Mobile phone

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Motorola L7 mobile phone

A mobile phone (also called mobile, cellular telephone, or cell phone) is an electronic device
used to make mobile telephone calls across a wide geographic area. Mobile phones are different
from cordless telephones, which only offer telephone service within a limited range of a fixed
land line, for example within a home or an office.

A mobile phone can make and receive telephone calls to and from the public telephone network
which includes other mobiles and fixed-line phones across the world. It does this by connecting
to a cellular network owned by a mobile network operator.

In addition to functioning as a telephone, a modern mobile phone typically supports additional

services such as SMS (or text) messaging, MMS, e-mail and Internet access; short-range wireless
(infrared or Bluetooth) communications; as well as business and gaming applications, and
photography. Mobile phones that offer advanced computing abilities are referred to as
smartphones.

The first handheld mobile phone was demonstrated by Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola in 1973,
using a handset weighing 2 kg.[1] In 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x was the first to be commercially
available. In the twenty years from 1990 to 2010, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions grew
from 12.4 million to over 4.6 billion, penetrating the developing economies and reaching the
bottom of the economic pyramid.[2][3]
Contents
[hide]

 1 History
 2 Features
o 2.1 Software and applications
o 2.2 Power supply
 2.2.1 Development and adoption of a Common Charger Solution for
mobile phones
 2.2.1.1 EU common External Power Supply (EPS)
 2.2.1.2 Common power supply standard in the People's Republic of
China
o 2.3 SIM card
 3 Mobile phones in society
o 3.1 Market share
o 3.2 Media
o 3.3 Privacy
 4 Usage
o 4.1 Examples
o 4.2 Sharing
 5 Restrictions
o 5.1 While driving
o 5.2 In schools
o 5.3 Privacy
 6 Health effects
 7 Future evolution: Broadband Fourth generation (4G)
 8 Comparison to similar systems
 9 See also
 10 References
 11 Further reading
 12 External links

[edit] History
Main article: History of mobile phones
An evolution of mobile phones

Radiophones have a long and varied history going back to Reginald Fessenden's invention and
shore-to-ship demonstration of radio telephony, through the Second World War with military use
of radio telephony links and civil services in the 1950s.

The first mobile telephone call made from a car occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on June
17, 1946, using the Bell System's Mobile Telephone Service, but the system was impractical
from what is considered a portable handset today. The equipment weighed 80 pounds (36 kg),
and the AT&T service, basically a massive party line, cost $30 USD per month (equal to $337.33
today) plus $.30 to $.40 per local call, equal to $3.37 to $4.5 today.[4]

In 1960, the world’s first partly automatic car phone system, Mobile System A (MTA), was
launched in Sweden. MTA phones were composed of vacuum tubes and relays, and had a weight
of 40 kg. In 1962, a more modern version called Mobile System B (MTB) was launched, which
was a push-button telephone, and which used transistors in order to enhance the telephone’s
calling capacity and improve its operational reliability. In 1971, the MTD version was launched,
opening for several different brands of equipment and gaining commercial success.[5][6]

Martin Cooper, a Motorola researcher and executive is considered to be the inventor of the first
practical mobile phone for handheld use in a non-vehicle setting, after a long race against Bell
Labs for the first portable mobile phone. Using a modern, if somewhat heavy portable handset,
Cooper made the first call on a handheld mobile phone on April 3, 1973 to his rival, Dr. Joel S.
Engel of Bell Labs.[7]

The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G generation) was launched in Japan by
NTT in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. Within five years, the NTT network
had been expanded to cover the whole population of Japan and became the first nationwide 1G
network. In 1981, this was followed by the simultaneous launch of the Nordic Mobile Telephone
(NMT) system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.[8] NMT was the first mobile phone
network featuring international roaming. The first 1G network launched in the USA was
Chicago-based Ameritech in 1983 using the Motorola DynaTAC mobile phone. Several
countries then followed in the early-to-mid 1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada.

