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Technology Difference: Digital or Analog
In our cellular world, there are two primary technologies available to
wireless users: analog and digital, and your preference for one or the
other depends on where you'll want to do the majority of your calling. Next consider whether you want analog or digital service. Digital service
? clearer and more secure than analog ? is necessary for features like
wireless Internet and e-mail. But coverage can be spotty. The older analog
network, which transmits sounds like radio waves, has the most extensive
coverage, especially in rural areas. Tip: If you want digital service,
make sure your cellular company has a ''roaming'' agreement that lets
your phone work on an analog system when you are outside digital range.
But beware ? roaming can be expensive, and it requires a ''dual mode''
phone. Although dropping out of popularity, the analog standard, otherwise referred
to as AMPS or NAMPS, offers coverage for over 80% of the U.S., including
many rural areas not covered by digital technology. Analog offers the
advantage of low pricing and a large calling area. Low sound quality and
reduced privacy or security are disadvantages to this technology.
The digital standard, which encompasses the CDMA, TDMA and GSM platforms,
allows for more callers to concurrently occupy space on each of a service
provider's cells, making it the superior choice for highly populated or
metropolitan areas. Each platform has its merits, ranging from the reduced
background noise and earlier WAP adoption of CDMA phones, to the clearer
sound and security protection of TDMA phones, to the near global roaming
ability that accompanies GSM phones. PCS, the new kid on the block, is
a marketing term for a CDMA digital network. Disadvantages to digital
systems are their lack of unified technology and a small, metropolitan-focused
calling area.
If you go to the country occasionally, you won't have coverage at all
if your phone is digital only. Remote locations are not covered by the
digital network, but using a digital & analog phone makes it possible
to automatically switch to analog when digital service is not available
for a better overall coverage.
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