notification and call credits.

No contract required. The system has the capability for two-way text messaging, also, data, fax, Internet and e-mail.

For More Information

(800) 455-4551

(800) 249-GTEM

(800) AirTouch

(800) AirTouch

Gary Cohen, (619) 614-7222