Cingular will soon begin charging subscribers with older phones $5 per month. In an effort to get subscribers off of older analog and TDMA handsets, Cingular will begin charging users on the older protocols as early as September. An FCC ruling declared Cingular and others like Verizon must continue to provide analog service until 2008. However the carriers can cut off service earlier if there are no remaining subscribers. The move is designed to convince customers to upgrade so that Cingular can reclaim the spectrum from them. The carrier is currently operating GSM, TDMA and analog services, which is reducing the amount of spectrum Cingular can devote to GSM as well as launching UMTS. Currently 4.7 million subscribers, about 8 percent of Cingular's total, are using TDMA or analog phones on the network.
Source: Associate Press & Phonescoop
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