GM offers one year of OnStar service free, then after that it's $15 per month, plus per minute charges for any phone calls.
I think that GM is looking at the subscription rate of those older analog-only systems and deciding that it isn't worth the engineering effort to create digital cell phone modules.
One reason GM stuck with analog cell service for so long in the first place was because of it's tremendously longer range.
John----- Original Message ----- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-279722A1.doc The repercussions of this analog cellular switchoff, to occur at the service provider's option no earlier than 2/18/2008, are amazing. The car companies offering telematics systems, such as OnStar from GM, are using this switchoff as an excuse why the systems on many cars, some no older than 2 years old, either need to be upgraded at customers' expense, or simply "cannot" be upgraded. That's when they apparently tell their customers "please buy one of our new cars to retain this safety feature you really should not do without." Supposedly, systems on cars as new as 2002 or 2003 cannot be upgraded, they claim. No way. And no sensible explanation as to why. Sounds to me like it should be a straightforward upgrade to just change the cell network, without necessarily upgrading the older system's feature set. Customers are screaming, and rightfully so. They aren't asking for new features, they are only asking that their system keep working. And there is no technical excuse at all why this shouldn't be possible. Turns out, the older "non-upgradeable" systems have two separate modules: a cell-phone module and an in-car sensor interface module. It would seem very straightforward to develop a kit with new cell phone module, retaining the other module as is. It's just a link, after all. The hands-off telephone service and the safety features already offered by the older system (e.g. airbag deployment sensor) ought to be very easy to keep operational. In this blurb, they try to blame the FCC: http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/digital_transition.jsp Apparently, a class action suit has be filed. http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/onstar-digital Something to think about, next time an OnStar ad comes on TV, eh? Bert ---------------------------------------------------------------------- You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at FreeLists.org- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line.
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