PageMart Wireless, Arch to Offer NPCS Advanced Messaging Services

Arch Communications Group Inc. (Westborough, MA) and PageMart Wireless Inc. (Dallas) are undertaking a five-year strategic agreement in which the two companies will provide Narrowband PCS (NPCS) advanced messaging services, including assured message delivery and full two-way messaging.

The agreement involves two distinct phases. In Phase I, Arch expects to market nationwide NPCS by this summer on PageMart's Internet Protocol-based Advanced Messaging network, which currently offers the wireless messaging industry's most comprehensive NPCS coverage. During Phase II, as demand for advanced messaging increases, Arch plans to construct its own NPCS network, leveraging PageMart's infrastructure and receiver sites. Under the agreement, the two companies will share certain capital and operating expenses that will lower their overall costs.