And it's getting to the point that it's not terribly expensive. Pa. A new General Services Administration contract scheduled to be awarded this fall promises cheaper wireless services for all agencies. The immediate procurement is only for analog cellular service, but it is structured to take advantage of digital cellular and other emerging wireless technologies. Cost is not the only issue. Analog service is ubiquitous, but the trend is migrating to digital cellular systems, which transmit strings of zeros and ones, as do computers.
Air time is very expensive, and interface standards are lacking.
Cellular Digital Packet Data. Personal Communications Services. These are cheaper cellular services that are beginning to offer completely digital voice and data transmission over newly assigned radio frequencies. D.C. PCS phones can be used both inside and outside buildings, but roaming among regions will be hindered by different standards. These two private radio networks offer good nationwide coverage.