Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 22 April 2008 19:03
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
As the clock ticks ever closer to CDMA’s April 28th close down date,
Telstra’s engineers stand ready and poised to co-ordinate a carefully
planned, multi-stage process that will see CDMA bite the dust across
our great Southern land.
“Bite me”, said the Next G network, to its older CDMA brother, after having watched too many episodes of a well known cartoon show, “you’ve had your day in the Sun, and while some still love you and don’t want you to go, that nice Mr Conroy in the Federal Labor Rudd Government has ruddy well told you to go to your room and to never come out, ever again!”
Of course, that conversation is just a bit of silly fantasy, although brothers do fight, as any parent with boys can attest. I sure do remember fighting with my brother growing up, and as he reads my articles, I know he'd agree.
And naturally, while the Next G network bristles with more voice and data than any wireless network before it, mobile networks don’t have neural networks within that can talk for themselves – or at least, not yet.
But Telstra’s Wireless Executive Director, Mr Mike Wright, can, and he explained that Telstra had been preparing for the closure of the CDMA network for more than two years, waiting for the fateful day when the once mighty and far-reaching CDMA network would be
no more.
Lest anyone think that closing a mobile network is easy, Wright says that: "Closing the CDMA mobile network is a complicated process and our engineering team has ensured nothing has been left to chance”.
Like a city’s night lightscape shutting down due to a power failure, the CDMA’s shutdown will be progressive.
Wright explains that: "At midnight AEST Telstra's Global Operations Centre will initiate steps to progressively turn off the CDMA network, starting with inhibiting any new voice, text or data connections. This will initially occur in the eastern states, followed by others in accordance with their local time zones.”
But Telstra is letting those who want to party on the CDMA network have one extra hour of fun before the punchbowl is taken away for good.
Says Wright: "Our focus is always on the customer, so any calls that are in process at the time of the closure will be allowed to continue until 1am local time on Tuesday 29 April. We've also ensured that existing Emergency 000 calls initiated before midnight will be individually allowed to continue until they are completed."
So, what can you expect to see – and hear – on your phone come 12.01am on Tuesday, the 29th of April, if you try to make a call or send a last minute text message? Please read onto page 2.
