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The cheapest beeper to hit the market so far is Tandy Corp.'s $99.95 pocket pager. Smaller than a cigarette package, the pager can be activated merely by dialing a seven-digit number on an ordinary telephone. Like all beepers, it carries a monthly rental fee. Depending on the area, the cost will be about $4 to $8 a month, paid to the common carrier that transmits the signals; some carriers add a surcharge of 20¢ or so per beep. The pager was introduced in the Dallas-Fort Worth area last month, and should be available nationwide by the end of this year. Tandy expects to sell "a good deal more" than 50,000 in 1983.
For the past month, Metromedia Telecommunications, a division of the big television-and radio-station owner, has been blitzing the New York metropolitan area with an advertising campaign for its new rental beeper, fittingly named the Li'l Bugger. Suggests a newspaper ad: "Lose 'em, beep 'em—find 'em, keep 'em." The Li'l Bugger, which is powered by one A A 1.5-volt battery and has a range of 30 miles, rents for $39.95 a year with a $5-a-month broadcast fee and a 25¢ charge per call. Metromedia says it has been getting 1,250 inquiries a week about the product, which comes done up in a colored plastic case decorated with a smiling bee.
While this new wave of consumer beepers is designed for simplicity and durability, more complex and versatile models are on the way. Next week Radiofone Corp., a Metromedia subsidiary, will launch what it calls the world's first pen-shaped pager. It weighs 1.5 oz., costs about $365 and is small enough to be clipped on a shirt pocket. The unit runs on a mercury battery that gives off a warning tone when a new one is needed. In May, Radiofone will introduce a 5-oz., $500 beeper that is practically equivalent to a pocket secretary. It has a window for displaying transmitted information up to 80 characters in length and a computer memory that will store as many as four messages if the user is, for example, in a meeting. Both devices are made by Motorola, Inc., which also sells pagers under its own name.
Even in this technology-driven business, there is big money to be made by companies that merely rent beepers and by the common carriers that transmit the signals. The Li'l Bugger, for instance, costs Metromedia $150, but will generate $600 in income from rentals and broadcast charges over its six-year life.
The potential bonanza has lured some unusual entrants. National Public Radio is developing a nationwide paging system that will bounce signals off the same satellite it uses for radio programs. The extra charge for beeping coast to coast is estimated at $5 to $10 a month. Says NPR Executive Richard Hodgetts: "Look at the people who are frequent flyers. There are a lot of people on the go all the time." Metromedia and American Express Co. have joined in a four-company venture that will also offer nationwide paging. NPR's partner in satellite beeping, Mobile Communications Corp. of America, estimates that their venture will gross about $10 million annually in five years.