The first "modern" network technology on digital 2G (second generation) cellular technology
was launched by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Group) in 1991 in Finland on the GSM standard,
which also marked the introduction of competition in mobile telecoms when Radiolinja
challenged incumbent Telecom Finland (now part of TeliaSonera) who ran a 1G NMT network.

In 2001, the first commercial launch of 3G (Third Generation) was again in Japan by NTT
DoCoMo on the WCDMA standard.[9]

One of the newest 3G technologies to be implemented is High-Speed Downlink Packet Access

(HSDPA). It is an enhanced 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in
the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, also coined 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo 3G, which allows
networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data
transfer speeds and capacity.

[edit] Features
Main articles: Mobile phone features and Smartphone

A printed circuit board inside a Nokia 3210

All mobile phones have a number of features in common, but manufacturers also try to
differentiate their own products by implementing additional functions to make them more
attractive to consumers. This has led to great innovation in mobile phone development over the
last 20 years.

The common components found on all phones are:

 A battery, typically rechargeable, providing the power source for the phone functions
 An input mechanism and display to allow the user to interact with the phone. The most
common input mechanism is a keypad, but touch screens are also found in some high-end
smartphones.
 Basic mobile phone services to allow users to make calls and send text messages.
 All GSM phones use a SIM card to allow an account to be swapped among devices.
Some CDMA devices also have a similar card called a R-UIM.
  Individual GSM, WCDMA, iDEN and some satellite phone devices are uniquely
identified by an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number.

Low-end mobile phones are often referred to as feature phones, and offer basic telephony, as
well as functions such as playing music and taking photos, and sometimes simple applications
based on generic managed platforms such as Java ME or BREW. Handsets with more advanced
computing ability through the use of native software applications became known as smartphones.
The first smartphone was the Nokia 9000 Communicator in 1996 which added PDA
functionality to the basic mobile phone at the time. As miniaturization and increased processing
power of microchips has enabled ever more features to be added to phones, the concept of the
smartphone has evolved, and what was a high-end smartphone five years ago, is a standard
phone today.

Several phone series have been introduced to address a given market segment, such as the RIM
BlackBerry focusing on enterprise/corporate customer email needs; the SonyEricsson Walkman
series of musicphones and Cybershot series of cameraphones; the Nokia Nseries of multimedia
phones, the Palm Pre the HTC Dream and the Apple iPhone.

Other features that may be found on mobile phones include GPS navigation, music (MP3) and
video (MP4) playback, RDS radio receiver, alarms, memo recording, personal digital assistant
functions, ability to watch streaming video, video download, video calling, built-in cameras
(1.0+ Mpx) and camcorders (video recording), with autofocus and flash, ringtones, games, PTT,
memory card reader (SD), USB (2.0), dual line support, infrared, Bluetooth (2.0) and WiFi
connectivity, instant messaging, Internet e-mail and browsing and serving as a wireless modem.
Nokia and the University of Cambridge demonstrated a bendable cell phone called the Morph.[10]
Some phones can make mobile payments via direct mobile billing schemes or through
contactless payments if the phone and point of sale support Near Field Communication (NFC).[11]
Some of the largest mobile phone manufacturers and network providers along with many retail
merchants support, or plan to support, contactless payments through NFC-equipped mobile
phones.[12][13][14]

[edit] Software and applications

A Toshiba TG01 phone with touchscreen feature
See also: Mobile Industry Processor Interface

The most commonly used data application on mobile phones is SMS text messaging. The first
SMS text message was sent from a computer to a mobile phone in 1992 in the UK, while the first
person-to-person SMS from phone to phone was sent in Finland in 1993.

Other non-SMS data services used on mobile phones include mobile music, downloadable logos
and pictures, gaming, gambling, adult entertainment and advertising. The first downloadable
mobile content was sold to a mobile phone in Finland in 1998, when Radiolinja (now Elisa)
introduced the downloadable ringtone service. In 1999, Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo
introduced its mobile Internet service, i-Mode, which today is the world's largest mobile Internet
service.

