Analog Cellular Technology "Sunsetted" Today

Today both AT&T and Verizon shut off their analog networks based on an FCC decision way back in 2002 tto "analog sunset" Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) networks. AMPS, first generation cellular technology developed in the early 1980's, requires separate frequency channels for each phone conversation and is extremely bandwidth hungry.

Both Verizon and AT&T gave up front notification and worked with analog customers for years to get them switched over (almost all were years ago) so the shut down will have negligible effect. There may still be a few AMPS networks out there in this country after today - shutdown is optional and some small rural carriers may have not shut down today. Eventually they all will.

You may have read around the first of the year about General Motor's OnStar systems and how the OnStar network was converting to CDMA based communications on January 1, 2008. Here's a quote from InfoWorld on the InStar conversaion:

Some users of wireless roadside assistance have also been left behind in the transition......... The automaker didn't wait for the Feb. 18 deadline but instead shut down its analog service on Jan. 1. In a statement on the transition last year, GM said about 90 percent of its subscribers' cars had CDMA or could be converted to use it. Others would lose their OnStar service. The wholly owned subsidiary of GM said last October it had about 5 million subscribers.

Residential and business alarm systems have been preparing for the shut down for a while also. Here's more from the InfoWorld piece:

....... AMPS isn't only used for cell phones. Many alarm companies use the system to alert police or fire departments to emergencies at homes or businesses. About three years ago, the Alarm Industry Communications Committee (AICC) industry group took a survey which revealed that just under 1 million of the approximately 30 million monitored home and business alarm systems used an analog cellular network, said AICC chairman Louis Fiore. About 850,000 of them used the system only as a backup in case the phone line was cut, he said.

In the end, faster and more efficient digital systems took over with AMPS becoming too expensive to support and maintain.

Update: Verizon's Sale of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont

I've written here in the past about Verizon's pending sale of their Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont networks to Fairpoint Communications. Here are some highlights on the sale taken from a Burlington Press piece written yesterday:

• The sale represents roughly 1.6 million land lines in the three states.
• Sale price is $2.72 billion which, without any dept relief, would put FairPoint into $2.5 billion of debt
• Proposed deal has Verizon giving Fairpoint $235 million in debt relief.
• Maine has approved the sale but has not written a final order yet.
  
• Last week the staff of the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission recommended state regulators sign off on the deal.
  
• Vermont's Public Service Board is currently meeting on FairPoint's proposal.
• Fairpoint has agreed to cut dividends to shareholders by $50 million a year and will not be permitted to raise the dividend until its debt ratio has been lowered.

Each state must approve the sale individually so each is also negotiating based on their own needs. For example:

• In New Hampshire, the proposed deal calls for Verizon to give FairPoint $50 million over two years to help build infrastructure and make high-speed Internet access available to 95 percent of the customers by a certain date.
• In Vermont, the proposed deal calls for 80 percent high-speed Internet availability by 2010 -- and a requirement that all customers in at least half of FairPoint's telephone exchanges have access to broadband Internet service.
• In Maine, FairPoint has agreed to freeze DSL rates for existing Verizon customers at $15 to $18 a month for two years.

Much of the discussion has been around the huge amount of debt Fairpoint would assume if the sale happens. Saddled with this debt, many are concerned about Fairpoint's ability to upgrade existing services as expensive higher bandwidth technologies go mainstream. Sure, current ADSL offerings scream when compared to dial-up but - we won't be saying that in a few years.

I'm trying to remain optimistic - is there another more cost effective technology (perhaps WiMAX, higher bandwidth DSL or even Broadband over Power Line, etc....) that will make these concerns moot? Time will tell if the sale gets final approval.

FCC, Vermont and Maine OK Verizon / Fairpoint Deal

The state of Vermont has tentatively reached an agreement with Verizon and Fairpoint Communications on Fairpoint's $2.7 billion purchase of Verizon landlines in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. The Vermont proposal still has to be approved by the Vermont Public Service Board. According to an Associated Press article:

The proposal, which must be approved by the three-member Vermont Public Service Board, essentially mirrors a stipulation already reached by Maine regulators. It calls for a $235 million reduction in the purchase price, reduced dividend payouts that would free more money for debt service and some special accommodations for Vermont.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission approved the purchase last week with New Hampshire still awaiting approval. Perhaps jumping the gun, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 yesterday to approve the sale.

