SPOTLIGHT: Cingular to shut down legacy networks by 2008

Cingular Wireless announced it's going to shut down its analog and TDMA networks by 2008 when the FCC's rules requiring operators to keep their analog networks running expire. Most of the traffic is traveling on the carrier's GSM network these days, but there are still millions of TDMA subscribers. It's an obvious conclusion. Despite the fact that the company has a ton of spectrum, it's an engineering nightmare and not cost effective to operate analog, TDMA, GSM/GPRS, EDGE and UMTS networks. It will be interesting to see how many operators actually shut down their analog networks in 2008. Analog is still a life blood for many customers in rural areas. Article