Cellular Telephone Service Options at MIT

Peggy Condon, Valerie Hartt

Cellular telephones have proven a popular, often necessary, way to stay 
in touch, especially if you are usually out of your office or on the 
road. MIT has agreements with Cellular One and Bell Atlantic NYNEX 
Mobile for cellular telephone services.

Rates for MIT are based on the number of subscribers MIT has signed up 
with each carrier. Due to its larger volume of MIT subscribers, Cellular 
One is a little less expensive than Bell Atlantic. In addition, Cellular 
One offers a maintenance plan and sells cellular phones at a discount.

Cellular One Plans
MIT has two discount rate structures with Cellular One: Corporate and 
Associate. To be eligible for the Corporate rate, you must have reason 
to use a cellular phone for MIT business and have departmental approval.

The Associate rate is a special plan for individual subscribers, offered 
exclusively to employees of MIT. To take advantage of the Associate 
rate, you must have an existing contract or set up a new contract 
through a Cellular One agent. Your department then authorizes transfer 
of the contract to the MIT plan. Billing is still to the employee, but 
at rates discounted from regular individual rates. The employee must 
also pay the activation fee.

If you're interested in the Associate plan, you may want to talk further 
with a Cellular One account representative. Cellular One sometimes 
offers promotional plans with no activation fee. When these are in 
effect, you can avoid paying an activation fee by signing up for the 
promotion, then switching later to the Associate plan.

Bell Atlantic Plan 
Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile offers only a Corporate rate for MIT users. 
This type of account is for MIT business purposes, and requires 
departmental approval. Bell Atlantic does not offer a discount plan for 
individual MIT subscribers.

Rates
The table below [not included in this text-only version; call 
Telecommunications Systems for details] outlines monthly rates and usage 
fees for cellular service from Cellular One and Bell Atlantic, effective 
May 1, 1996. Peak hours for both providers are Monday through Friday, 
7am to 8pm. Off-peak hours are Monday through Friday, 8pm to 7am, and 
weekends.

Buying a Cellular Phone
MIT customers can buy cellular phones from Cellular One at a discount. 
They offer three models - two from Nokia and one from Motorola - for 
prices ranging from $9.95 to $39. All come with an overnight charger and 
one-year warranty.

Maintenance Plus
Cellular One's Maintenance Plus plan is free for MIT Corporate accounts. 
Individuals on an Associate plan can purchase it for $5 per month. 
Maintenance Plus covers the following:

* One free removal and reinstallation per year

* One free antenna replacement per year

* One free cellular phone tune-up per year

* A free diagnostic test each time your phone is brought in for service

* Use of a loaner phone if your repair exceeds one hour

* Free repair or replacement, to the extent not covered by the 
manufacturer's warranty, of the following components: transceiver, data 
cable, mount, wiring, control head, horn relay, and hands-free device.

Short-Term Loaner Phones
There may be occasions when your department needs extra phones for a 
short period of time - for a special event, conference, or emergency. 
With an MIT requisition, you can get loaner cellular phones from MIT 
Telecommunications Systems in E19-741. The loaner fee is $30 per phone 
for the first week, and $20 for each additional week. Usage fees are 
$0.34 per minute during peak hours, and $0.30 per minute during off-peak 
hours.

If you need a cellular phone for an extended period, it is more cost 
effective to buy one.

Contact Information 
You may want to contact Cellular One or Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile 
directly for more information about their rate plans and promotions, 
coverage areas, or system features. Contact information, including 
account representatives for MIT, is listed below.

* Bell Atlantic NYNEX Mobile
1600 Unicorn Park Drive
Woburn, MA 01801
617/932-1283
Account Representative: Jay Case

* Cellular One
686 Commonwealth Avenue
Brighton, MA 02135
617/566-1100
Account Representative: Susan O'Keefe

To find out about short-term loaner telephones, or to clarify basic 
questions about MIT's cellular phone options, call the 
Telecommunications Customer Service Center at x3-3690.