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PageNet , also known as Paging Network, Inc., was founded in 1981 by entrepreneur George Perrin and ceased in 1999. The company grew to become the largest wireless messaging company in the world, with more than 10 million
pager A pager (also known as a beeper or bleeper) is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknow ...
s in service, and $1 billion in revenues, before the paging industry's rapid decline in the late 1990s.


Operations

Based in
Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, PageNet held the distinction of building and operating the most extensive one-way paging network in the United States, growing to more than 90 offices across the United States. The company extended operations to Canada and Brazil. The company was known for its low-cost strategy and aggressive marketing tactics, although in its later years it positioned itself as a technology innovator as well.


Financial difficulties

PageNet's fortunes began to decline in the late 1990s, when the company spent nearly $1 billion to purchase additional spectrum and build out a new network designed to offer advanced services, such as voice paging and two-way paging. Products developed by
Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent p ...
for PageNet's network were unsuccessful, as was a reorganization of the company engineered by
McKinsey & Company McKinsey & Company is a global management consulting firm founded in 1926 by University of Chicago professor James O. McKinsey, that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. McKinsey is the oldest and ...
. Ironically, PageNet had an opportunity to purchase the network that went on to support the successful
BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
service, but decided to team with Motorola instead. As PageNet sank under the weight of its investment, the one-way paging market collapsed—with millions of former paging customers switching to digital cellular and PCS services, which cut prices dramatically while offering new features such as nationwide calling plans and
text messaging Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/laptops, or another type of compatible compute ...
. Under its last CEO, John P. Frazee, Jr., PageNet was sold to Boston-based Arch Communications in 1999. That company has since merged with Metrocall to form USA Mobility. USA Mobility.com
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See also

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References

Defunct telecommunications companies of the United States Radio paging Companies based in Dallas Defunct companies based in Texas Telecommunications companies established in 1981 Technology companies disestablished in 1999 1981 establishments in Texas 1999 disestablishments in Texas {{telecom-company-stub