Hello, Hello, Hello, Can
You Hear Me?
Cell Phones: Digital or Analogue?
By: Mike Lipshultz
Mike@biznetonline.com
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Hello, Hello, Hello, Can
You Hear Me? |
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Last month we began discussing the merits and variety of Pagers and Cellular phones. This month we are going to focus on Cell Phones. In Cell Phones, you have two basic choices: Digital or Analogue. In some cases you can get Digital phones that will also work in an Analog mode, but more on that later. Remember that even though Cell Phones are called a phone, they are first and foremost radios. As such, they are subject to all the limits of a radio transmission.
Let’s get down to basics. Digital phones take the sound and convert it to a coded signal. The coded signal is then received and decoded back into sound. As a coded signal all unwanted background noise (static) is left out. In a pure Digital system you are connected or not. The conversation is clean or you are disconnected. There is no in-between.
The advantages of Digital to the carrier (the company providing the service) is that as a "coded" signal, more phones can be accommodated on the existing equipment (the same number of Analogue phones require more equipment), so the carriers can handle more accounts with less capital investment. That is why all the carriers are pushing Digital. The profit margin is better for them.
The advantages to you, the consumer, on going Digital is that as a "Coded" signal, the phones can do more. That is why you can only get Digital Phones with features like voice mail notification, paging, and more.
As an incentive for you to take digital over analogue, the Carriers are giving you "freebies" that you can’t get with Analog — such as the first incoming minute for free. If you receive a lot of incoming calls, and keep it short, you can save big time!
Digital has only one disadvantage that I know of, that is, if you consider it a disadvantage at all. With a "Digitally Coded" signal,, the connection is there, or you are disconnected with no warning. Some individuals that have switched from Analog to Digital do not like this "feature" of Digital. With Analog, if you have a "bad" connection you still have a connection. The argument follows that a "bad" connection is better than no connection at all. Additionally, with Analog, you get a warning of a "bad" connection before being disconnect. Sometimes this warning gives you time to close your conversation.
Analogue is the traditional radio transmission. There is no "coding" of the transmission so you receive the voice along with the static. The disadvantages of Analog to the carriers is that it is not as profitable as the same customer using Digital. The disadvantage of Analog to the consumer is that an Analog Phone does not offer the extras of the Digital (voice mail notification, paging, etc.). The only advantage of Analog I know of is: if your connection goes bad, you do not always get disconnected. On a personal note: I prefer Analog for this very reason. But that’s me. You may hate it for the same reason.
Then there are the phones that are both Digital and Analog.
From the traditional cellular carriers (non-PCS) you can get Cellular Phones that are Digital, but can also function as Analog. So you get all the advantages and disadvantages of both. It just depends on if the phone is set in Digital or Analog mode. The reason that these phones are made to work this way is that not all traditional Cellular carriers have Digital Cells set up in every area they offer service. To insure service, their Digital Phones can function as Analog. This is why you see PCS advertised as Pure Digital. In PCS all Cell sites are Digital. I’m sure you have seen the ads with the blind guy and his dog about Cell phones that don’t work everywhere. That’s the traditional cellular carriers fighting back. No, they’re not a "Pure Digital" network, since their Digital Phones can also work on an Analog network.
You need to look at your usage. At this time, PCS still does not have the same coverage as traditional Cellular — but that will change.
Remember: the best product is the one that does the best job of meeting your needs.
Don’t forget to check out the Test Site. This month we are testing a Pacific Bell PCS Phone