CARRIERS NATIONWIDE CAN NOW legally bid adieu to the legacy analog networks that the Federal Communications Commission required them to keep online through Feb. 18.
AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless will be shutting down their analog networks this week, while Alltel Corp. is taking a phased approach to the shutdown that will be complete by the end of September. The three companies are the largest carriers that will be turning off their analog networks, but many smaller, rural-based carriers have the same opportunity before them.
Efficiency gains
The FCC isn’t requiring carriers to immediately shut down their analog signal; this week simply marks the first time they’ll be allowed to do so. That said, analog is the least spectrally efficient option available to wireless carriers and many are looking forward to freeing up that frequency for more efficient use on the digital side.
“It’s very inefficient spectrum,” said Keith Mallinson, an analyst at WiseHarbor. “The efficiency ratio is 10- or 20-to-one or something like that.” Furthermore, the maintenance costs associated with analog networks are much higher, he said.
“Whenever I’ve quizzed the carriers . they’ve always said ‘not a day later,’ and they are out of it,” Mallinson said. “They really wanted to wean people off using the analog stuff.”
Minor impact expected
The transition will affect a relatively small number of wireless subscribers throughout the country, and despite the carriers’ significant outreach campaigns aimed at moving those customers to digital service, there’s likely to be some confusion. The FCC required carriers to notify analog customers of the shutdown at least four months beforehand. Moreover, carriers have been under a mandate to get customers on E911 compatible handsets, so there’s already been a push to move those customers to digital, which is required for the emergency service.
“The people that will be most impacted by this are people living in rural communities,” Mallinson said. “This is going to be a total non-issue for someone living in New York City . however, for someone living in rural Montana it could be an issue.”
Phased approach
Alltel Corp., which frequently boasts having the largest nationwide network in terms of geography covered, is shutting off its analog network in three phases.
“What Alltel is doing is we’re actually not shutting off any analog networks on Monday,” Scott Morris, a company spokesman said. The first shutdown will occur March 31 in the South. The second phase will shutoff analog networks in 11 states scattered across the country on June 30. And the final shutdown is scheduled for Sept. 31 in 14 remaining states the carrier covers.
“The reason for the phased approach is to make sure we have full CDMA coverage in our spectrum,” Morris said. “What we are doing is ensuring that we have complete coverage.”
Around 1% of Alltel’s total customer base is still using the carrier’s analog network, however that number also includes TDMA customers, which are also being transitioned to the carrier’s predominate CDMA network.
“The important thing is that we give our customers ample notice,” Morris said, adding that the company is offering special offers on new handsets to draw customers over to digital.
AT&T Mobility is planning to shut off its analog and TDMA network beginning Monday.
“The date is Monday and exactly how that is going to play out around the country I don’t have specific details on, but we’ve been very clear that it will be done Monday,” AT&T Mobility spokesman Mark Siegel said. “We are doing it coincidentally with the turn down of our TDMA network.”
The No. 1 carrier has talked to its analog and TDMA customers about once a month for the past 18 months, Siegel said. It’s offering special deals on phones and is waiving activation fees for some customers. AT&T Mobility’s previous incarnation, Cingular Wireless L.L.C., began charging its analog and TDMA customers a $5 surcharge per month in 2006 as a way to offset capital expenditures in keeping the networks running.
“There are very few of these customers to begin with,” Siegel said. “It’s now a very small part of our network.”
Siegel declined to give numbers on the amount of customers still using analog or TDMA, but said 99.9% of its customers minutes are now carried on its GSM-based networks.
Verizon Wireless is also shutting down its analog network this week. Beginning Monday the No. 2 carrier says it will begin retiring its analog signals.
“We’ve spent a good chunk of the last year reaching out to those remaining customers whom we’ve identified as having analog handsets,” spokeswoman Debra Lewis said.
Analog traffic on the network was down to less than half a percent a couple months ago, she said. “Through our outreach campaign we’ve seen it decrease over the year.”
Like the others, the carrier is offering free devices to some customers.
Telematics, alarm industry
The “analog cellular sunset” will also affect some alarm systems and analog-based OnStar customers. OnStar stopped offering its analog service, found in older cars, at the end of 2007. Analog-only OnStar equipment cannot be upgrade and no longer receive service, however subscribers with dual mode or digital-ready equipment (which requires an upgrade) can maintain the service.
Most alarm systems don’t use a wireless radio signal, according to the FCC, however about 1 million of those that do will have to be replaced to keep the service running.
