By Jessica Edwards
The final switch from analog to digital cell phone technology this
spring may provide some users with sleeker phones and features such as e-mail and photo
sharing, but the newer technology limits the service area local fishermen have relied on
for years.
Fishermen have found that digital cell service has an inferior range
out on the water.
As a result of the discontinuation of analog service, fishermen are
looking to more expensive options such as satellite phones, bag phones, and signal
boosters.
The primary cell service providers in Southeast Alaska, Cellular One
and Alaska Communications Systems, will end analog service March 1 and Feb. 18, 2008,
respectively.
Both companies have been slowly phasing out analog phones and accounts
over the past four years, following a 2002 FCC ruling that cell providers could end analog
service by 2008.
Cellular One says it’s discontinuing analog partly to eliminate
duplication of maintaining two systems and fully invest in digital, but that’s little
solace to fishermen.
"Three years ago, I had better service than I have now," said
Haines fisherman Norman Hughes about his switch from analog to digital. "I’m
really disappointed."
"An analog signal travels better," said gillnetter Mike
Saunders. "It even bounces across the water. The digital signal disperses."
Hughes said he has to be in the line of sight of a cell tower in order
for his digital phone to get service. "I have to point the boat in the right
direction."
In some places, he said, "It requires you to run another half an hour to get where
you are getting a signal."
That makes his new cell phone less useful for emergencies and
breakdowns. He called a working cell phone an important "safety net" for his
fishing business. "I can call and get a part (for the boat) and have a tender pick it
up, or run in and know the part’s there. I can keep fishing. It’s a
lifesaver."
Both Hughes and Saunders said that Cellular One’s addition of
antennae atop the tower site in Haines last January did not noticeably affect their
service while out fishing.
Since the move to digital cell service became imminent, Haines
fishermen have researched ways to extend their range of service, with mixed results.
Saunders, a Cell One customer, said he purchased a digital "bag
phone" when he discovered the range of digital service was inferior to analog. The
phone cost him about $350. "It has more wattage and a separate antenna."
Motorola, a phone maker that contracts with Cellular One, advertises on
their web site that the M800 bag phone "transmits more than three times the distance
over standard portable cell phones."
According to Saunders, the bag phone provides him with service almost
on par with his old analog phone.
Hughes sprung for a Globalstar satellite phone, but was disappointed by
the lack of coverage.
He said service was "marginal" despite company advertising to
the contrary, and required him to get a data cable in order to find out when and where he
would be able to use his phone.
"It cost me about $800 a year for 10 minutes of use." Hughes
found the satellite phone impractical for situations in which he needed to call out while
fishing and discontinued his service.
Globalstar advertised in 2006 that they were providing better coverage
in Alaska and the Yukon. However, a current rates page on the company web site says that
satellite phone customers may have difficulty connecting "at certain times in certain
locations" until the company deploys additional satellites in 2009.
Fishermen all over Southeast have complained about diminished cell
coverage with the phase-out of analog systems. As reported recently in The Ketchikan Daily
News, a group of Ketchikan fishing families took the issue to Senator Lisa Murkowski in
October.
Murkowski fisheries legislative assistant Arne Fuglvog said it was
unlikely Murkowski would be able to influence the situation.
