The End of Analog, What’s the Big Deal?

When it first dawned on me that the deadline for analog cell service was coming to a closure in 2008, I didn’t think much about it. After all, it is reported that only 1% of the cell phone population use a cell phone that is analog only, so what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that there are millions of devices around the US that rely solely on analog, and many of them are not phones, they are devices like OnStar, GPS tracking systems, alarm system devices, etc. When the analog service is shutoff, these devices will be rendered useless. This could happen as early as February 18th, 2008 since this is the date the FCC says it is ok for cell companies to shutoff analog services.

Impact on Trucking

This is particularly important for transportation and trucking companies which rely on cell based devices to track equipment. Many companies rely on satellite based technology such as Skybitz or Qualcomm units, but many other companies rely on services from companies like Terion and Peoplenet which had major releases of product which rely solely on analog communications.

At Tradewinds, we are impacted by this change in a major way. We went live with Peoplenet just three years ago with their G2 unit which is a solely analog based device. It worked flawlessly and has been a great product, however our investment of about $1k a unit + install fees is about to go up in smoke in Q1 of next year. The same holds true for some of our trailer tracking units.

As a result, we have been working diligently to find alternatives and make sure we have plans in place to track our equipment. In the trucking arena, being able to put a dot on the map and track loads and equipment is very critical, so any downtime can create a lot of confusion and equate to lost business and equipment.

While, Peoplenet has offered us some incentives to convert to their G3 unit which is all digital, spending thousands of dollars to upgrade these units in addition to writing off our G2’s has been a tough pill to swallow. We have opted for a lower cost solution that is solely satellite based and is a little less robust, but substantially cheaper. This in addition to the mobile D2 Link application from TMW Systems that is loaded on our drivers nextel handsets will be a functional replacement for us.

So while most people just give the news of this rapidly approaching change a quick glance over, I’d encourage you to think of all the devices that you use, whether it is the OnStar in your car or even if you leverage some non cell phone based device that is out in the field…you may be at risk. It is definitely worth spending some time now getting prepared rather than figuring out what to do after the fact.

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