Cingular to shut down TDMA and analog networks by 2008

Cingular Wireless' CEO Stan Sigman unveiled the company's plans to shut down its TDMA and analog networks by 2008 at the TelecomNext conference. The shut down of the analog network by this particular year is hardly a novelty as the federal government determined 2008 as the earliest year when carriers could end their analog service. Besides Cingular has few analog subscribers left. The plans for TDMA network shut down, however, come earlier than expected, as the carrier is supposed to have several million TDMA customers. On the other hand, Cingular's spokesman Ritch Blasi claimed that about 95 percent of the carrier's current traffic is over its GSM network and customers have been switching from TDMA to GSM networks ever since 2004, when the company was acquired by former AT&T Wireless Services Inc.

Source: RCR News