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Cellular frequencies are the sets of frequency ranges within theultra high frequency band that have beenassigned for cellular-compatiblemobile devices, such asmobile phones, to connect tocellular networks.^[1] Most mobile networks worldwide use portions of theradio frequency spectrum,allocated to themobile service, for the transmission and reception of their signals. The particular bands may also be shared with otherradiocommunication services, e.g.broadcasting service, andfixed service operation.

Radio frequencies used for cellular networks differ inITU Regions (Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia). The first commercial standard for mobile connection in the United States wasAMPS, which was in the 800 MHz frequency band. In Nordic countries ofEurope, the first widespread automatic mobile network was based on theNMT-450 standard, which was in the 450 MHz band. As mobile phones became more popular and affordable, mobile providers encountered a problem because they couldn't provide service to the increasing number of customers. They had to develop their existing networks and eventually introduce new standards, often based on other frequencies. Some European countries (and Japan) adoptedTACS operating in 900 MHz. TheGSM standard, which appeared in Europe to replace NMT-450 and other standards, initially used the 900 MHz band too. As demand grew, carriers acquired licenses in the 1,800 MHz band. (Generally speaking, lower frequencies allow carriers to provide coverage over a larger area, while higher frequencies allow carriers to provide service to more customers in a smaller area.)

In the U.S., the analog AMPS standard that used the cellular band (800 MHz) was replaced by a number of digital systems. Initially, systems based upon the AMPS mobile phone model were popular, includingIS-95 (often known as "CDMA", theair interface technology it uses) andIS-136 (often known as D-AMPS, Digital AMPS, or "TDMA", the air interface technology it uses). Eventually, IS-136 on these frequencies was replaced by most operators with GSM. GSM had already been running for some time on USPCS (1,900 MHz) frequencies.

And, some NMT-450 analog networks have been replaced with digital networks using the same frequency. In Russia and some other countries, local carriers received licenses for 450 MHz frequency to provide CDMA mobile coverage area.

ManyGSM phones support three bands (900/1,800/1,900 MHz or 850/1,800/1,900 MHz) or four bands (850/900/1,800/1,900 MHz), and are usually referred to astri-band and quad-band phones, orworld phones; with such a phone one can travel internationally and use the same handset. This portability is not as extensive with IS-95 phones, however, as IS-95 networks do not exist in most of Europe.

Mobile networks based on different standards may use the same frequency range; for example, AMPS,D-AMPS,N-AMPS and IS-95 all use the 800 MHz frequency band. Moreover, one can find both AMPS and IS-95 networks in use on the same frequency in the same area that do not interfere with each other. This is achieved by the use of different channels to carry data. The actual frequency used by a particular phone can vary from place to place, depending on the settings of the carrier's base station.

• Bands by technology:
  • GSM frequency bands
  • UMTS frequency bands
  • LTE frequency bands
  • 5G NR frequency bands
  • CDMA frequency bands
• Deployed networks by technology
  • List of 5G NR networks
  • List of LTE networks
  • List of UMTS networks
  • List of CDMA2000 networks
  • List of WiMAX networks
• Cellular frequencies in the United States
• List of mobile network operators (summary)
• Mobile country code - code, frequency, and technology for each operator in each country

Other articles:

• Roaming
• Dual-band
• Tri-band
• Quad-band
• Microwave

• 3GPP2 document on CDMA/CDMA2000 frequency bands

• Radio resource management

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from July 2016
• All articles needing additional references