SOUTHEAST MISSOURI ON PRIORITY LIST FOR CELLULAR PHONE SYSTEM

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Reaching out and touching someone by telephone may soon be possible while driving.

Periods of downtime and being out of touch for people relying on phone service can be eliminated while in the car soon with the advent of cellular phone service.

A fixture of the St. Louis scene for six years, cellular phone service is expanding from St. Louis and other metropolitan areas to rural parts of the country. Rural service has already begun near Springfield and St. Louis, where existing providers are extending the service area for their metropolitan customers traveling away from home turf.

Southeast Missouri ranks somewhat higher on the priority list for the expanding service, since Interstate 55, a major thoroughfare, cuts through the region.

Precedence is being given to areas along it, Interstate 44, and particularly Interstate 70 so cellular users can cross the state without gaps in service.

"Cellular phones are attractive to many types of business and professional people," said Tim Singleton, of Star Communications Inc. of Cape Girardeau, which handles various mobile communication systems. "That includes attorneys, outside salespersons, doctors, politicians, and people dealing in communications and service work."

People in the communications business finger bureaucratic red tape for holding up the cellular phone service to the outstate area. The Federal Communications Commission has been enmeshed in controversy and lawsuits over its plans and eventual tactics in awarding licenses to outstate service providers.

In 1989, the FCC handed out provisional licenses for 400 plus "rural service area" territories across the country. The commission awarded two licenses in each RSA, Singleton explained.

The FCC barred "horse trading" among participants to share or sell rights among the various licenses that were granted. Following litigation, the commission backed off from the ruling.

According to Singleton, the Southeast Missouri RSA licenses went to AllTel Mobile of Little Rock, Ark., and CybertTel Cellular of St. Louis. AllTel Mobile (see related story) now services an RSA south of Springfield and CyberTel serves St. Louis. CyberTel officials were not available for comment.

The local RSA (number 18) includes Cape Girardeau, Perry, Bollinger, Wayne and Madison Counties. The Missouri Bootheel is covered by RSA 19.

He estimates the start-up cost to be $900,000 and the annual operating costs to be around $100,000. "The outlying areas will never have it," Singleton said. "There's no way to make it pay."

He estimates cellular phone service in St. Louis costs about $100 monthly for the average business customer. The figure involves a $30 base fee plus calls at 70 cents per minute.

"The cost will need to be justified," Singleton said. "It will be expensive for an individual." He added that businesses involved in dispatching workers, such as utility companies and service companies, would find the service to be cost prohibitive, since two way radio service is more suitable.

Two way radio service costs $50 monthly if the service is leased or a few thousand dollars and on up for a base station and $600 for each mobile unit if purchased.

Businesses wanting lower costs to communicate with workers utilize pagers. Units can be purchased for about $250. The service is $12.50 monthly if the customer owns his pager or $20 if a unit is leased, according to Singleton's figures.

Cellular phones sell for several hundred dollars, depending on quality and features. Some discounters are pricing them less than $200 to attract the general consumer market. Installation runs $60 to $70.

Although Star Communications is not handling the cellular phone service, it is handling sales and installation of the units when service starts here.

Cellular service has its drawbacks. The customer pays for time for all incoming and outgoing calls, even for incoming calls that go unanswered.

Heavy use results in unexpectedly high billings for first time users.

"The problem is called 'customer churn' in the industry," Singleton said. "The turnover rate is 18 percent average for new customers. They find out the costs are higher than expected. That compares to a 2 percent turnover rate for pager users."

Another disadvantage, other than economics, is confidentiallity. "People can listen in on conversations with other cellular units intentionally," he warned. "There is no guaranteed confidentiallity. You don't want to say anything (on a cellular phone) you don't want others to hear."

Potential cellular customers have a variety of reasons for the purchase. "The primary reason is mobility and convenience," Singleton said. "It can provide security. There are more women traveling, many by themselves. With this they can call for help if they need it."

He added that for some customers, it will be a high-priced "new toy," that after purchase will be used for six months then put on the shelf.

AllTel Mobile receives

license for local RSA.s

SPRINGFIELD AllTel Mobile Communications Inc. did not exist nine years ago. Today the business has licensing to operate cellular phone systems in most of central, northern and eastern Arkansas and in southwest and southeast Missouri. And its network extending further.

Sometime in 1991, the Little Rock Ark.-based corporation will have cellular service on line in Cape Girardeau, one of its priority areas. Once the interlocking mesh is established, travelers, "roamers" in industry language, will be able to have access to a continuous cellular system from St. Louis to Memphis and on to Little Rock. Another system will link Little Rock and Springfield along Interstate 65.

"Cape Girardeau service will start later in 1991," said AllTel spokesman Miles Brusherd in the company's Springfield office. "There are many factors on the timing - weather, contractors and more."

Rather than leasing an existing antenna tower, the company will erect its own tower in Cape Girardeau this year. It has not yet purchased property for the site. "We have several target sites being studied," he said. "They are along Interstate 55." The tower will be between 150 and 400 feet tall when erected.

The Federal Communications Commission, which regulates cellular phone licenses, is pushing to establish cellular links along the interstates as a priority so that gaps in service along the routes will be reduced or eliminated. One result of the priority is that communities distant from the interstates will be among the last to receive cellular service.

AllTel acquired the wire line license rights for southeast Missouri and the Bootheel. CyberTel Cellular of St. Louis, which was not available for comment, acquired the non-wire license. AllTel is developing a cooperative agreement with Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems of St. Louis to link St. Louis and southeast Missouri, according to AllTel.

Brusherd expects strong competition between the two carriers, and whichever one goes on line first will have a foot in the door over the competition. The marketing plan calls for convincing potential customers of the cellulars' value as a business tool, allowing more productivity and time economy for workers.

The company's plan does not include a local office at first. Brusherd indicated AllTel will use existing local businesses, such as communications shops, dealers and electronic stores, as agents. Specialty and general retailers are expected to start handling cellular phones when the local demand warrants the supply.

Among the expected customer types - salespersons, doctors, and contractors - Brusherd added two other unanticipated potential groups. One category is riverboat operators along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, who would be in range of Interstate 55 and 70 networks.

The other group is federal field agents with the Drug Enforcement Agency Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and similar agencies. The agents use cellular phones for communication when wanting more privacy.

Radio scanners monitor frequencies used by law enforcement agencies, as exemplified by a group arrested for burglary recently in Cape Girardeau using a portable scanner to evade police.

Radio frequencies used for cellular phones have been eliminated from scanners. Brusherd said cellular phone eavesdropping, which is a federal offense, is possible but difficult since one of over 800 channels is used at random and can change as a person travels.