European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 18, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Cellular phones just gadgets or the latest necessity by Calvin Sims new York times once gadgets of the Rich and powerful cellular telephones Are moving into the mainstream. Still primarily business tools the phones Are increasingly showing up in the in cars handbags and pockets of the elderly housewives outdoor enthusiasts and others who need instant communications. Cellular carriers recently introduced discount plans that allow heavy users to pay a High monthly charge of $35 to $50 and Low usage rates of about 30 cents to 40 cents per minute. Low volume users can pay a Low monthly charge about $10 to $15, and High rates of about 60 cents to 90 cents. American Consumers Are signing up for cellular service in record numbers attracted by declining equipment costs and new portable phones Small enough to fit into shirt pockets. Some Industry analysts predict that portable telephones which unlike Mobile phones can be carried outside cars will become As common by the next decade As videocassette recorders and microwave ovens. Quot we Are looking at the Dawn of an explosion in cellular Telephone usage that will Lead to stiff Competition and better More innovative products and services for Consumers Quot said Steve Sazegar an analyst with the Dat quest Market research firm of san Jose Calif. With demand for cellular service increasing rapidly equipment makers and service providers Are scrambling to capture a larger share of the Market. Service providers Are offering discounts and the cellular carriers Are installing digital equipment to serve the deluge of new subscribers. Since the first cellular telephones were introduced six years ago manufacturers have sought to emulate the tiny shoe phone used by secret agent Maxwell smart in the 1960s television series get smart. The latest phones Are Small enough to be slipped into a shirt pocket or purse if not inside a shoe. Equipment manufacturers have reduced the average Price of a car or Mobile phone to about $400 including installation from about $2,000 six years ago. They Are battling to produce phones that Are smaller More powerful and safer to operate while driving. Sales from cellular service Are expected to top $4.4 billion this year up from an estimated $3.3 billion in 1989. Equipment sales $520 million in 1989, should reach $655 million in 1990. The United states had More than 2.7 million cellular subscribers a mainly doctors lawyers executives and other professionals a in june 1989, according to the cellular telecommunications Industry association. In 1988, subscribers increased 67 percent to 2.06 million. Still the Price of cellular service will have to drop substantially before there is a phone in every car or pocket in the United states. A typical cellular customer now pays about $100 a month. Out front in the race to miniaturized is Motorola inc. Last year Motorola introduced Micro tac a hand held phone the size of a Wallet or Check Book with the same performance As larger Mobile phones. At 12.3 ounces and 13.5 cubic inches the Micro tac is the smallest lightest portable phone on the Market. Performance carries a Price currently $3,000 for Micro tac but less for a no frills version to be introduced in february. Motorola the electronics giant in Schaumburg iii., said that its researchers spent five years reducing the size and weight of the phone s components a in particular the oscillator and the duplexes which allow a caller to talk and listen at the same time. Herschel Shosteck an Industrial analyst called the Micro tac Quot a technological tour de Force Quot because of the teamwork Between Motorola a engineering design manufacturing and marketing divisions. Quot i expect no other manufacturer to duplicate the size and weight of the Micro tac within the next three to four years Quot said Shosteck. A analysts said that Motorola has remained the leading manufacturer of cellular phones in the United states despite Strong Competition from the japanese and other foreign producers. Motorola invests heavily in. Research and development and advanced manufacturing processes. The company announced plans last year for a $50 million research facility near Chicago to develop cellular technology. Quot this is an Industry where we will never be Able to let Down our guard because competitors Are always right behind you charging full Speed ahead Quot said James Cail director of marketing for Motorola s cellular group. Analysts estimate that North american manufacturers which also include general electric and Nova Tel control about 30 percent to 40 percent of the United states Market a More than most consumer electronics products. Foreign producers include Nec Hitachi Mitsubishi Oki uni Den and Toshiba. Nova Tel communications ltd., a cellular phone maker based in Calgary Alberta is the leading cellular supplier in Canada and a growing presence in the United states. The privately held firm doubled its Sale in 1989 to about $300 million with the Success of such products As action Pac 4, a portable phone in a Case can be moved from one vehicle to another drawing it Power from dashboard cigarette lighters. Del Lippert Nova Tell a president and chief executive said that the company might integrate other devices like answering machines and clock radios into cellular telephones. He expects the phones to become a Mas Market product towards the end of the decade Asmo Consumers use them for emergencies like keeping in touch when their cars break Down in areas far from an other phones. To improve cellular safety most manufacturers hav introduced models with voice commanded automatic dealing speakers and microphones that allow the drive to keep both hands on the wheel while talking. To meet the explosive demand for cellular service carriers Are converting their networks to digital technology that will provide three times the capacity o current analog systems at lower Cost. The most dramatic growth in cellular subscribers in metropolitan areas with Large car bound population carriers Are quickly reaching capacity. In some areas including los Angeles customers dealing during Rush hour often get responses Only from the Quot system not available Quot lights on their phones. The networks in the new York City Chicago san Francisc and Washington . Areas Are also near their limits the new digital equipment converts Calls into the computer language of simple 0�?Ts and 1 a which can transmitted with less distortion than the More compe radio signals for analog equipment. The first digital networks expected to go into operation in 1993, will offer cellular customers clearer Calls and a wide variety of new services like fact it transmissions error free data transmissions and Access to data bases. Because the new networks c transmit their simpler signals with less Power they a expected to lower the Cost of cellular service per a 30 percent to 40 percent. Page 16 a a a the stars and stripes sunday March 18,1990