The first mobile news service, delivered via SMS, was launched in Finland in 2000. Mobile news
services are expanding with many organizations providing "on-demand" news services by SMS.
Some also provide "instant" news pushed out by SMS.

Mobile payments were first trialled in Finland in 1998 when two Coca-Cola vending machines in
Espoo were enabled to work with SMS payments. Eventually, the idea spread and in 1999 the
Philippines launched the first commercial mobile payments systems, on the mobile operators
Globe and Smart. Today, mobile payments ranging from mobile banking to mobile credit cards
to mobile commerce are very widely used in Asia and Africa, and in selected European markets.

[edit] Power supply

Mobile phone charging service in Uganda

Mobile phones generally obtain power from rechargeable batteries. There are a variety of ways
used to charge cell phones, including USB, portable batteries, mains power (using an AC
adapter), cigarette lighters (using an adapter), or a dynamo. In 2009, the first wireless charger
was released for consumer use.[15]

[edit] Development and adoption of a Common Charger Solution for mobile phones

On 17 February 2009, the GSM Association (GSMA), together with 17 mobile phone
manufacturers and providers, announced[16] their commitment to implementing a cross-industry
standard for a universal charging solution for new mobile phones. The standard charger
connector to be adopted by manufacturers in the Open Mobile Terminal Platform (OMTP)
including Nokia, Motorola and Samsung is the micro-USB connector (several media reports
erroneously reported this as the mini-USB). The new chargers will also be much more energy
efficient than existing chargers. Having a standard charger for all phones means that
manufacturers will no longer have to supply a charger with every new phone. The OMTP
technical requirements describe a common charger with a standard USB-A receptacle and a
detachable USB-A to microUSB-B cable.[17][18]

In October 2009, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that it had also
embraced the Universal Charging Solution standard - based on the OMTP specifications
promoted by the GSMA - as its "energy-efficient one-charger-fits-all new mobile phone
solution," and added: "Based on the Micro-USB interface, UCS chargers will also include a 4-
star or higher efficiency rating — up to three times more energy-efficient than an unrated
charger."[19]

[edit] EU common External Power Supply (EPS)

Main article: common External Power Supply

In 2009, many mobile phone manufacturers signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU),

agreeing to make most new data-enabled cell phones marketed in the EU compatible with a
common External Power Supply (EPS). All signatories agreed to develop a common
specification for the charger "to allow for full compatibility and safety of chargers and mobile
phones."[20][21] The mobile phone manufacturers who have agreed to this standard include the
original signatories Apple, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung, Sony
Ericsson, and Texas Instruments as well as Atmel, Emblaze Mobile, Huawei Technologies and
TCT Mobile (Alcatel).[22] The Memorandum of Understanding also provides for the use of the
common External Power Supply with compliant phones not equipped with a MicroUSB
receptacle: "...4.2.1...if a manufacturer makes available an Adaptor from the Micro-USB
connector of a Common EPS [External Power Supply] to a specific non-Micro-USB socket in
the Mobile Phone, it shall constitute compliance to this article."

[edit] Common power supply standard in the People's Republic of China

In 2006, the People's Republic of China issued a standard for mobile device power supplies
(based on a 5V Power Supply with a USB-A receptacle and a detachable cable). The 2006
regulation is flexible regarding the interface on the mobile phone itself, allowing for the use of
adapter cables if the mobile device is not equipped with a standard USB connector.[23] The
standard was revised in December, 2009 (CCSA YD/T 1591-2006 updated to YD/T 1591-2009).

