AirTouch Cellular Expands Mobile Web Service

Extending its phone-based wireless Internet service, AirTouch Cellular (San Francisco, CA) has introduced Mobile Web in digital markets throughout Ohio and Michigan, and in Washington and Oregon, ahead of an expanded launch planned for second quarter.

The service offers AirTouch digital customers access to Internet content, e-mail, e-commerce, mobile-originated messaging and address book and calendar functions through Internet-ready phones. The wireless phone becomes a communications hub by providing access to both voice and data communication. Customers able to get news, sports scores, stock quotes, travel information, movie schedules and more by pressing a few buttons on their phones. Users can customize their preferences from the phone or a PC.

The data service is bundled with digital wireless voice service and offers several benefits:

• There is no need for customers to call or visit a store to sign-up for the service. All digital phones with minibrowsers have access. Additionally, there is no activation fee.
  
• There is no incremental monthly access fee for the service. Voice and Internet minutes are billed at the same rate.
  
• All AirTouch customers have a free, personal home page that includes e-mail. The home page can be used to personalize the service from a phone, desktop, or laptop PC.
  
• Mobile Web customers can send short text messages from the phone to other AirTouch customer phones or digital pagers

"AirTouch's Mobile Web has the winning combination of features: simple pricing with Internet minutes priced the same as voice, easy set-up, great content, and the ability to customize the service from a phone or PC," said Andrew M. Seybold, editor-in-chief of Andrew Seybold's Outlook. "Further, AirTouch has demonstrated a greater concern for customer privacy by not passing the customer's phone number to Web sites."

The service works with new mobile Internet-ready digital phones, including the Samsung 850, Qualcomm 860 and Neopoint 1600 (available in late spring). Other phones will be available shortly from Motorola and Audiovox.

This new service is the second mobile Internet offering from AirTouch Cellular. The first, Net Access, provides a wireless, digital connection to the Internet or a business network through a laptop computer or PDA.

Edited by Ellen Jensen