WASHINGTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Customers of U.S. cell phone companies are complaining about dropped calls and dead zones, the result of switching from analog to digital networks.
While digital networks cover much of the nation, there are still big gaps: much of Montana, Nevada, Nebraska, Colorado, Missouri, Kentucky, Vermont and New Hampshire, are still analog only, according to the Federal Communications Commission, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
Cell-phone users in those areas who have bought top-of-the-line phones report numerous problems.
All five top-selling phones from Cingular and AT&T Wireless, including Motorola's popular V400 clamshell phone with a built-in camera, lack an analog component. One of Verizon Wireless's best-selling phones, the color-screen VX6000 camera phone, has no analog component.
Alltel Corp., the country's seventh-biggest wireless operator, with 8.3 million customers, says it includes analog backup in every phone it sells.
Shoppers can get help in choosing a phone that has analog capability from Web sites like howardchui.com and phonescoop.com that offer information about capabilities of different phones, including what parts of the country have no digital coverage.