Charger efficiency

The world's five largest handset makers introduced a new rating system in November 2008 to
help consumers more easily identify the most energy-efficient chargers

The majority of energy lost in a mobile phone charger is in its no load condition, when the
mobile phone is not connected but the charger has been left plugged in and using power. To
combat this, in November 2008, the top five mobile phone manufacturers Nokia, Samsung, LG,
Sony Ericsson, and Motorola set up a star rating system to rate the efficiency of their chargers in
the no-load condition. Starting at zero stars for >0.5 W and going up to the top five star rating for
<0.03 W (30 mW) no load power.[24]

A number of semiconductor companies offering flyback controllers, such as Power Integrations

and CamSemi, now claim that the five-star standard can be achieved with use of their product.[25]

Battery

Formerly, the most common form of mobile phone batteries were nickel metal-hydride, as they
have a low size and weight. Lithium ion batteries are sometimes used, as they are lighter and do
not have the voltage depression that nickel metal-hydride batteries do. Many mobile phone
manufacturers have now switched to using lithium-polymer batteries as opposed to the older
Lithium-Ion, the main advantages of this being even lower weight and the possibility to make the
battery a shape other than strict cuboid.[26] Mobile phone manufacturers have been experimenting
with alternative power sources, including solar cells.

[edit] SIM card

This section needs additional citations for verification.

Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and
removed. (September 2009)
Main articles: Subscriber Identity Module and Removable User Identity Module

Typical mobile phone SIM card

GSM mobile phones require a small microchip called a Subscriber Identity Module or SIM Card,
to function. The SIM card is approximately the size of a small postage stamp and is usually
placed underneath the battery in the rear of the unit. The SIM securely stores the service-
subscriber key (IMSI) used to identify a subscriber on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile
phones and computers). The SIM card allows users to change phones by simply removing the
SIM card from one mobile phone and inserting it into another mobile phone or broadband
telephony device.

A SIM card contains its unique serial number, internationally unique number of the mobile user
(IMSI), security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the
local network, a list of the services the user has access to and two passwords (PIN for usual use
and PUK for unlocking).

SIM cards are available in three standard sizes. The first is the size of a credit card (85.60 mm ×
53.98 mm x 0.76 mm). The newer, most popular miniature version has the same thickness but a
length of 25 mm and a width of 15 mm, and has one of its corners truncated (chamfered) to
prevent misinsertion. The newest incarnation known as the 3FF or micro-SIM has dimensions of
15 mm × 12 mm. Most cards of the two smaller sizes are supplied as a full-sized card with the
smaller card held in place by a few plastic links; it can easily be broken off to be used in a device
that uses the smaller SIM.

The first SIM card was made in 1991 by Munich smart card maker Giesecke & Devrient for the
Finnish wireless network operator Radiolinja. Giesecke & Devrient sold the first 300 SIM cards
to Elisa (ex. Radiolinja).

Those cell phones that do not use a SIM Card have the data programmed in to their memory.
This data is accessed by using a special digit sequence to access the "NAM" as in "Name" or
number programming menu. From there, information can be added, including a new number for
the phone, new Service Provider numbers, new emergency numbers, new Authentication Key or
A-Key code, and a Preferred Roaming List or PRL. However, to prevent the phone being
accidentally disabled or removed from the network, the Service Provider typically locks this data
with a Master Subsidiary Lock (MSL). The MSL also locks the device to a particular carrier
when it is sold as a loss leader.

The MSL applies only to the SIM, so once the contract has expired, the MSL still applies to the
SIM. The phone, however, is also initially locked by the manufacturer into the Service Provider's
MSL. This lock may be disabled so that the phone can use other Service Providers' SIM cards.
Most phones purchased outside the U.S. are unlocked phones because there are numerous
Service Providers that are close to one another or have overlapping coverage. The cost to unlock
a phone varies but is usually very cheap and is sometimes provided by independent phone
vendors.

A similar module called a Removable User Identity Module or RUIM card is present in some
CDMA networks, notably in China and Indonesia.

Multi-card hybrid phones

A hybrid mobile phone can take more than one SIM card, even of different types. The SIM and
RUIM cards can be mixed together, and some phones also support three or four SIMs[27][28]

They are popular in India and Indonesia, attributed to lower on-net call rates.

[edit] Mobile phones in society

Main article: Mobile telephony

[edit] Market share

Note: Others-1 consist of Sony Ericsson, Motorola, ZTE, HTC and Huawei.

