Valueman: Better Rethink what SBC did to Q STUFF:SBC Scraps Qualcomm.s CDMA system
SBC to scrap Ameritech network
NANCY GOHRING
internettelephony.com
(search for Ameritech to get article)
With final approval on its Ameritech acquisition, SBC Communications has decided to replace Ameritech's CDMA network with a TDMA network.
Dayton, Ohio customers are the first to visit Ameritech/SBC stores to trade their CDMA handsets for free TDMA phones. Customers can keep their phone numbers. "We have started informing customers that we re making the conversion to TDMA," said an SBC spokesman. SBC expects to complete the project throughout the territory by the end of the year.
So far, the response has been positive, the spokesman said, which may be partly due to the fact that users receive free new phones. The conversion will affect less than half of SBC s wireless customers.
While SBC would not put a dollar figure on the trade, most expect the conversion to be costly. SBC has good reason for making the change. Most of its wireless networks are TDMA, except Pacific Bell properties, which use GSM. SBC now can pursue more national accounts and offer a wider roaming territory, said Rob Norcross, vice president of Mercer Management Consulting.
Also, by discontinuing the CDMA network, SBC can avoid paying royalties to Qualcomm, said Andrew Cole, vice president at Renaissance Worldwide |
