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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d) of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: May 14, 1996
AirTouch Communications, Inc.
Delaware 1-12342 94-3213132
(State or other (Commission File (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of Number) Identification No.)
incorporation)
One California Street, San Francisco, California 94111
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (415) 658-2000
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Item 5. Other Events.
AirTouch Communications, Inc. ("AirTouch") announced on May 14, 1996 that
customers will begin using new CDMA Digital Service as described in the press
release attached as Exhibit 99.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits
(c) Exhibits.
Exhibit 99. Press Release dated May 14, 1996.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
AIRTOUCH COMMUNICATIONS, INC.
By: /s/ Mohan S. Gyani
---------------------------
Mohan S. Gyani
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Date: May 31, 1996
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Exhibits Index
Exhibit 99. Press Release dated May 14, 1996
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EXHIBIT 99
[AIRTOUCH COMMUNICATIONS letterhead]
May 14, 1996
AIRTOUCH INAUGURATES POWERBAND SERVICE
IN LARGEST U.S. CELLULAR MARKET
Customers North of Los Angeles Are First to Use New CDMA Digital Service
LOS ANGELES --Starting tomorrow, the first AirTouch Cellular (AirTouch
Communications NYSE:ATI) customers will begin using its new digital cellular
service, Powerband.SM Powerband service uses Code Division Multiple Access
(CDMA) technology.
These customers will benefit from Powerband's enhanced features, improved call
quality, better privacy and batteries that permit up to five hours of talk-time
or as much as 200% more than what analog phones offer today.
For the first few months, several hundred existing customers, who have been
selected for their high usage and interest in new products, will transition to
Powerband service. During this introductory phase, the service area will cover
approximately 3,500 square miles to include the San Fernando Valley up to
Ventura, an area covering over two million people or one-third of the AirTouch
geography in Los Angeles. By itself, the area would be the 18th largest market
in the United States, larger than the Denver or Pittsburgh markets in terms of
population. "We expect a rapid expansion of our commercial service to new
portions of the network, covering up to 80 percent of the Los Angeles calling
area by year end," explained Lee Cox, AirTouch Communications vice chairman and
president and CEO of AirTouch Cellular.
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The introduction of Powerband marks the third time AirTouch has deployed new
digital technology worldwide, and the first AirTouch service under the national
Powerband brand name. AirTouch along with its alliance partners U S WEST
Cellular and Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile, as well as PrimeCo Personal
Communications all plan to offer service under the Powerband name and all plan
to use Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) digital technology. Together the
cellular alliance already serves more than 7 million customers in an area with a
population of more than 113 million people.
"We introduced GSM for the first time in Germany, PDC for the first time in
Japan and now are among the CDMA pioneers in the U.S.," said Cox. "In final
testing, we achieved sound quality levels equal to or better than analog. We
think our customers will appreciate the reduced background noise and cross-talk,
two benefits of Powerband that distinguish it from other services available
today."
Different from other companies, the AirTouch digital deployment strategy moves
blocks of analog traffic to digital by providing Powerband service to higher
usage customers. This 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 the first to enjoy the benefits of Powerband service.
Another advantage of this strategy is that AirTouch can closely monitor customer
feedback and further fine-tune the network to enhance customer satisfaction
before ramping up its migration pace. Also, since Powerband is being offered
first to existing customers only, there are no mass advertising and promotion
costs.
AirTouch has designed and engineered cellular networks worldwide for more than
600 million people, more than any other cellular carrier. "We know what it takes
to please customers," said Cox. "Recently in Los Angeles we asked them to rate
Powerband service and over two-thirds said it sounded better than or equal to
our high performing analog system."
The Powerband service is based on network infrastructure equipment supplied by
Motorola. According to Jack Finlayson, corporate vice president and general
manager of Motorola's Pan American Wireless Infrastructure Division, "AirTouch
has reinforced its position as an industry leader by bringing CDMA technology to
customers in Los Angeles. The subscribers in Los Angeles are about to enjoy the
many benefits of this new generation cellular technology."
The first Powerband customers will be using two different styles of portable
handsets: either the Sony (CM-D500) /QUALCOMM (QCP-800) or the OKI CD3000.
Standard accessories for these dual-mode (analog/digital) handsets may include
car kits, hands-free kits, rapid chargers, cigarette lighter adapters and nickel
metal hydride or lithium-ion batteries.
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Coby Sillers, OKI Senior Vice President, sales and marketing said, "OKI telecom
is proud to be a partner with AirTouch Cellular in this historic event. As a
charter member of the CDMA Development Group, OKI has demonstrated unwavering
commitment to this technology platform, persevering in the development of CDMA
products that meet the needs of carriers and consumers."
"The launch of the CDMA system in Los Angeles represents the culmination of a
diligent and well-directed effort by AirTouch Communications in fielding this
new technology and we congratulate them," said Dr. Irwin M. Jacobs, chairman and
CEO of QUALCOMM Incorporated. "This the beginning of a fundamental shift in the
way people communicate in the U.S. and around the world."
Initially Powerband can support short messaging service which will provide
customers with voice mail notification, digital paging and text messaging
capabilities. Unlike the short messaging paging services, Powerband short
messaging service stores messages for 90 minutes and then converts them to a
voice mail message to be retrieved at a later time. Other features such as
Caller ID, CDMA data, Internet access for sending electronic mail and
over-the-air activation are also expected to be introduced later as part of the
Powerband service offering.
AirTouch and its joint venture partner U S WEST Cellular plan to deploy CDMA in
all of their respective major markets including: Atlanta, Denver, Michigan,
Minneapolis, Ohio, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego,
Seattle and Tucson.
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 10 other nations: Belgium,
Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Poland, Portugal, South Korea, Spain, and Sweden.
The company, based in San Francisco, serves nearly six million wireless
customers worldwide.
For a fax copy of this or other recent AirTouch press releases, please call
1-800-344-7531.