Quantity Market Shares by Gartner

(New Sales)
BRAND Percent
 Nokia 2009    36.4%
Nokia 2010    28.9%
Samsung 2009    19.5%
Samsung 2010    17.6%
LG Electronics 2009    10.1%
LG Electronics 2010    7.1%
Research In Motion 2009    2.8%
Research In Motion 2010    3.0%
Apple 2009    2.1%
Apple 2010    2.9%
Others-1 2009    12.6%
Others-1 2010    9.8%
Others-2 2009    16.5%
Others-2 2010    30.6%

Mobile phone subscribers per 100 inhabitants 1997–2007

The world's largest individual mobile operator by subscribers is China Mobile with over 500
million mobile phone subscribers.[29] Over 50 mobile operators have over 10 million subscribers
each, and over 150 mobile operators have at least one million subscribers by the end of 2009
(source wireless intelligence). In February of 2010, there were 4.6 billion mobile phone
subscribers, a number that is estimated to grow. [30]

Competitive forces emerged in the Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) region at Q3 2010 to the
detriment of market leader Nokia. Brands such as Micromax, Nexian, and i-Mobile chipped
away at Nokia's market share plus Android powered smartphones also gained momentum across
the region at the cost of Nokia.

Based on IDC India, Nokia's market share dropped significantly to 36 percent in the second
quarter, from 56.8 percent in the same quarter last year and further drop to 31.5 percent in the
third quarter, reflecting the growing share of Chinese and Indian vendors of low-end mobile
phones.[31]
Based on IDC in the last quarter of 2010, RIM has been knocked out from the top five list global
mobile phone sellers. The number one rank is still Nokia followed by Samsung, LG Electronics,
ZTE and Apple. For the first time Chinese ZTE is among the top five list and mainly make of
lower cost phones.[32]

For the year of 2010, Sony Ericsson and Motorola are out from the top of five list and have been
replaced by LG Electronics and Apple. Significant increase from 16.5 percent to 30.6 percent has
been done by many small not yet recognized brands (some of them are new brands) - Others-2.
Total sales in 2010 to end users were 1.6 billion units or increase by 31.8 percent from the year
of 2009.[33]

Z
Sou No SAMS L Ap RI Oth Refer
Date T
rce kia UNG G ple M ers ences
E
7. 4.
Q4/2 30. 4.0 33.2 [34]
IDC 20.1% 6 2
010 8% % %
% %
6. 2.
Gart Q3/2 28. 3.2 33.0 [35]
17.2% 6 9
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% %

Other manufacturers include Apple Inc., Audiovox (now UTStarcom), CECT, HTC Corporation,
Fujitsu, Kyocera, Mitsubishi Electric, NEC, Panasonic, Palm, Pantech Wireless Inc., Philips,
Qualcomm Inc., Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM), Sagem, Sanyo, Sharp, Sierra Wireless, Just5,
SK Teletech, T&A Alcatel, Huawei, Trium, Toshiba and Vidalco. There are also specialist
communication systems related to (but distinct from) mobile phones.

[edit] Media

In 1998, one of the first examples of selling media content through the mobile phone was the sale
of ringtones by Radiolinja in Finland. Soon afterwards, other media content appeared such as
news, videogames, jokes, horoscopes, TV content and advertising. Most early content for mobile
tended to be copies of legacy media, such as the banner advertisement or the TV news highlight
video clip. Recently, unique content for mobile has been emerging, from the ringing tones and
ringback tones in music to "mobisodes," video content that has been produced exclusively for
mobile phones.

In 2006, the total value of mobile-phone-paid media content exceeded Internet-paid media
content and was worth 31 billion dollars (source Informa 2007). The value of music on phones
was worth 9.3 billion dollars in 2007 and gaming was worth over 5 billion dollars in 2007.[36]

The advent of media on the mobile phone has also produced the opportunity to identify and track
Alpha Users or Hubs, the most influential members of any social community. AMF Ventures
measured in 2007 the relative accuracy of three mass media, and found that audience measures
on mobile were nine times more accurate than on the Internet and 90 times more accurate than
on TV.[original research?]
The mobile phone is often called the Fourth Screen (if counting cinema, TV and PC screens as
the first three) or Third Screen (counting only TV and PC screens).[weasel  words] It is also called the
Seventh of the Mass Media (with Print, Recordings, Cinema, Radio, TV and Internet the first
six).

