FCC Refuses to Order Cellular Phone Switches

The Federal Communications Commission refused Friday to force cellular telephones manufacturers to include a switch on each phone so customers could use either of the two competing cellular systems serving a city.

Cellular customers, who had asked the commission to issue such a requirement, argued unsuccessfully that competition would be spurred if a customer could switch his subscription from one cellular system to another without having to reprogram his portable telephone. However, the FCC said that, because switching systems would require other changes, such as bookkeeping, a customer would not be unduly inconvenienced by having to reprogram his phone.

The ruling was seen as helping the first cellular company to establish service in a community keep its customers once its competition arrives.

In the Los Angeles region, for example, PacTel Mobile Access has been operating its cellular service since June, 1984, and has more than 36,000 subscribers. Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Co., the second service for the region, is not expected to begin operations for several months.

Cellular systems are operating in many of the 90 largest communities in the United States, and the FCC plans to issue licenses for smaller towns. In each metropolitan area, one license goes to a traditional wire-line telephone company and another is issued to a company that is not in the telephone business.

With a cellular system, a geographic area is divided into cells, each with a low-power radio transmitter carrying phone calls. Calls are switched automatically from cell to cell without interrupting the conversation. Because it is low power, the same frequency can be used repeatedly in nearby cells, allowing room for more mobile phones.