On Apr 2, 7:25*pm, Stephen Sprunk wrote:
On 02-Apr-12 17:11, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

wrote:
The analog cell phones of that era supposedly could be switched beteween
the A and B carrier, though I think in practice very people did so.

Hm? Even though the prefix was used to route the inbound call to the
correct cellular network?

My AMPS phones all had menu options controlling whether to prefer A or B
towers, allow roaming to the other one, etc. *You couldn't port your
number from one carrier to another at the time, but at least you could
keep your (expensive) phone when switching.

When I had an analog phone my 'local area' was relatively small,
beyond that I was roaming and the cost per call went up dramatically.
The flip side was my monthly fee was only $20. If I paid more per
month my roaming area would've been bigger. I had to be careful in
border areas since if a distant tower handled the call I'd be charged
the steep roaming fees.

One good thing about that old phone was that there was a separate LED
that lit on roaming. It was bright yellow and readilly seen--not some
obscure logo buried in a tiny screen.

I liked my old phone. For my usage the $20/month worked out fine.
The phone came free with a year's subscription. The few times I had
to pay for peak minutes or roaming was worth the convenience and
didn't offset the savings. The phone was bigger than today's digital
units, but it came with a nice case that securely clipped on my belt.
(My current belt case can easily be knocked off).

One time I was riding a train and talking on my phone. We went
through what apparently was a dead spot since the other passengers
with newer digital phones all lost service. I didn't and kept on
talking.

I had to give the phone up when they dumped analog. But also at that
time the batteries wouldn't hold a charge and there weren't
replacements available. One bad thing--I think the recharger didn't
shut off automatically when the phone was charged, so if left in too
long the battery would overcharge and be damaged.