Because they want to make everyone get a new phone so they can try to upsell them to a more expensive plan than the grandfathered 2G plan they have now.
They're long gone, shut down in 2008.
R's, John
The information came from AT&T's 10-Q filing with the SEC, which states:
Also as part of our ongoing efforts to improve our network performance and help address the need for additional spectrum capacity, we intend to re- deploy spectrum currently used for basic 2G services to support more advanced mobile Internet services on our 3G and 4G networks. We will manage this process consistent with previous network upgrades and will transition customers on a market-by-market basis from our Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) networks (referred to as 2G networks) to our more advanced 3G and 4G networks. We expect to fully discontinue service on our 2G networks by approximately January 1, 2017. Throughout this multi-year upgrade process, we will work proactively with our customers to manage the process of moving to 3G and 4G devices, which will help minimize customer churn. As of June
30, 2012, approximately 12 percent of our postpaid customers were using 2G handsets. We do not expect this transition to have a material impact on our operating results, but will continue to evaluate the financial impact of transitioning customers from 2G devices to 3G or 4G devices.They additionally define 4G as HSPA+ or LTE. I guess everything in the middle is 3G.
John C. Fowler, snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com
tlvp , in Message-ID: , asks:
2G includes GSM, GPRS, and EDGE. I have no idea what CSD is. UMTA should be UMTS, which is 3G. HS(D)PA is 3G. HS(D)PA is characterized as 3G or 4G by some.Bill Horne , in Message-ID: asked:
2G is the initial 1990s generation of digital voice, before data was a viable product. 3G is the faster, higher-bandwidth array of products that are predominantly data-oriented. In the case of GSM-based carriers, UMTS, also known as WCDMA, was the first real 3G technology (EDGE was sometimes described as 3G, but it is now considered 2.5G at best). The more advanced technologies enable more efficient transmissions, allowing more conversations per MHz, so to speak. Also, it is very unlikely that the "sunk costs" of 2G were not recovered long ago.AMPS has been gone (at least from the major carriers) for years. AT&T phased out the US-developed TDMA when it switched to GSM (which is also a TDMA access technology) in the 1990s. The phaseout of 2G (i.e., GSM) will end AT&T's use of TDMA.
There is no such thing as a "2G plan". And if you've held out and still have the original unlimited plan, you can still keep it. I've had the same plan since I got the first iphone, and I pay the same amount as I always have, and am still unlimited.
Yeah, thought so. *
was a reply to .
Thanks, John.
So: "2G" is just GSM voice and EDGE data, by your lights? OK, good to know.
I guess my old Nokia 6610 is all either 2G or even more primitive, as are all my Motorola TimePorts (P7389, P280, T250, et al.).
But where would my RAZR V3 (original), SLVR L2, and LG cu-400 fit in? To be deprecated and rendered redundant? Or still OK for the 3G/4G-only era?
TIA. And cheers, -- tlvp
CSD stands for Circuit-Switched Data -- it's how T-Mobile (US), at least, handled WAP browsing back before there was GPRS for data transport, and was offered on such handsets as the Motorola Timeport P-7389, P280, and others.
Once GPRS became entrenched, T-Mobile (US), at least, shut of CSD services, and those handsets (and their kin) became useless for WAP browsing in the US (though Polish GSM providers like Orange (PL) still offered CSD data service as recently as a-year-and-a-half ago -- and charged extortionate air-time rates for the privilege of using it :-) ).
Cheers, -- tlvp
GSM's underlying technology is TDMA. TDMA is the short- hand people use to describe the digital technology that AT&T and Cingular used for their first-generation digi- tal mobile technology. TDMA is really D-AMPS (IS-54 and IS-136.) AT&T (and the companies it came from e.g. Bell South Mobility and Southwestern Bell Mobility) used AMPS and "TDMA" i.e. IS-54 and IS-136. Both AMPS and IS-136 were sunset in the period of February-March 2008.
*Moderator note: 'TDMA' (ime ivision ultiple ccess) describes one of several means for providing multiple logical connections over a single physical connection. Other methodologies include CDMA, FDMA, 'statistical' multiplexing, and 'token passing'. There are various trade-offs involved in the choice of multiplexing strategy employed. TEMA gives fixed bandwith, latency, and jitter, making it prefereable for wireless telephony.The TDMA name, as Joseph pointss out, was 'commonly used' as a short-hand description for certain first-generation digital cellular phone technolog, because the 'time-division' feature -- allowing handling of more calls on the same number of physical 'channels' -- was a major selling point.
As a technicaal term, it has broader applicability than as a reference to just that technology. It is not always clear from context as to which 'meaning' of name is intended.
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