[opendtv] Re: Analog cellular service shutoff
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2008 18:11:47 -0500
John Shutt wrote:
> One reason GM stuck with analog cell service for so long in the first
> place was because of it's tremendously longer range.
I don't think any range differences were the real reason. I think it was
more a coverage issue: AMPS was a universal standard, with coverage all
over the US using a single analog standard. Digital comes in several
flavors, and even today, coverage is not quite as universal for any one
flavor of digital. Many parts in the US had analog-only service well
after 1996 (when OnStar was first offered).
Still, by the time OnStar was first offered, the FCC had already
established its analog cellular sunset date, so it's hard for me to
justify a design that depended solely on an obsolescent service. Sounds
a lot like Disney Moviebeam. Something designed from day 1 to have a
short life.
I would have made the system cell-network-agnostic from the start,
giving each customer the option of using their own cell phone company
for the OnStar service. And, it goes without saying, digital-analog
compatible from day 1. There's no reason at all why something like
OnStar shouldn't be cell-network-agnostic, since the system is not run
by a telco. The modular design should make this particularly
straightforward. And, in principle, this could also have been offered in
overseas markets.
But I'm sure you're right when you say:
> 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.
There is something to be said about not creating ill will so blatantly
and so unnecessarily.
Bert
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