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Posts with tag amps

Analog cellular networks, R.I.P.: 1983 - 2008


Marking the end of a remarkable era in cellular technology, the FCC is officially letting American carriers decommission their legacy analog networks as of today, February 18, 2008. Few of us still own a phone based on AMPS -- Advanced Mobile Phone System, ironically, despite the fact that there's been nothing "advanced" about it for many years -- but we owe the very existence of the world's modern wireless infrastructure to the introduction and overwhelming success of the Bell Labs-developed technology. So successful was AMPS, in fact, that it eventually covered virtually 100 percent of the continental United States, a statistic CDMA and GSM have only recently begun to approach.

Cingular slaps surcharge on TDMA accounts

We trust folks frequenting Engadget Mobile don't fall into this category (do they?), but for the 4.7 million Cingular customers soldiering on with legacy AMPS and TDMA hardware, the pressure to upgrade is about to get kicked up a notch. Starting next month this, uh, very special contingent of users will find a new $4.99 monthly charge on their bill, having committed no crime other than failing to make the switch to GSM. What's more, Cingular seems to be offering little or no incentive for folks hoping to avoid the surcharge by getting a new handset, saying only that "some customers will qualify for discounts on their new phones." If anyone was still in doubt that Cingular was thumbing their nose at their pending TDMA class action suit, this pretty much seals the deal.

[Thanks, BeeRT and Tim UF]




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