Mobile phone industry in the United States

Motorola RAZR.

Nokia E71.

Apple iPhone.

The Mobile phone industry in the United States is covered in this article. Mobile phones are usually called "cell phones" in the United States.

History

Main article: History of mobile phones

• In 1983, Ameritech launched the first generation mobile phone service (1G) in Chicago.

Mobile phone service operators

There are now four companies in the United States that offer nationwide mobile phone service.^[1] Two of these (AT&T and T-Mobile USA) provide service using the GSM standard, while the other two (Verizon and Sprint) principally use CDMA.

• AT&T Mobility

AT&T Mobility, headquarted in Atlanta, Georgia, has absorbed Cingular Wireless, and offers 2G service using GSM technology and 3G service using W-CDMA technology. See its coverage area map.

• Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel, with its head offices in both Reston, Virginia and Overland Park, Kansas, provides 2G service using cdmaOne and i-DEN and 3G service using CDMA2000 technology. See its coverage area map.

• T-Mobile USA

T-Mobile USA, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, is a subsidiary of T-Mobile International AG in Germany. T-Mobile USA offers 2G service using GSM and 3G service using W-CDMA. See its coverage area map.

• Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless, headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey is a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone and offers 2G service using CDMA and 3G service using cdma2000. See its coverage area map.

There are also several regional and local mobile phone service providers (e.g., MetroPCS, Cricket, U.S. Cellular, etc.).

Mobile phone industry

The Federal Communications Commission is the main regulator of the mobile phone industry in the United States. Qualcomm is the inventor of and main contributor to cdmaOne and CDMA2000 mobile phone standards.

Mobile phones

Mobile phone manufacturers

Some of the mobile phone terminals available are:^[2]

Apple Inc. BenQ BlackBerry Google - Nexus One available for T-Mobile USA HTC Corporation LG Motorola

Nokia Palm, Inc. Samsung Sharp Corporation Sony Ericsson ZTE

Mobile phone services

AT&T Mobility

Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel is the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 52 million customers.

T-Mobile USA

T-Mobile is the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. market with 33.73 million customers and annual revenues of US$21.35 billion in 2010.

Verizon Wireless

Mobile phone vs. cell phone

While it is "mobile phone" in British English, it is "cell phone" in American English. The term "cell phone", short for "cellular phone" came into the day-to-day American English vocabulary during the 1980s when the mobile phone companies had to distinguish their mobile phone that can be carried from one cell to another, each controlled by a land-based antenna, from the earlier Improved Mobile Telephone Service phones. In Wikipedia, "mobile phone" is more often used because it can be used across various technologies.

See also

• Mobile phone
• Mobile Telephone Service
• Telecommunications in the United States

References

1. ^ Cell phones in U.S. (Planet Omni)
2. ^ Wirefly

External links

• 82% of America never uses text messaging (2008)
• Cell phone reviews, news, specs and info