Here's a quote from a Burlington Free Press article written today:

Two FCC commissioners voted against approving the transaction. "If the seller is not committed to ubiquitous broadband deployment, then letting someone else with more commitment do the job makes sense. But if the buyer is shackled by the costs of the agreement, it becomes more difficult to see how the public interest is served," FCC Commissioner Michael Copps wrote in a dissenting opinion.

Commissioner Copps has also questioned why the FCC is issuing a ruling before all three of the state's regulatory agencies have reached decisions.

Goodbye Copper?

There’s been some recent press about Verizon and their FIOS product installation. FIOS is a fiber optic network service that delivers voice, video and data services. You may also see it referred to as a Fiber to the Premises (FTTP) or Fiber to the Home (FTTH) service that Verizon is selling and installing in select markets in 16 different states.

Most who have the service installed are extremely happy with the bandwidth and cost when compared to lower bandwidth DSL and Cable Modem services. The product has become so popular that it is even being used as a selling point by real estate agents when marketing homes.

A few are complaining though. It appears Verizon, when installing the FIOS service, is cutting out the existing copper lines leaving the customer with only one option – fiber and FIOS. There are a couple of good reasons from a business perspective for Verizon to do this. The first is the existing copper wiring is old and requires a significant amount of maintenance – Verizon spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year just maintaining the existing “copper plant” and it makes sense to remove it when it is replaced. The second reason is the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which requires the telephone companies (like Verizon) share their existing copper lines with competitors. There is no current legal requirement for Verizon to share new fiber optic lines with anyone.

In fairness to Verizon, there is a three step notification process for people who sign up for the FIOS service. According to the International Herald Tribune, customers are told by the Verizon sales person, it is indicated in the sales contract and the customer is told by the technician that the copper will be cut out. Currently, Verizon is publicly stating they will replace removed copper if a FIOS customer wished to revert back to copper service.

Also according to the International Herald Tribune, Verizon has filed more than 100 notices with the Federal Communications Commission to retire portions of copper throughout its network.

I can understand the customer concerns about lack of choice and some technical issues like battery back-up and also Verizon’s concerns about having to maintain two separate networks.

New Federal Regulations will Have Impact On Open Source Wireless Devices

On July 6, 2007, new Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations in the United States went into effect on devices that use software-defined radio (SDR) technologies. These devices include wireless access points, cell phones, PDA's, wireless network cards, etc. The FCC ruling will make it more difficult for manufacturers to get approval for these types of devices in this country. Accoring to the FCC the regulations are based primarily on safety and will attempt to stop users from doing things like modifying the source code of the devices to boost power or change frequencies of the devices.

Some of the most popular SDR devices among network savvy users on the market today are the Linksys WRT54G series wireless access points. These were the first, and still most popular, consumer devices to have their source code released, allowing users to make modifications and essentially "soup up" the performance of the router. There are numerous third party firmware projects for these devices with a good active list maintained on Wikipedia linked here. Currently the three most popular firmware replacements are Alchemy and Talisman produced by Sveasoft, and DD-WRT.

The Open Source WRT54G Story linked here, describes the history of the device and also describes how you can "turn a $60 router into a $600 router". Here's a couple of quotes from the article:

"While routers used to be the domain of networking specialists, they’ve gone mainstream along with residential broadband. Commodity routers can be had for as little as – well, "free after rebate” in some cases, and often not much more. To keep them cheap, consumer-grade vendors like Linksys repackage designs from OEM vendors rather than design the hardware and software in-house".

"The tradeoff for these sub-$100 routers can be reliability, particularly in the coding of the firmware – the software “brain” that controls the router’s functions. Consumer-grade firmware may be buggy, and may be limited in functionality compared to commercial-grade routers designed for business such as those made by Cisco and SonicWall".

This is very interesting - according to a piece on LinuxDevices.com linked here:

"A summary document published by the FCC suggests that the new regulations were actually proposed by Cisco, a vendor of wireless cards and other networking equipment. The summary document suggests that because of the new rules, SDR device vendors who use open-source software in certain capacities could face challenges getting FCC approval".

You can read the 2500 word FCC summary document linked here.

The Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) has responded with a white paper saying the the FCC has little regulation authority of hardware devices and the FCC is stifling software development with this regulation. The SFLC white paper is linked here.


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