[edit] Privacy

Main article: Mobile phone tracking

The movements of a mobile phone user can be tracked by their service provider and, if desired,
by law enforcement agencies and their government. Both the SIM card and the handset can be
tracked.[37] China has proposed using this technology to track commuting patterns of Beijing city
residents.[38]

[edit] Usage
[edit] Examples

Mobile phones are used for a variety of purposes, including keeping in touch with family
members, conducting business, and having access to a telephone in the event of an emergency.
Some people carry more than one cell phone for different purposes, such as for business and
personal use. Multiple SIM cards may also be used to take advantage of the benefits of different
calling plans—a particular plan might provide cheaper local calls, long-distance calls,
international calls, or roaming. A study by Motorola found that one in ten cell phone subscribers
have a second phone that often is kept secret from other family members. These phones may be
used to engage in activities including extramarital affairs or clandestine business dealings.[39] The
mobile phone has also been used in a variety of diverse contexts in society, for example:

 Organizations that aid victims of domestic violence may offer a cell phone to potential
victims without the abuser's knowledge. These devices are often old phones that are
donated and refurbished to meet the victim's emergency needs.[40]
 Child predators have taken advantage of cell phones to communicate secretly with
children without the knowledge of their parents or teachers.[41]
 The advent of widespread text messaging has resulted in the cell phone novel; the first
literary genre to emerge from the cellular age via text messaging to a website that collects
the novels as a whole.[42] Paul Levinson, in Information on the Move (2004), says
"...nowadays, a writer can write just about as easily, anywhere, as a reader can read" and
they are "not only personal but portable."
 Mobile telephony also facilitates activism and public journalism being explored by
Reuters and Yahoo![43] and small independent news companies such as Jasmine News in
Sri Lanka.
 Mobile phones help lift poor out of poverty. The United Nations has reported that mobile
phones—spreading faster than any other information technology—can improve the
livelihood of the poorest people in developing countries. The economic benefits of
mobile phones go well beyond access to information where a landline or Internet is not
 yet available in rural areas, mostly in Least Developed Countries. Mobile phones have
spawned a wealth of micro-enterprises, offering work to people with little education and
few resources, such as selling airtime on the streets and repairing or refurbishing
handsets.[44]
 In Mali and some African countries, villagers sometimes had to go from village to village
all day, covering up to 20 villages, to let friends and relatives know about a wedding, a
birth or a death, but such travel is no longer necessary if the villages are within the
coverage area of a mobile phone network. Like in many African countries, the coverage
is better than that of landline networks, and most people own a mobile phone. However,
small villages have no electricity, leaving mobile phone owners to have to recharge their
phone batteries using a solar panel or motorcycle battery.[45]
 The TV industry has recently started using mobile phones to drive live TV viewing
through mobile apps, advertising, social tv, and mobile TV.[46] 86% of Americans use
their mobile phone while watching TV.
 In March 2011, a pilot project experimenting with branchless banking was launched by
the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank, and Bank Harapan
Bali, a subsidiary of Bank Mandiri—the biggest bank in Indonesia and one of the cellular
operators in Bali. Its aim is to increase the amount of bank customers. In Indonesia, only
60 million people have a bank account even though banks have existed for more than a
hundred years, whereas 114 million people have become users of mobile phones in only
two decades. Branchless banking has been successful in Kenya, South Africa and
Philippines.[47]

[edit] Sharing

In some parts of the world, mobile phone sharing is common. It is prevalent in urban India, as
families and groups of friends often share one or more mobiles among their members. There are
obvious economic benefits, but often familial customs and traditional gender roles play a part.[48]
For example, in Burkina Faso, it is not uncommon for a village to have access to only one mobile
phone. The phone is typically owned by a person who is not natively from the village, such as a
teacher or missionary, but it is expected that other members of the village are allowed to use the
cell phone to make necessary calls.[49]

