Cell Phone Definitions: What is AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service)?
The entire cell phone industry in the US was founded on advanced mobile phone service, or AMPS, technology. It’s an analog radio signal and the first generation of wireless networks used it quite well until new technology started to come along. Now there are third and fourth generation networks and technology being used, but AMPS will always be the first. It’s still used in some places, but most areas of the country have gone over to digital signals. Many older cell phones don’t work properly anymore, and the problem isn’t with the phone. The problem is with the network because it’s no longer analog and the phones can’t work with the digital signal.
It’s similar to what happened in the US, when most TV stations changed over to a digital signal. If the TV watcher had a set that was connected to cable or satellite, he didn’t have to do anything. If, though, he still used an older TV that couldn’t connect to cable or a satellite signal and only worked off of an antenna, he had to buy a special converter box to get the new signal. The same thing happened to the phones, except there weren’t any converters. People just had to get new phones when advanced mobile phone service evolved into something newer. If you’re planning on buying a new phone, you don’t have to worry about AMPS. All new phones work with the latest technology, so you’ll be ready to go as soon as you get your phone from your cellular provider.
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January 22nd, 2010 at 4:32 pm
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