http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/ Autoblog Comments for OnStar going silent on millions of vehicles http://www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
Waiting to decide what a court says for something that your customers rely upon, rather than do what's best for your customers shows exactly why you can't make a buck to cover your expenses.

Instead of investing money into the lawyers and the lobbiests, it probably would of been cheaper to buy the freaking analog networks from Verizon and run them yourself, or at least develop an easy upgrade path for your customers.

Way to serve the customer GM.]]>Nov 20th 2006 8:13PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 20th 2006 8:50PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 21st 2006 12:10AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
But no, GM will act like it always has - screw the customer. Make them pay for an upgrade, if possible. Likely the suppliers have changed 2 or 3 times, too, so tooling and drawings are lost. Typical - take a bad situation, blow the chance to redeeem yourself, and make it even easier for owners to move on to other brands - and never come back.

Clueless in "the Tubes" they is.]]>Nov 21st 2006 6:56AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
I've never had OnStar, but I've always been curious how much usage it actually gets.]]>Nov 21st 2006 7:55AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 21st 2006 7:57AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
You guys should Google "Verizon Wireless Coverage map" and just see the lack of DIGITAL coverage in November, 2007.

I bet if this had been Toyota you would have had some excust.

This national wireless coverage map shows the locations you may use you digital wireless cellular phone within the USA.

This map was prepared by Strategis Group, Inc., for use by B-system cellular carriers in the U.S. and Canada, and generally depicts the service area boundaries of B-system service carriers in each of the 50 States and Canada. Because an area is shaded does not necessarily mean that there is complete cellular coverage; in fact, there are "no coverage" areas (including areas too small to depict) within the shaded areas. Wireless service is a radio technology that is subject to transmission limitations caused by service area limitations (such as cell site availability), customer equipment or its installation, as well as weather, atmospheric, magnetic, environmental, topographic and other like conditions. In addition, service may be temporarily limited or suspended due to system capacity limitations or system repairs or modifications.



]]>Nov 21st 2006 8:13AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/#3Matt- So after the plug got pulled (literally) on analog in Oz, what was left for communication in the (extensive) rural areas of the country? Did satelite phone sale surge, or does everyone have amateur radio down there?]]>Nov 21st 2006 8:47AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
On the cars this should be a pretty simple "chip replacement" for the communictions side.]]>Nov 21st 2006 12:38PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
Also I think the hidden cost that On-Star is getting hit with is all the little mom and pop cell towers that still charge crazy roaming fees. Switching to all digital will probably stop this right in its tracks.

Too bad all those cars will now have a broken system :(


Steve Wiseman
http://www.windows-admin-tools.com]]>Nov 21st 2006 1:10PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 21st 2006 2:03PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 21st 2006 2:45PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
In other news, sometimes, when you subscribe to a service, you are at the mercy of your service provider or regulatory changes.

Onstar too is not the only kind of service like this, thay probably have more exposure because, if I remember correctly, they were ahead of the game when they introduced the service.]]>Nov 21st 2006 4:43PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Funny how the GM bashers allways like to post before
>READING. If the post is correct, the units shipped after
>2002 are digital "ready", meaning they can be upgraded
>with a receiver module.

Funny, if you had READ the article you would have read GM continued to sell analog only equipment for 2 years AFTER the FCC ruling in 2002. That means they were selling analog only junk into 2004 when they knew it was going to be worthless in 2007.

Having said that, Caveat Emptor. That's what you get when you buy crap.

]]>Nov 21st 2006 5:19PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 23rd 2006 3:28PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
Your analog service/hands free personal calling was important to me as it is more reliable than my regular cell phone. It is expensive, but weel worth it!

You make cars with features that your customers want/wanted and now you tell a large number of them that you are letting them down. Many of us feel like fools/dolts and our children are coming of age to drive.

I was going to hang on to my reliable little IMPALA for quite some time and then buy another when my finances allow. But now I see what you and AMERICAN BUSINESS feel about us all. LOYALTY MEANS NOTHING!
We are just dollar signs to you.

It all makes me want to put myself in debt early and buy a TOYOTA with BLUETOOTH TECHNOLOGY just to spite you!

Signed: Betrayed in NC]]>Nov 25th 2006 12:48PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 26th 2006 1:29PMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Nov 29th 2006 4:22AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/
My sentiments exactly. We have an '01 Impala. We purchased for the mileage and safety features. We were looking at many manufacturers, since many have good star ratings. The OnStar was the deciding point. Figured that by the time our son was of driving age, would be the time we would have to get another car. Hubby uses 5 days a week to travel round trip 100 miles. Well that time has come and GM has let us down. Our next car purchase will be a Honda. Nowhere have I heard that the wireless companies are totally dropping analog as of January 1, 2008. They have to convert all their towers all over. The FCC mandate was that the wireless companies no longer have to support analog. GM has decided to drop their analog customers. Well GM as lost us as customers and all my family members (Aunts/Uncles/cousins, etc) and friends. They don't care about us, well we don't care about buying from them.]]>Dec 29th 2006 10:07AMhttp://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/http://www.autoblog.com/2006/11/20/onstar-going-silent-on-millions-of-vehicles/Dec 29th 2006 10:08AM