'Analog sunset' approaches

By Janice Kurbjun
Times staff writer

On Feb. 18, the sun will set on a technological era as wireless carriers nationwide are no longer required by the Federal Communications Commission to provide analog service.

While city dwellers are largely unaffected by this change, wireless providers have had to pay particular attention to rural areas. In Carbon County, with its spotty digital wireless coverage and a number of wireless users who only own mobile phones for emergency coverage, the transition has been smooth, but not seamless.

According to Chelsea Fallon, media contact at the FCC Wireless Bureau, the decision was made that the “analog requirement was no longer necessary because original goals had been met with digital technology” in 2002. After the five-year phase-out period instituted after that decision, few analog customers remain. However, the question remains whether the few that are left will still receive the same coverage.

Robert Kelley, the media contact for Verizon Wireless’ mountain areas, said Verizon’s network team has spent the past few months analyzing the analog and digital areas to be sure coverage will be the same. “They’ve actually beefed up a few fringe areas where they saw a delta between (the two),” he said.

Verizon’s efforts follow the requirements of the FCC’s “analog sunset order,” which says no provider should discontinue analog coverage until it can guarantee the users will see no problems in the transition to digital. Additionally, the order mandated wireless providers to supply options to analog users to smoothly transition them to the digital networks.

In the case of Alan Braga, the transition is not as smooth as he’d like. Previously owning a bag phone, a large device that effectively picked up a signal in the most remote places through the analog advanced mobile phone service, the Encampment resident was forced to transition to digital through his provider, Union Telephone. He received a free phone and a similar plan, but Braga is certain he will not experience the same coverage with the new, smaller phone.

“My little phone can’t put out the same power that my bag phone did,” Braga said. “I am sure I could get more signals and stronger signals with (the bag phone).”

When Braga once happened upon an accident just south of the Wyoming-Colorado border, he was able to get a signal with his bag phone when another fellow was unable to make a call with his standard cellular phone. The accident was at the three-way intersection of Wyoming Highway 230 and Colorado highways 125 and 127. When Braga tried to call 911, he was successful.

“It’s a low spot there, and I had no problem getting out when he wasn’t able to with his little one,” Braga said.

Braga admitted he could have purchased a digital bag phone that would have worked effectively in the rural areas of Carbon County. However, he could not justify the steep price listed by Union Telephone.

A representative from Verizon Wireless confirmed that their $400 digital bag phone is the only current option for rural coverage, able to pick up more signals, particularly in remote areas, than a regular phone. According to Larry Sheridan, communications system supervisor with the Wyoming Department of Transportation’s telecommunications department, the current price tag on bag phones is relatively small. He said bag phones cost $1,500 to $2,000 when they first hit the market.

Braga is somewhat frustrated because he had no choice in the matter. Because he carries his phone solely for emergencies and cannot get the same coverage with the phone provided by Union Telephone, he said “I’m sort of defeating my purpose.”


Cellular History

The Feb. 18 “analog sunset” is not the first in cellular history.

The industry began in the 1950s and as technology progressed, transitions occurred.

Larry Sheridan, communications system supervisor within the Wyoming Department of Transportation telecommunications department, provided the background for the most recent cellular transition.

The improved mobile telephone service of the 1960s transitioned to the advanced mobile phone service in about 1989. It was about six years after the service was introduced into the cellular market and about two yeas from when the large carriers petitioned for it to be removed from the market.

It’s usually a business decision, Sheridan said. “(The advanced service) was power hungry and it was a limited capacity system,” he said. In the case of digital services versus analog, he said the transmission of four to eight digital conversations is roughly equivalent to the use of one analog signal. It becomes much more cost-effective for carriers to function digitally.

The large carriers in the late 1980s petitioned for the shutdown of the improved mobile telephone service in much the same way carriers in the late 1990s asked the Federal Communications Commission to end the requirement to provide the analog service.

Personal stories during the two transitions also mirror each other. Sheridan’s personal story of his cellular experience during the 1989 transition is similar to that of Alan Braga, an Encampment resident who used the analog service as of three weeks ago.

The petition to transition from one cellular system to another was still hanging when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit the San Francisco Bay Area, where Sheridan was living. Part of the vast impact was downed phone lines. Amidst the chaos and not knowing the decision on the improved mobile telephoneservice, Sheridan attempted to use his old phone, which was kept under the seat of his car in the case of an emergency.

“Wouldn’t you know, I picked up the phone and heard a dial tone,” Sheridan said. He called his parents in Michigan to warn them about what they would soon see on the television and to assure them he and his family were safe.

Soon, the improved mobile telephone service system was shut down nationwide in favor of the analog service. The time taken to phase out the improved mobile telephone service to the analog service closely mirrors the efforts of wireless companies throughout the last five years to transition to digital services.

On the other end of the line during the interview, Sheridan likely shrugged his shoulders as he said, “It’s just the march of technology.”