Local and hyper-local news and information services have been on the rise for some time thanks to GPS and increasingly granular location-based data. Looking to capitalize on the trend, MTPCS, which does business as Cellular One of Texas and Louisiana, on July 22 launched “Communities,” a smartphone app that provides customers in Louisiana and Texas access to “localized news and information on the topics they care about most,” according to a company press release.
Cellular One Communities App
Free on all Cellular One smartphones, the app offers local news, weather, high school and college sports coverage, along with niche “communities,” such as a small town, college, the U.S. Armed Forces or the oil & gas sector. The sources are compiled from a range of sources, including Twitter and YouTube.
The new Communities app also provides alerts from the U.S. government’s Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS). “These are critical alerts relating to emergencies of all kinds in each customer’s local area, from dangerous weather events to Amber Alerts to national security alerts,” Cellular One elaborates.
Commenting on the launch of the new app, Cellular One CEO and President Jonathan Foxman stated, “”We are so pleased to share Communities, and all its capabilities, with our customers. The app is simple and intuitive, yet offers so much.”
