Cell phone News: Analog network goes down February 18, 2008

Dianekkdi · 02-03-2008, 07:34 PM

I've always made a point of buying dual phones analog/digital. As some of you know, I've been phone shopping. I thought I was being riskgay and somewhat remiss in buying an all digital phone....but look what else I found:
Old cell network going off air - USATODAY.com

Quote:

By Peter Svensson, Associated Press
NEW YORK — When Adele Rothman bought her 16-year-old son a car in 2003, she made sure to pick one that had OnStar, the onboard communications and safety system.
What the Scarsdale, N.Y., resident didn't know was that the OnStar system in the car was already doomed to die. The federal government decided in 2002 to let cellular carriers shut down analog cellphone networks, used by Rothman's Saab and about 500,000 other OnStar-equipped cars, after Feb. 18, 2008.
It's the end of the nationwide network that launched the U.S. wireless industry 24 years ago, and it leaves a surprising number of users like Adele Rothman in the lurch.
OnStar told Rothman in March its service would stop at the end of this year, in anticipation of the network shutdown in February. "I was really upset," she said, "because that was my tieline" to her son.
Perhaps a million cellphones will lose service, but those are cheap and easy to replace. The effects will be felt the most by people who have things that aren't phones but have built-in wireless capabilities, like OnStar cars and home alarm systems.

Quote:

WHO WILL BE AFFECTEDCarriers will start shutting down the country's oldest cellular network, for analog devices, in February. How to know if you will be affected:
� Cellphones: If your phone is less than five years old, or has features like texting, Internet access or a built-in camera, it's not analog. An unknown number of analog handsets are still in use. Carriers say it's less than 1% of all U.S. cellphones. But with 250 million cellphones in use, that could still mean a million phones.
In particular, check phones that are kept around as 911-only phones. Such phones, which don't have a phone number and aren't initialized with a carrier, were given out by some donation programs that collected old phones.
The main carriers with analog service are AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless and Alltel. Carriers have been telling analog customers about the shutdown and offering them new digital service plans and phones. Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA have no analog networks.
Separately from the analog shutdown, Alltel and AT&T will finish phasing out networks that use a first-generation digital technology known as D-AMPS or TDMA (for Time Division Multiple Access). This affects only cellphones and only older ones. AT&T and its predecessor companies have been phasing out TDMA since 2001.
� Car communication systems: Generally, cars from the 2003 model year and older with OnStar from General Motors Corp., TeleAid from Mercedes-Benz or Lexus Link are affected, and most won't be upgradable. Upgrade kits are available for most OnStar systems from model years 2004 and 2005.
Class action lawsuits, consolidated in federal court in Detroit, are seeking compensation for the lowered value of the more than 500,000 affected cars with OnStar plus about 200,000 with other systems.
� Home alarms: Affected are burglar and fire alarms that use the analog network as a sole or backup link between the home and an alarm center. Generally, only homes with no wired phone service have used analog wireless service. Homes that have them will lose wireless backup alarms, which kick in if someone cuts the phone line. Alarm systems using digital wireless links became available in 2006.
Source: Associated Press

Alwayzpeaceful · 02-03-2008, 10:13 PM

Good to know. Don't have any analog cell phones though. Next year it is only digital tv.

Alwayzpeaceful · 02-03-2008, 10:16 PM

DTV Transition: 46 Million Eyeballs Could Vanish

by Deborah D. McAdams

Union, the Washington, D.C. think tank that publishes Consumer Reports.
No they’re not, countered the National Association of Broadcasters, the Washington, D.C. lobby representing TV stations.

The CU survey found that 23 million people could drop off out of the ratings come Feb. 17, 2009. That is, if they don’t buy a converter box, assuming they know such a thing is available. Seventy-three percent did not.

