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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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