[edit] Restrictions
[edit] While driving

Main article: Mobile phones and driving safety

Mobile phone use while driving is common but controversial. Being distracted while operating a
motor vehicle has been shown to increase the risk of accident. Because of this, many
jurisdictions prohibit the use of mobile phones while driving. Egypt, Israel, Japan, Portugal and
Singapore ban both handheld and hands-free use of a mobile phone whilst many other countries
—including the UK, France, and many U.S. states—ban handheld phone use only, allowing
hands-free use.
Due to the increasing complexity of mobile phones, they are often more like mobile computers in
their available uses. This has introduced additional difficulties for law enforcement officials in
distinguishing one usage from another as drivers use their devices. This is more apparent in those
countries which ban both handheld and hands-free usage, rather those who have banned
handheld use only, as officials cannot easily tell which function of the mobile phone is being
used simply by visually looking at the driver. This can lead to drivers being stopped for using
their device illegally on a phone call when, in fact, they were using the device for a legal purpose
such as the phone's incorporated controls for car stereo or satnav.

A recently published study has reviewed the incidence of mobile phone use while cycling and its
effects on behaviour and safety.[50]

[edit] In schools

Some schools limit or restrict the use of mobile phones. Schools set restrictions on the use of
mobile phones because of the use of cell phones for cheating on tests, harassment and bullying,
causing threats to the schools security, distractions to the students, and facilitating gossip and
other social activity in school. Many mobile phones are banned in school locker room facilities,
public restrooms and swimming pools due to the built-in cameras that most phones now feature.

[edit] Privacy

Mobile phones have numerous privacy issues.

Governments, law enforcement and intelligence services use mobiles to perform surveillance in
the UK and the U.S. They possess technology to activate the microphones in cell phones
remotely in order to listen to conversations that take place near to the person who holds the
phone.[51][52]

Mobile phones are also commonly used to collect location data. While the phone is turned on,
the geographical location of a mobile phone can be determined easily (whether it is being used or
not), using a technique known multilateration to calculate the differences in time for a signal to
travel from the cell phone to each of several cell towers near the owner of the phone.[53][54]

[edit] Health effects

Main article: Mobile phone radiation and health
Further information: Mobile phones on aircraft

There exists a community that believes mobile phone use represents a long-term health risk,
although this is currently disputed by the World Health Organization, with forthcoming mobile
phone usage recommendations in 2010.[55] Certain countries, including France, have warned
against the use of cell phones especially by minors due to health risk uncertainties.[56] Groups of
scientists, such as the U.S.-based group Bioinitiative, argue that because mobile phone use is
recently introduced technology, long-term "proof" has been impossible and that use should be
restricted, or monitored closely, while the technology is still new.
The effect mobile phone radiation has on human health is the subject of recent interest and study,
as a result of the enormous increase in mobile phone usage throughout the world (as of June
2009, there were more than 4.3 billion users worldwide[57]). Mobile phones use electromagnetic
radiation in the microwave range, which some believe may be harmful to human health. A large
body of research exists, both epidemiological and experimental, in non-human animals and in
humans, of which the majority shows no definite causative relationship between exposure to
mobile phones and harmful biological effects in humans. This is often paraphrased simply as the
balance of evidence showing no harm to humans from mobile phones, although a significant
number of individual studies do suggest such a relationship, or are inconclusive. Other digital
wireless systems, such as data communication networks, produce similar radiation.

The World Health Organization, based upon the majority view of scientific and medical
communities, has stated that cancer is unlikely to be caused by cellular phones or their base
stations and that reviews have found no convincing evidence for other health effects.[55][58] The
WHO expects to make recommendations about mobile phones in 2010.[59] Some national
radiation advisory authorities[60] have recommended measures to minimize exposure to their
citizens as a precautionary approach.

