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., i What Is PCS? PCS — Personal Communications Services — is a new generation of wireless communications that offers many advantages over cellular.In today's cellular systems,customers'calls ride on conventional analog radio waves.PCS,however,uses the digital pulses of computers to dramatically improve the array and quality of services available to consumers.Designed for universal portable telecommunications,PCS features a lightweight,portable telephone with multiple features that also functions as a pager and eventually as a modem and fax. How PCS works Within a metropolitan region,PCS systems use"cells"or geographic coverage areas that resemble a honeycomb.Located within each cell are antennas and a base station comprised of switching equipment in a box about the size of a commercial refrigerator.The base station allows callers to communicate with wireless or wireline phones,computers,faxes and pagers.As a caller moves geographically from one cell to another,the digital signal moves to the adjacent cell.The signal travels from the wireless phone to the base station and is relayed to the switching equipment.The call is then connected to the local phone network or to other wireless users on the system. The PCS advantage PCS outshines cellular in a number of ways,including: •Improved voice quality and consistency: The digital PCS system operates at a higher frequency than III cellular systems.This allows for significant improvements in voice quality.PCS conversations are sharp and clear,free from the cross-talk common with today's analog cellular systems.There is less static,less fading.And because a digital system can accommodate more voice and data traffic than an analog system,there are dramatically fewer incomplete and dropped calls. •Increased security and privacy: Digital PCS transmission is more secure than analog cellular, which suffers from eavesdropping on conversations and theft of electronic ID numbers.Analog systems spawn hundreds of millions of dollars a year in illicit commerce in"cloned" cellular numbers, inconveniencing subscribers and causing upward pressure on cellular service prices. PCS digital signals,however,are scrambled to minimize eavesdropping or cloning. •Advanced features: Digital PCS systems are feature-rich compared to analog systems.Sprint Spectrum PCS customers,for instance,will enjoy such features as e-mail,voice mail and paging combined in a single handset. Because digital is also the medium of data_transmission,Sprint Spectrum service will include data services as well — all in the same lightweight handset. •Smaller antenna facilities: As wireless technology has evolved,so has the ability to reduce the size of the equipment for each site.For most PCS sites,the size of each facility is smaller than cellular - facilities,requiring equipment cabinets that in total are about half the size of today's cellular equipment. One of the most exciting things about PCS is that it will ease our evolution from calling places to calling people. With what some people refer to as"follow me"technology,the notion of separate home,office, car,fax and pager numbers will become obsolete as PCS provides a variety of useful features including: on-screen alpha numeric paging,caller ID,text messaging,call barring,call forwarding,speed dialing,call waiting,voicemail,and eventually even the transmission of video images. III .