So 2007 is going to be interesting in the mobile and wireless for a few things:
First up: ATT/Cingular to shutter TDMA by 2008! This is very relevant to Nevada and to those of us who spend considerable amount of our time out in wild wide open that is Nevada. Many of us have been lulled in to being tremendously dependent upon what used to be AT&T wireless’ backbone and is currently Cingular’s (and soon to be again AT&T wireless’ again). In August, Cingular began enforcing a surcharge on customers who remained on its TDMA network. At the time of the announcement, the carrier said the $4.99 a month charge would only affect a small number of its customers since the majority (more than 90%) were already on its GSM network.
Cingular is soon to become AT&T again has announced that they intend to shutter all of their TDMA networks by 2008. So the question remains for all the hunters and fishermen and the bike riders and the people who motor around in the greater reaches of Nevada, what now? It seems that a lot of places that used to have cell phone access…may not. This may cause some trouble in calling the honey and letting her know you’re coming home a "little bit late" while you stop off at Brunos…So I would like to see if anyone has any information that they can post or share on what we can do with regards to cell phone access out in the greater hinterlands of Nevada.
Second up: Here’s a funny video from YouTube talking about the ATT/Cingular thing….oh wait:
"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Viacom International, Inc."
This will be an interesting re-re-re-rebranding challenge that unfolds before us.
Martin - don’t cross to Verizon. Everyone on Sprint and Verizon is always borrowing my phone to call home…
David, while it is sad to see this service go by the wayside, the FCC has been pushing for this for a long time. They had made it clear that those frequencies must be abandoned by cell phone providers by 2008. AT&T Wireless was trying to convert it all to GSM and failing miserably which was a huge factor in selling out to Cingular. As a result, Cingular had been trying to get the GSM coverage as widespread as possible to prepare. Unfortunately for us Nevadans, it does not make fiscal sense to put towers in places where the occasional hunter (or deer) may need to use it. Don’t be too hard on Cingular, errrr, AT&T. They still have the best coverage in the state and it will only get better.
Sincerely, Your Local Friendly AT&T Authorized Retailer, JC&C Wireless