The CU also found that 36 percent of those surveyed were unaware of the DTV transition, and another 17 percent didn’t know if they’d be affected by it. One-quarter of the folks who knew about the Feb. 17, 2009 analog sunset thought they’d have to pitch their analog TVs when it arrived. Of roughly 13 percent who relied exclusively on over-the-air television, 42 percent said they weren’t planning on doing anything when the deadline arrived.

The CU results were complied from more than 1,000 telephone interviews with folks over 18 years old, conducted in mid-December. The NAB did not provide a sample size, but said it conducted a similar survey earlier this month and found that 79 percent of folks had “seen, read or heard something about the Feb. 17, 2009 transition to digital television,” up from 38 percent last year.

Among households relying exclusively on antenna TV, the number was 83 percent. The NAB’s press release announcing its consumer awareness results said more than 34 million households rely on over-the-air television signals, an apparent increase from commonly held estimates of between 11 million (Consumer Electronics Association), and 20 million (Government Accountability Office).

Television Broadcast

GurnBlanston · 02-04-2008, 12:24 PM

Of course this doesn't affect service providers (even though they are cutting off their analog signal at the same time) because their boxes are digital and have a solution for non-stb connections.
Also, the FCC is giving 2 coupons per household that give $40 off digital-to-analog converters.

Alwayzpeaceful · 02-04-2008, 06:21 PM

Yes, I heard that also regarding the converter boxes. At the beginning of the year there were commercial for this. Haven't seen any lately.

02-03-2008, 10:13 PM	#2 (permalink)
Alwayzpeaceful Smile Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 692 My Mood: Thanks: 16 Thanked 28 Times in 15 Posts	Good to know. Don't have any analog cell phones though. Next year it is only digital tv. __________________ SMILE
	Top

02-03-2008, 10:16 PM	#3 (permalink)
Alwayzpeaceful Smile Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 692 My Mood: Thanks: 16 Thanked 28 Times in 15 Posts	DTV Transition: 46 Million Eyeballs Could Vanish by Deborah D. McAdams Union, the Washington, D.C. think tank that publishes Consumer Reports. No they’re not, countered the National Association of Broadcasters, the Washington, D.C. lobby representing TV stations. The CU survey found that 23 million people could drop off out of the ratings come Feb. 17, 2009. That is, if they don’t buy a converter box, assuming they know such a thing is available. Seventy-three percent did not. The CU also found that 36 percent of those surveyed were unaware of the DTV transition, and another 17 percent didn’t know if they’d be affected by it. One-quarter of the folks who knew about the Feb. 17, 2009 analog sunset thought they’d have to pitch their analog TVs when it arrived. Of roughly 13 percent who relied exclusively on over-the-air television, 42 percent said they weren’t planning on doing anything when the deadline arrived. The CU results were complied from more than 1,000 telephone interviews with folks over 18 years old, conducted in mid-December. The NAB did not provide a sample size, but said it conducted a similar survey earlier this month and found that 79 percent of folks had “seen, read or heard something about the Feb. 17, 2009 transition to digital television,” up from 38 percent last year. Among households relying exclusively on antenna TV, the number was 83 percent. The NAB’s press release announcing its consumer awareness results said more than 34 million households rely on over-the-air television signals, an apparent increase from commonly held estimates of between 11 million (Consumer Electronics Association), and 20 million (Government Accountability Office). Television Broadcast __________________ SMILE
	Top

02-04-2008, 12:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
GurnBlanston Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 547 My Mood: Thanks: 14 Thanked 16 Times in 12 Posts	Of course this doesn't affect service providers (even though they are cutting off their analog signal at the same time) because their boxes are digital and have a solution for non-stb connections. Also, the FCC is giving 2 coupons per household that give $40 off digital-to-analog converters.
	Top

02-04-2008, 06:21 PM	#5 (permalink)
Alwayzpeaceful Smile Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 692 My Mood: Thanks: 16 Thanked 28 Times in 15 Posts	Yes, I heard that also regarding the converter boxes. At the beginning of the year there were commercial for this. Haven't seen any lately. __________________ SMILE
	Top

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