Saturday, December 22, 2007
US Analog Network Shutting Down - GPRS Next?
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "NEWS" @ 04:00 PM
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22362058/
"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 cell phone networks, used by Rothman's Saab and about 500,000 other OnStar-equipped cars, after Feb. 18, 2008."
I doubt too many readers here have analog cell phones, but you might have an analog cellular service and not know it. GM's OnStar and many home alarm systems still use the analog networks and come Feb 19, 2008, they will cease operating. Raises interesting questions to industries developing products with very long lives.
"Purpura said the next generation of wireless devices could be 10 times as big, making the challenge of the next transition even greater. He said GPRS, or General Packet Radio Service, could be the next network to go, since this relatively slow second-generation digital technology isn't compatible with newer cellular broadband networks. "I don't think anyone wants to go through this again in five years," Purpura said."
"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 cell phone networks, used by Rothman's Saab and about 500,000 other OnStar-equipped cars, after Feb. 18, 2008."
I doubt too many readers here have analog cell phones, but you might have an analog cellular service and not know it. GM's OnStar and many home alarm systems still use the analog networks and come Feb 19, 2008, they will cease operating. Raises interesting questions to industries developing products with very long lives.
"Purpura said the next generation of wireless devices could be 10 times as big, making the challenge of the next transition even greater. He said GPRS, or General Packet Radio Service, could be the next network to go, since this relatively slow second-generation digital technology isn't compatible with newer cellular broadband networks. "I don't think anyone wants to go through this again in five years," Purpura said."
