I have carried a cell phone for years for almost solely for emergency use. Don't even know how many years I have had it, shows only 6 hours and a few minutes on it. Today tried to use it and it was inoperable. A guy with me tipped me off that ALL old phones are now inoperable as of a couple weeks ago.
Per him. CPs were all changed over to digital and the old analog ones no longer work. I presume that info was publicised somewhere but I sure didn't see or hear it.
Harry K
Depends where it was and to which system he was subscribed. Here in this part of Canada, for example, we have several providers including Rogers and a Bell Canada affiliate who use different systems for their provision of digital cell phone services. Only the Bell affiliate provides analog (which we still use for strictly emergency voice calls). But we hear rumours that their analog will be discontinued in a year or so? Hope they will give me a new robust phone if/when they do. Whatever; it does sound that the service provider may not be doing a very good job of keeping that customer advised. Is the customers billing/mailing address etc, up to date in the provider's records? In the part of the Middle East where my relative works they have only digital cell phone service, no analog at all..
2/18/2008 is the analog sunset date.
I only use my cellphone about once a year, and it had to be replaced a few months ago for that reason. Tracfone sent me an email with a form to fill out, and the new free phone arrived in a few days. I'm surprised your carrier didn't notify you.
Harry K wrote in news:1192843607.591797.182720 @z24g2000prh.googlegroups.com:
If you are in the US and it is SOLELY for emergency use, you don't even need service. If you can power it up and hit any tower of any provider, you can dial 911.
I believe the story goes something like this:
Unlike DTV which mandates a shutdown of the analog stations, THe FCC did not mandate the shut down of analog cell phones. They mearly said "you may stop maintaining them". Some networks will chose this time to get rid of the analog system, some networks may continue on as is, and some networks will charge a user fee to analog phones usetrs to maintain the network. Eventually the analog system will disappear but it wont be instantaneous. IT will more likely fade away. In my opionion the driving force will be all those millions of analog On Star systems that will keep it around for a few more years.
LAst I heard ATT had said that something like 90% of the network had switched to digital and for the others there would be a user fee (to drive them over to digital too).
Old analog On Star customers were told they would not longer have service. IMO, it was always overpriced anyway. I had one free year when I bought my car and I never renewed.
We at OnStar sincerely regret that we will not be able to provide OnStar service to vehicles with analog equipment after December 31, 2007. All OnStar subscribers affected by this change will receive a letter from OnStar that outlines how this affects
Edwin Pawlowski wrote: ...
Like many (all?) forms of insurance, it's overpriced until really needed, then it's invaluable...
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My first Tracfone was analog. I replaced it to get some new features (including a flip style case, making it safe to keep in a pocket). I bought the new phone locally, and called to transfer service. This was NOT required to keep service. That was less than a year ago. Maybe they've changed something since that.
BTW, I did have to get a new number (they said because of the change in technology), but I did get to keep the airtime minutes.
There was some change related to cellphone service around here. In some areas I would get an "Emergency Only" message on the phone display. That sounded scary and Tracfone customer service was of no help at all.
Same here. I could have kept the old number, but there was a fee. Since I don't even know the number, I certainly couldn't care less what it is. It's not as if I ever give out the number. I have the number written on the inside of the carrying case so I can give it to the AAA people for call back. Car breakdown is literally the only reason I have this phone, and I've used it 4 times in 9 years. I was able to keep my 900+ minutes, too.
Yep. I have used it twice way out in the boonies to call for help (Tow and a flat when I couldn't budge the lug nuts).
Harry K
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