PrimeCo's Digital Network Offers Secure Calls

PrimeCo's Digital Network Offers Secure Calls

Recent breaches highlight wireless security concerns

January 16, 1997

DALLAS - New digital networks, like that
operated by
PrimeCo Personal Communications, L.P., eliminate eavesdropping,
offering users the best privacy available in the market today.
PrimeCo's network is more secure than traditional cellular networks
because it is based on the CDMA transmission technology. Any phone
call made over an analog cellular network can be intercepted by
scanners, and public figures have made headlines when information
picked up this way has been made public.

"When wireless security breaches make headlines, consumers may worry
that someone could listen to their calls," said Irene Stearn,
PrimeCo's director-loss prevention. "PrimeCo has chosen the most
fundamentally sound transmission technology in the wireless
marketplace, so we can give our customers complete peace of mind while
using their mobile phones. We know most of our customers don't have to
worry about their private conversations making news, but everyone
deserves to keep their private conversations private."

The transmissions of CDMA, or code division multiple access, are
encoded digitally. Conversations are broken up, and each segment of
conversation is assigned a code. On the receiving end, the
conversation is reconstructed using the code. Even if a call on
PrimeCo's network could be intercepted, the eavesdropper would hear
only a brief segment of garbled speech - nothing that could be
reprinted in a newspaper, whether it's The New York Times or the
National Enquirer.

Customers can purchase PrimeCo phones at more than 1,000 local and
national retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Computer City,
Incredible Universe, Office Depot and RadioShack locations. PrimeCo
operates 35 retail stores and a telephone sales channel that can be
reached by calling 1-800-801-2100.

PrimeCo Personal Communications
owns PCS licenses covering 19 states
and 58 million potential customers in 16 major cities: Norfolk and
Richmond, Va.; Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando and
Tampa, Fla.; Chicago; Milwaukee; New Orleans; Austin, Dallas, Fort
Worth, Houston and San Antonio, Texas; and Honolulu. The company was
formed by an alliance of AirTouch Communications, Bell Atlantic, NYNEX
and U S WEST Media Group, and has
more than 2,000 employees.

The combined cellular and PCS properties of PrimeCo and its owners
include 39 of the top 50 U.S. markets, covering nearly 170 million
people in 46 states and the District of Columbia and serving 20
percent of the wireless subscribers in the United States. The wireless
partnership delivers to customers products and services that are easy
to use, buy and afford, and plans to provide seamless nationwide
service. The address for PrimeCo's
interactive web site is
www.primeco.com.

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