hat's because when General Motors started selling cars with OnStar in 1996, there was no digital standard, so the cars had only analog service, explained OnStar President Chet Huber. The cellular telephone industry didn't decide on the CDMA standard until 2002, and cars built before then will not be able to use OnStar next year, he said.
Those customers, some 10 percent of OnStar's nearly 5 million subscribers, must buy a newer OnStar-equipped car if they want to retain the service after analog service ends. To ease the shock for those customers, OnStar is offering a year of free service with their newer vehicle. That means that if they buy a used car, they will get one free year of service and if they buy a new car, they'll get a full year added to the complimentary free first year. A free year of telematics service — at $199 — pales in comparison to the cost of replacing a vehicle, but at least the company is showing customers that it understands their frustrating position.
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