The FCC's established sunset date for analog cellular service may cause problems not previously anticipated. The National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association is now warning that more than 26 million alarm systems in the US will be affected by the loss of analog cellular service.

Loss of the Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), currently slated for February 18, 2008, may render dependent burglar, fire, and medical alert systems non-functional or leave these systems without emergency back-up communications.

The NBFAA recently lost its appeal to the FCC to extend the shutdown date for the service. While most alarm systems use landlines as the primary means of communication, the NBFAA estimates that more than a million alarm systems use a cellular backup, and more than 90 percent of alarm companies use AMPS service to connect some of their customers, and 70 percent use analog radios to report fire or intrusion alarms

One of the more well publicized consequence of the discontinuation of analog cell service, owners of older model GM vehicles equipped with the OnStar service have been notified that their receivers will no longer work. Models made prior to the 2002 model year were built with analog-only receivers that are not upgradeable to the digital OnStar service.