MetroPCS To Add Caller ID Name Service

By Joseph Palenchar -- TWICE, 10/17/2008

Dallas – Wireless carrier MetroPCS said it will become the first U.S. carrier later this month to offer caller ID name service, which displays the names of incoming callers on a subscriber’s cellphone.

The carrier said it will launch the service, dubbed Screen-it, as part of its landline-replacement strategy. Caller ID name service has been available on landline phones since 1984, the carrier noted.

The service will deliver “dramatically improved” call screening options for subscribers, the company said, because it will display the names of unknown callers. In contrast, cellphones today display only the names of incoming callers whose names are stored in the phone’s contact list.

The provider of flat-rate, no-contract, unlimited-calling plans will offer the service as part of select plans and as an extra-cost feature of other plans. MetroPCS plans are priced from $30 to $50/month.

To provide the service, MetroPCS teamed up with TARGUSinfo, a provider of callerID name services to phone and cable companies. MetroPCS has more than 4.8 million subscribers in 13 markets.