Talk:Mobile phone

Am I the only person who distinguishes between mobile phones, which have their own numbers and use many telco operated base stations, and portable phones, which have only one base station through which they connect to a landline? (Not sure if this terminology is common, or just my idiolect...) -- SJK

No, I also draw this distinction, and I think most telephone companies and the industry generally does as well. kiwiinapanic 22:27 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

• • A Mobile Phone is often called a Cellular Phone and is one that can be taken anywhere in the service area and it will work.
  • A Portable Phone is perhaps better described as a cordless phone and is associated with a fixed telephone landline. It can only be operated in close proximity to (less than 100 metres of) it's base station, and generally only works within a house, bulding or property.

---

I disagree with:

• "Reasons advanced for this include incomplete coverage, fragmented networks making roaming difficult, inferior network technology, relatively high minimum monthly service charges, relatively low-cost fixed-line networks, and the car-centric nature of US society."

Other countries have these features too, yet they have much higher cellphone penetration. I suspect the basic problem is one of marketing and pricing flexibility. A car-centric culture should drive up market penetration. After all the first Mobile Phones were built into cars in the USA - particularly the rich in LA and New York. I can remember them being shown in 1960s and 1970s (Hollywood) TV dramas when the actors would ask for the Mobile Operator to make a phone call - not a two way radio either. Technology should not be a problem as the new networks can overlay the old ones, and do. Roaming was built into the original AMPS system from the start because the American networks demanded it. In Europe, one can travel all over the continent with a mobile phone, though each country has its own national network - so it is not network fragmentation. Coverage in many countries is not 100%, it just needs to cover the main population centres and highways. Anyway, how often do people really travel outside their own home service area. And if you do then there is voicemail to catch those missed calls, which is almost a given feature. Many people have both a mobile phone and access to a fixed-line phone, so I am not sure that the two service actually compete - they are rather complimentary.

What is left? - service charges - i.e. it is a marketing and regulatory issue. The US mobile phone companies have not been brave enough to risk an antitrust lawsuit and ruthlessly discount to capture customers. Whether this is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. It might result in the US having the ability to implement the most technically advanced network, as they will not be so locked into one technology and there will still be new customers to put on to a new network. kiwiinapanic 23:46 Jan 19, 2003 (UTC)

---