At least some recent studies, however, have found an association between cell phone use and
certain kinds of brain and salivary gland tumors. Lennart Hardell and other authors of a 2009
meta-analysis of 11 studies from peer-reviewed journals concluded that cell phone usage for at
least ten years “approximately doubles the risk of being diagnosed with a brain tumor on the
same ("ipsilateral") side of the head as that preferred for cell phone use.”[61]

[edit] Future evolution: Broadband Fourth generation (4G)

Main article: 4G

The recently released 4th generation, also known as Beyond 3G, aims to provide broadband
wireless access with nominal data rates of 100 Mbit/s to fast moving devices, and 1 Gbit/s to
stationary devices defined by the ITU-R[62] 4G systems may be based on the 3GPP LTE (Long
Term Evolution) cellular standard, offering peak bit rates of 326.4 Mbit/s. It may perhaps also be
based on WiMax or Flash-OFDM wireless metropolitan area network technologies that promise
broadband wireless access with speeds that reaches 233 Mbit/s for mobile users. The radio
interface in these systems is based on all-IP packet switching, MIMO diversity, multi-carrier
modulation schemes, Dynamic Channel Assignment (DCA) and channel-dependent scheduling.
A 4G system should be a complete replacement for current network infrastructure and is
expected to be able to provide a comprehensive and secure IP solution where voice, data, and
streamed multimedia can be given to users on a "Anytime, Anywhere" basis, and at much higher
data rates than previous generations. Sprint in the US has claimed its WiMax network to be "4G
network" which most cellular telecoms standardization experts dispute repeatedly around the
world. Sprint's 4G is seen as a marketing gimmick as WiMax itself is part of the 3G air interface.
The officially accepted, ITU ratified standards-based 4G networks are not expected to be
commercially launched until 2011. In March 2011, KT (telecommunication company) from
South Korea announced that they has expanded its high-speed wireless broadband network by
4G WiBro cover 85 percent of the population. It is the largest broadband network covered in the
world, followed by Japan and U.S. with 70 percent and 36 percent respectively.[63] At the
beginning of 2011, some major mobile phone companies have released their 4G mobile phones
such as from Motorola, HTC and Samsung.[64]

[edit] Comparison to similar systems

Car phone 
A type of telephone permanently mounted in a vehicle, these often have more powerful
transmitters, an external antenna and loudspeaker for hands free use. They usually
connect to the same networks as regular mobile phones.
Cordless telephone (portable phone) 
Cordless phones are telephones which use one or more radio handsets in place of a wired
handset. The handsets connect wirelessly to a base station, which in turn connects to a
conventional land line for calling. Unlike mobile phones, cordless phones use private
base stations (belonging to the land-line subscriber), which are not shared.
Professional Mobile Radio 
Advanced professional mobile radio systems can be very similar to mobile phone
systems. Notably, the IDEN standard has been used as both a private trunked radio
system as well as the technology for several large public providers. Similar attempts have
even been made to use TETRA, the European digital PMR standard, to implement public
mobile networks.
Radio phone 
This is a term which covers radios which could connect into the telephone network.
These phones may not be mobile; for example, they may require a mains power supply,
or they may require the assistance of a human operator to set up a PSTN phone call.
Satellite phone 
This type of phone communicates directly with an artificial satellite, which in turn relays
calls to a base station or another satellite phone. A single satellite can provide coverage to
a much greater area than terrestrial base stations. Since satellite phones are costly, their
use is typically limited to people in remote areas where no mobile phone coverage exists,
such as mountain climbers, mariners in the open sea, and news reporters at disaster sites.
IP Phone 
This type of phone delivers or receives calls over internet, LAN or WAN networks using
VoIP as opposed to traditional CDMA and GSM networks. In business, the majority of
these IP Phones tend to be connected via wired Ethernet, however wireless varieties do
exist. Several vendors have developed standalone WiFi phones. Additionally, some
cellular mobile phones include the ability to place VoIP calls over cellular high speed
data networks and/or wireless internet.[65]