Nortel enters North American wireless handset market with all-in-one digital phone, pager and answering machine

Nortel enters North American wireless handset market with all-in-one digital phone, pager and answering machine

September 20, 1996

SAN FRANCISCO -- Nortel today introduced the PCS 1911 wireless handset, a personal telephone that supports voice mail system and messaging services. The easy-to-use PCS 1911, designed after extensive consumer research, boasts features such as a large display screen, patented acoustic design and enlarged buttons. The first in a family of wireless handsets, the PCS 1911 is Nortel's first entry into the wireless handset market in North America.

BellSouth Mobility DCS awarded Nortel a multi-million dollar, three year supply agreement to deploy the PCS 1911 handsets throughout their PCS network in the Carolinas and Eastern Tennessee.

Nortel's PCS 1911 wireless handset, announced at PCS '96 in San Francisco, is designed for use with networks that use the PCS 1900 standard, a derivative of the Global Systems for Mobile communications (GSM) standard adopted by more than 160 mobile telephone operators in 90 countries.

The PCS 1911 is a sleek 7.8 ounce mobile phone with a four-line, backlit display for ease of access to text messages, voice mail and other services. Since PCS is a digital technology, the handsets ensure crystal clear voice quality and enhanced security. The PCS 1911 handset also features a Nortel patented acoustic design in the ear cup and microphone to provide superior sound quality for the consumer.

"Nortel designed the PCS 1911 to be uniquely stylish and user friendly," said Ian Sugarbroad, vice president, market development, Advanced Wireless Telephones, Nortel. "We did extensive research to determine the advanced features that consumers want, such as a large screen to read messages and clear sound quality. These advantages will allow operators like BellSouth Mobility DCS to offer consumers more flexibility and control of their communications."

Nortel, the industry leader in caller ID technology, features caller ID capabilities on the PCS 1911. With caller ID service consumers can use the PCS 1911 to let them know who is calling before answering the call. If the consumer does not wish to answer, the call can be forwarded to voice mail.

"With the growing popularity of caller ID in the traditional telephone market, we are certain that consumers will adopt PCS for its caller ID capability and increased feature functionality," said Ron Belin, vice president, Sales and Marketing, BellSouth Mobility DCS. "We believe that consumers want easy-to-use telephones with advanced features that let them continue their communications wherever they choose to go."

The PCS 1911 makes use of a full-sized Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) smart card, which contains the consumer's personal service profile and telephone directory. This card can be removed for security, or transferred to another PC 1900 compatible phone.