Q. You work in an office of about 40 people where everyone, including the chief executive, works in nearly identical cubicles in essentially one room.

A. It was the idea of the CEO, Bill Jarvis, who is promoting this low-cost business model and helping us all live it. We can't tell the customer we're passing the savings on to them if we work in these big offices. We all sit next to each other. Nobody has necessarily bigger or smaller space, including the boss, who shares a cubicle space with his assistant. We are about keeping the cost of doing business as low as possible. We've eliminated a lot of back-end costs, like credit checks, so we don't have a credit department. We don't send you a bill. We send you a text message so we don't have those huge billing expenses.

Q. How does the physical layout help or hurt the office environment?

A. It's absolutely different because ideas are happening live and they're being floated about and not being filtered. It's more energetic. It's infectious. You have a team atmosphere as opposed to one where there's an office, office, office — all with separate ideas. Our teams are literally just 10 feet away from each other, and even though I may not work with them every day, I can overhear conversations. So you always peripherally have an idea of what's happening in the company. If there are sensitive issues, we have cell phones, of course, so we take it out on the balcony or in the conference room or downstairs with a cup of coffee. If I'm working on a deadline, I put on my iPod and go to town. If I want to go talk to the CEO, I just stand up.

Q. What is the state of Hawai'i's cell-phone market?

A. It's heavily saturated, even compared to the rest of the nation. About 70 percent of people in Hawai'i use cell phones, and there are seven carriers. We are the last in and have been operating for just three months. Our business model is designed to pass the savings on to consumers, so that's why we can offer such a low, flat rate. A lot of people have been to at least two or three different carriers, and nobody is particularly happy. We're kind of looking at everybody and looking at different ways to market to different audiences. Are we targeting the youth market? Yes. Are we targeting different ethnic markets? Yes. We're looking at the surfer crowd and the club-going crowd, and talking to them as well.

Q. How do you get your message out in such a crowded field?

A. Traditional media, print and radio and so forth. We're also looking at nontraditional ways like talking to influencers or people who have a voice in that certain community — like promoters, deejays, club owners — and sponsoring events that those groups attend. We're looking at people who work with different types of youth groups. We've only been here three months and doing lots of exploration, but that's the direction we're going. We have also given out phones and said, 'Give us feedback.'

Q. What kind of feedback have you gotten, especially regarding coverage and dropped calls?

A. Considering our network is not complete yet, we've had great response. We're very upfront. We can't have a customer who's unhappy with our service because they can literally walk away. We have to keep them happy. So when you go into the store, we have the coverage map up and say, 'Those sections of the North Shore don't have coverage yet, so if you live out there, it's probably better to wait until July.' That's really important in our business model since we don't make people sign a business contract. Customer service is really elevated to a new level.

Q. If I'm on Maui or the Big Island with a Mobi PCS phone ...

A. It won't work. But if you're on O'ahu, you can call anywhere in the world, and anybody can call you.

Q. What happens after a month if I don't like the service?

A. You pay for the phone, but if you try it for seven days and use less than 30 minutes, you can bring it back for a full refund.

Q. Where does Mobi PCS hope to be at by the end of the year?

A. The build-out of our O'ahu network is scheduled for completion by July. We just recently added more phones and are up to eight. We're going to add our ring tones, games, applications and news service by the end of the second quarter. We're looking at roaming for when you go to the Mainland. And we're looking at Neighbor Island coverage.

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.