In the highly competitive world of cellular service, A T & T Wireless is a giant with over 20 million subscribers, making it one of the top two cellular service suppliers in the nation along with number one rival Verizon.

But that doesn’t mean the company wants to rest on its laurels. A recent Consumer’s Reports survey of 22,000 of the magazine’s subscribers found that most cellular customers are unhappy, due to dropped calls, long contracts with stinging early termination charges, and unclear billing practices. Carriers vary in how they define and charge for cellular air time, including peak vs. off-peak time segments, roaming (using the phone outside of the carrier’s service area,) directory assistance, long distance and overtime minutes (minutes used over the number allowed in the plan.)

Choosing the wrong plan can result in expensive overtime minutes and more fees added to monthly billing. Dropped calls and poor connectivity can make it difficult to use cellular service reliably for business. "The overall satisfaction with cell-phone carriers, including Verizon, is lower than for most other businesses and services that we rate at Consumer Reports," said a spokesperson for the magazine.

Over one-third of all cellular customers are unhappy enough with their service to want to switch carriers, says the magazine. A T & T Wireless, which ranked second overall in preferred vendors after Verizon, would like to get Realtors to switch their service to A T & T Wireless.

A T & T Wireless was one of the first VIP Partners to the NAR, and plans to continue targeting Realtors, the ultimate mobile professionals, for its products and services. With the help of the NAR, A T & T Wireless plans to roll out simpler plans for customers to follow, along with a five percent discount off of any bill to a Realtor.

So far, A T & T Wireless has simplified calling plans into three segments:

• National - includes roaming and long distance for the person who travels extensively
• Regional – includes roaming and long distance for the person who travels regionally
• Local – customized services for local use.

Says Bob Goldberg, NAR's senior vice president of marketing and business development, ”What was attractive was to look at a national rate plan discount. You get a discount off that rate as a Realtor member whereas other cell companies sell aggregated minute plans. A T & T Wireless nationally said, ‘We don’t need to look at it like how many minutes are bought in Buffalo. They bet on the come to give a national discount because you are a Realtor. Our issue and concern is that the member in Los Angeles gets the same service as in Peducah, Kentucky, and Des Moines. We don‘t play favorites with where you are.”

Why did the NAR choose A T & T Wireless to be a VIP Partner?

Explains Goldberg, “In 1999, we were very active in terms of looking at wireless providers, and there were a limited number of players in the market to compete for local wireless service. We were interested in A T & T Wireless for their footprint and the programs they were offering allowed NAR to put in place a program that the whole membership could take advantage of rather than a lot of smaller local providers. We get economy of scale, rather than myriad of services.”

According to Mary Dernedde, senior offer manager enterprise marketing for A T & T Wireless, special treatment including five percent off the total monthly bill excluding taxes, for Realtors is well worth it.

“From the corporate end, the Realtor customer has a high value for all our applications,” says Dernedde. “They are a high-value user. They use their phones frequently, so they are targeted and respected, and they are a springboard for other departments so they can learn more about users. User patterns, calling patterns, rate plan usage, recurring charges (MRC) - they fall in the higher segment of $100 a month on some of the rate plans. Realtors are also knowledgeable about technology – they want the latest tools to be successful.”

Adds Goldberg, “We try to monetize every VIP deal. If the average user spends $100 a month, and we get you an average of five percent discount, that is five dollars a month which pays your annual national dues.”

In addition to wireless service, Mary Stark-Hood, vice president of member benefits and strategic alliances for the NAR, says, “We are looking to add the data component so that you do more than open a telephone - you have Internet access, e-mail. That is our next phase of the program.”

A T & T Wireless has been active in terms of data communications with agreements with Sony and Nokia to have built-in cameras in the phones and supply the equipment to A T & T Wireless.

Says Stark-Hood, “It’s a natural evolution for the data and voice pieces to be working together, and our industry is a natural fit. Our objective is to put them in this - integrated data and wireless programs.”

”Those elements are on the wave of new technology in wireless - the new data aspect,” says Dernedde. “We have built out our GSM a new system which allows for high speed data. Verizon, Cingular have certain pieces of equipment that allows you to have this feature in the phone.”

Says Goldberg, “I think very much that is the trend for the future. We all have multiple devices - pagers, cellphones, laptops, blackberries. I’ve tested these devices that integrate. With the blackberry, when you connect the phone, it drains the battery. I would argue that our membership as mobile as they are and device-intensive as they are, can provide the available best professional input for a vertical market, where you have so many people dealing with multiple clients.”

For more information, visit Realtor.org and click on the VIP information block on the right side of the front page, or call NAR's customized number - 1-800-NAR (627)-0707.

Published: January 21, 2003

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