Cingular Wireless to charge people with older handsets more

Cingular Wireless to charge people with older handsets more

Cingular Wireless has said in a statement that they would soon start charging more from customers using older phones. The company would begin charging an extra $4.99 monthly fee as early as September unless these customers upgrade to newer handsets supporting more widely available single network technologies.

The company said that this charge could be applied on as many as 4.7 million subscribers, or about 8 percent, of its 57.3 million customer base.

Cingular Wireless is working hard on phasing out phones running on the older TDMA and analog technology. As a result, they have to get their long time subscribers to newer GSM (Global System of Mobile Communications) technology.

Company spokesperson Rochelle Cohen added: “Some customers will qualify for discounts on their new phones.” However, a lot of people would be required to get on newer packages or contracts.