Cellular Providers Start Pulling the Analog Plug

In the U.S., analog cellular services will start being terminated in early 2008, but reports are starting to trickle in that analog services are now being disconnected in Canada, our friendly neighbor to the north.

So far, the news is pretty mild: Analog cell phones haven't been available for many years. The story at the Star, linked above, focuses on a cell phone user who bought an old 1970s-era DynaTAC on eBay and used the over-a-pound brick pretty much as a ploy to get attention at Starbucks.

Of course, more serious effects are in store for many analog users: OnStar's imminent discontinuation of analog services will leave about 500,000 people without emergency services in their cars. January 1, 2008 is D-Day for analog OnStar, and all American analog cellular service should vanish before March 2008.

Meanwhile, at least two other Canadian telcos are still offering analog service, with no specific date on when those services will be shut down for good. However, it's a safe bet that they'll be put out to pasture around the same time as U.S. services in early 2008, since analog roaming will no longer work across the border.

Analog holdouts, it's time to upgrade! 

LINK: It's last call for analog holdout