Powertel

Powertel Inc.

Company type	Public
Industry	Telecommunications
Predecessor	Interstate Cellular, Inc.
Founded	May 1989 (1989-05)
Defunct	May 31, 2001 (2001-05-31)
Fate	Acquired by Deutsche Telekom AG and integrated into VoiceStream Wireless
Headquarters	West Point, Georgia , United States
Area served	Southeastern United States
Products	Analog cellular and digital PCS services
Parent	Deutsche Telekom AG (from 2001)

Powertel Inc. operated as a mobile network provider headquartered in West Point, Georgia, delivering both analog cellular and digital PCS services throughout the Southeastern region of the United States. The company was initially established in May 1989 under the name Interstate Cellular, Inc., functioning as a subsidiary of ITC Holding Company with the purpose of acquiring cellular licenses and managing network operations.

History

In April 1991, InterCel, Inc. was incorporated in Delaware, merging the assets of Interstate Cellular and WHI Partnership. The company went public on NASDAQ in October 1991, trading under the symbol ICEL.

InterCel expanded its subscriber base by acquiring Unicell, a cellular operator in Maine, in January 1993. This acquisition brought its customer count to 20,000 within a market totaling approximately 780,000 subscribers. In February 1994, InterCel collaborated with investors to establish Powertel PCS Partners L.P., aiming to build a GSM network spanning nine Southeastern states. Following successful spectrum auctions in March 1995, InterCel fully purchased Powertel PCS Partners and commenced construction of its digital GSM infrastructure.

The Unicell operation was divested to Rural Cellular Corporation in December 1996. Subsequently, in June 1997, InterCel underwent a corporate rebranding to become Powertel, Inc., accompanied by a ticker symbol change on NASDAQ to PTEL.

On May 3, 1999, Powertel divested its analog cellular business to Public Service Cellular for $89 million.

Eventually, on May 31, 2001, Powertel was acquired by Deutsche Telekom AG and integrated as a subsidiary under VoiceStream Wireless, which had also been acquired by Deutsche Telekom on the same date.