LOS ANGELES (AP)-Motorola Inc.’s StarTac cellular phones have been plagued by severe technical glitches, prompting Pacific Bell Wireless to quietly stop selling the popular phones for several months.
Motorola said the problems-which include dropped calls and the phone abruptly shutting off-are limited to the StarTac 7000 model, which uses Global System for Mobile communications technology.
Pacific Bell is still selling the phones and people with problems can either come in for a software upgrade or new phones, a Motorola spokeswoman said. Pacific Bell Wireless and Motorola refused to disclose exactly how many of the phones were affected.
Neither company would say how many model 7000s are in use. The companies also never told customers about the problems and only admitted the problems to customers who complained.
Pacific Bell and Motorola officials said they have worked closely to fix the problems by replacing the phones’ software when customers bring them in for service.
“We’re taking this very seriously, and we’ve taken steps to make sure that StarTac customers have a phone that will perform up to par,” said Pacific Bell Wireless vice president Steve Krom.
Motorola, meanwhile, has upgraded Pacific Bell Wireless’ entire inventory of StarTac 7000s with the new software, said Denise Gibson, vice president and general manager for Motorola’s U.S. strategic operations.
The problems come as Motorola tries to regain market share lost to rivals Nokia Corp. and L.M. Ericsson when phones shifted from analog technology to digital. The StarTac has been a key part of Motorola’s rebound.
