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Airtime
Actual time spent talking on the cellular telephone. Most
carriers bill customers based on how many minutes of airtime
they use each month. Airtime charges during peak periods of
the day vary from about 20 cents to more than 40 cents per
minute, depending on the service plan selected. Most carriers
offer reduced rates for off-peak usage.
Airtime provider
A company that sells you services provided by BT Cellnet or
Vodafone. Airtime providers were instigated by the government
to promote competition in the early days of mobile phones.
Orange and One 2 One, however, have been allowed to sell services
direct to the public.
AMPS
Advanced Mobile Phone Standard. Analogue standard used widely
in North America.
Alphanumeric
A message or other type of readout containing both letters
("alphas") and numbers ("numerics"). In
cellular, "alphanumeric memory dial" is a special
type of dial-from-memory option that displays both the name
of the individual and that individual's phone number on the
mobile phone handset. The name also can be recalled by using
the letters on the phone keypad. By contrast, standard memory
dial recalls numbers from number-only locations.
Analogue
The traditional method of modulating radio signals so that
they can carry information. AM (amplitude modulation) and
FM (frequency modulation) are the two most common methods
of analog modulation. The UK’s last analogue mobile
phone network is due to close down in summer 2001.
Authentication
A fraud prevention technology used by Vodaphone that takes
a number of values to create a shared, secret value used to
verify a user's authenticity.
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