ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, February 25, 1997             TAG: 9702250107
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press

AT&T PLANS ITS WIRELESS GRAB AT LOCAL BUSINESS

Imagine using the same cordless phone to call from home, the supermarket and the car - for only slightly higher rates than for wired calls.

AT&T Corp. wants to cut the cord on your local phone service.

AT&T and other long-distance companies are working on wireless technologies that would enable them to provide local phone service nationwide - while bypassing traditional copper-wire networks in towns and cities.

While the service is at least several years away, the companies are hoping it will help seize local phone business from the Baby Bells and GTE Corp., and save money in the process. But the real winners could be consumers, analysts say. Several regional Bell companies also are working on the new mobile technology, promising competition that could drive down prices.

The idea is that the new phone service could be ``priced similarly to local phone service,'' said Jeffrey Hines, a telecommunications analyst with NatWest Securities Corp. ``That's the whole key.''

Since the services have yet to be launched, cost savings are a matter of speculation. People familiar with AT&T's plan told The Wall Street Journal on Monday that AT&T may charge as little as $10 a month as a flat fee to let a user of its new service make unlimited local phone calls from home.

The technology AT&T plans to test uses a sophisticated electronic box to directly tie home telephones to the company's wireless network. The Journal said the box, which is 18-inches square and mounted on the side of a home, would sell for less than $300.

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