New FCC regulation (8/7/05) says that no wireless provider can initiate service to any phone that does not have a GPS chip. This means old BMWs & MBs intregrated systems (Motorola Startac) cannot be used by the new buy if the car is sold. Has anyone discovered a work-around? b I sold my od car to my son and he cannot activate the old Startac!  |
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What carrier said this?
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Quote: New FCC regulation (8/7/05) says that no wireless provider can initiate service to any phone that does not have a GPS chip. This means old BMWs & MBs intregrated systems (Motorola Startac) cannot be used by the new buy if the car is sold.
Has anyone discovered a work-around? b I sold my od car to my son and he cannot activate the old Startac! | Sounds like there's some confusion here. First, the FCC requirements are for 1) new handsets sold by the carrier and 2) percentage of the subscriber base that has GPS support.
As far as I know, all of the cellular carriers are operating under individual waivers negotiated with the FCC. Along with items not relevant to this discussion (such as the number of Phase I and Phase II PSAP's requesting connections), these are discussed in each carrier's quarterly report to the FCC.
In Verizon's case, 100% of all phones currently sold by Verizon are capable of supporting GPS (I guess that's all that matters - the GPS isn't configured in Motorola V710's sold by Verizon, for example). Verizon also promised to attempt to reach 95% penetration of GPS-capable phones in their subscriber base by 12/31/2005.
None of this forces a carrier to refuse to activate service on an existing non-GPS phone. In practice, carriers don't like to [re-]activate old phones anyway, since they often don't have instructions for configuring the phone, the phone might be broken or locked, have out-of-date software, etc. In general, carriers have made exceptions for cellular phones tied to a piece of equipment (car, burglar alarm system, etc.).
You can view the FCC 911 compliance reports here. If you want to file a complaint against a carrier for not activating an old phone, that form is here.
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You know, that is a very detailed and helpful post.
But I'm sorry, I can't help wondering if you lost to Detroit in '84 with Garv and Nettles and Alan Wiggins. If so, I was pulling for you guys.
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| Reply » Question about Motorola Startac HELP! |
Some carriers WILL refuse to set up a non GPS phone.
However, there is usually a workaround that is different for each carrier.
Verizon is the easiest as they allow you to change the ESN right on the web site. Makes it nice when you want to switch between two or more phones.
Others may require a call to customer service. It will vary by provider.
Check Howardforums.com for detailed info.
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| Reply » Question about Motorola Startac HELP! |
Quote: New FCC regulation (8/7/05) says that no wireless provider can initiate service to any phone that does not have a GPS chip. This means old BMWs & MBs intregrated systems (Motorola Startac) cannot be used by the new buy if the car is sold.
Has anyone discovered a work-around? b I sold my od car to my son and he cannot activate the old Startac! | Are you sure that's the reason they won't activiate it?
Also (quite obviously) if it's analogue they won't activate it. Your post leaves important details such as which phone it really is (e.g. CPT-6000 or CPT-7000) since BMW did not sell "Startacs" as such
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Question about Motorola Startac HELP!