TDMA phone - will it do anything after TDMA service termination?

Dear Readers,

Will my TDMA cell phone be able to do anything after local TDMA service
termination (scheduled for March 31, 2007 in my area)?
Will it be able to dial 911?

Thank you for your responses.

-AnthonyFalcone

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In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] says...
> Dear Readers,
>
> Will my TDMA cell phone be able to do anything after local TDMA service
> termination (scheduled for March 31, 2007 in my area)?
> Will it be able to dial 911?
>
> Thank you for your responses.
>
> -AnthonyFalcone
>
>

Depends on what kind of phone you have. I just gave my old TDMA phone
to a 9 year old to use as a PDA. The phone has an address book,
calendar, calculator, takes voice notes, and can be used as an alarm
clock.

CD

At 16 Jan 2007 10:01:42 -0800 [email protected] wrote:
> Dear Readers,
>
> Will my TDMA cell phone be able to do anything after local TDMA service
> termination (scheduled for March 31, 2007 in my area)?


> Will it be able to dial 911?

If it can find a compatible network, it should be able to call 911.
IMHO, the likelyhood of analog service (remember, your TDMA phone falls
back to analog when TDMA isn't available) shutting down on 3/31 is slim.
Cingular might stop billing and network support on that day, but they
probably won't shutdown all analog service then, particularly in less
congested areas where capacity is less of an issue. Remember, Cingular
isn't the only analog service provider- Verizon still runs some analog on
their 800MHz network, as do many rural carriers, and they all get paid
when roamers use their analog network. Lots of Verizon and Sprint tri-
mode phones are out there capable of roaming on other analog networks-
just ask SMS about his experience in Florida recently! ;-) It's not
like Cingular has some Dr. Evil-like guy in an underground lair with a
crooked finger poised over a big red button. Shutting down analog will
be done on a tower by tower basis depending on need and cost.

Having said that, a deactivated CDMA/analog phone would be a far safer
bet as an emergency 911 phone in the glovebox than a TDMA/analog one come
April 1st! ;-)



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Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

> Having said that, a deactivated CDMA/analog phone would be a far safer
> bet as an emergency 911 phone in the glovebox than a TDMA/analog one come
> April 1st! ;-)
I have Dobson TDMA, and in their area it still works a lot better for
me than GSM (I have both). Frequently it switches to analog during a
call in weak areas where GSM is impossible. They have not told me when
TDMA will stop working on their network, nor have they suggested I
switch to GSM. I just went to Toledo, and Cingular had already pulled
the plug there I believe. I think it roamed on Verizon on analog
instead of on Cingular/TDMA. Cingular only has PCS in Toledo, and
there is no requirement to carry anything on PCS.

Todd Allcock wrote:

> If it can find a compatible network, it should be able to call 911.
> IMHO, the likelyhood of analog service (remember, your TDMA phone falls
> back to analog when TDMA isn't available) shutting down on 3/31 is slim.

Very slim, considering the date that carriers are legally allowed to
turn off their AMPS networks is February 18th 2008.

There is no requirement that TDMA service be kept on up to a certain date.

So yes, the TDMA phone should be able to call 911 on the AMPS network.
Credit card calls on the ARN are a possibility as well.

"http://www.verisign.com/products-services/communications-services/content-and-application-services/american-roaming-network/page_CS_CAS_ARN.html"

While a CDMA/AMPS phone is a better "emergency" phone than a TDMA/AMPS
phone, until AMPS is turned off, AMPS coverage will remain a superset of
CDMA and TDMA coverage. You wouldn't want a GSM phone as an emergency
phone, as there is no AMPS support, except on a very, very few older models.