ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 26, 1996 TAG: 9601260067
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
GTE Mobilnet of Richmond formally announced during a news teleconference Thursday that it has begun offering service throughout most of the state without the traditional roaming charges.
Roaming charges are fees that customers pay when they travel between regions covered by different cellular providers.
The company now offers free roaming service through arrangements with cellular providers in parts of Virginia where it doesn't now offer its own service. The free-roaming does not apply in Northern Virginia or in the northern part of the Eastern Shore, but includes some of North Carolina.
GTE is one of two companies offering cellular phone service in the Roanoke Valley. Its competitor, United States Cellular, called GTE's announcement Thursday no big deal. GTE began promoting the new service Sunday.
Although the new statewide service eliminates roaming charges, GTE customers still will have to pay toll charges for long-distance calls beyond any region where the company is a local cellular provider, the company said.
The new service plan, which GTE refers to as its SuperSystem, is not unique to Virginia, according to GTE Mobilnet's Virginia President Philip Forbes. The first such free-roaming system was the Lone Star Network in Texas, he said. Forbes predicted wide-ranging, free-roaming systems will become commonplace.
GTE has offered a similar service on a smaller scale in the eastern and western parts of Virginia for $10 a month, John Rodman, the company's manager in Roanoke said. The service is free, but GTE customers must call to sign up for it.
"Our goal is to make cellular service as easy, convenient and affordable as today's technology makes possible," Forbes said.
Al Ruscito, area manager for United States Cellular, said his company has offered a similar plan for several months. His company's home-calling area covers 45 percent of the state; for example, a customer can make toll-free calls from Marion to Charlottesville, he said.
Another of United States Cellular's plans offers toll-free calling from the home area to anywhere else in the state for a $5 monthly charge. Ruscito said the GTE plan is flawed because it doesn't cover Northern Virginia, and because long-distance charges still apply.
However, Jennifer Ebert, a GTE spokeswoman, said the company might eliminate all long-distance charges in the state. The company's goal is to cover the entire state, she said.
LENGTH: Short : 50 lines ILLUSTRATION: GRAPHIC: Map: GTE mobilnet Virginia system. color.by CNB