As hard as it is for urbanites to believe, there are still folks in Canada who only rely on analog cell phone coverage. Well, those people will soon be without any coverage at all, because Telus is shutting down the analog portion of its network. These regions may or may not get digital coverage. Telus spokesman Shawn Hall told The Canadian Press that the company was left with little choice with its stockpile of replacement parts running out. The company has spent the past year warning that it would eventually have to shut down the network. Telus currently has 70,000 customers on its AMPS network - compared to around 4.9 million on its CDMA service and 862,000 on an iDEN network. Telus subscribers who are still using analog mobile phones and Telus has offered to replace the analog phones with digital ones for free.
The issue at hand for these rural subscribers is the inability to get a strong, clear signal over a digital network. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business warned that the loss of analogue service will hurt residents and people who work in remote areas, such as loggers or farmers. Telus is looking at the possibility of offering boosters or specially adapted mobile phones for use in areas where the shut-down cuts off customers, but nothing has been confirmed at the moment. Rogers Communications shut down its AMPS network last May.
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