Anything to do with broadcasting and sending a radio or television message out over the airwaves comes under a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation that a cellular phone is actually a type of two-way radio. In 1947, AT&T proposed that the FCC allocate a large number of radio spectrum frequencies so that wide-spread mobile phone service could become feasible and AT&T would have a incentive to research the new technology. We can partially blame the FCC for the gap between the concept of cellular phone service and it’s availability to the public. Because of the FCC decision to limit the cellular phone frequencies in 1947, only twenty three cellular phone conversations could occur simultaneously in the same service area – not a market incentive for research.

The FCC reconsidered it’s position in 1968, and stated “if the technology to build a better mobile phone service works, we will increase the cellular phone frequencies allocation, freeing the airwaves for more mobile phones.” AT&T – Bell Labs proposed a cellular phone system to the FCC of many small, low-powered broadcast towers, each covering a ‘cell’ a few miles in radius, collectively covering a larger area. Each tower would use only a few of the total frequencies allocated to the cellular phone system, and as cars moved across the area their cellular phone calls would be passed from tower to tower.

By 1977, AT&T Bell Labs constructed and operated a prototype cellular phone system. A year later, public trials of the new cellular phone system were started in Chicago, IL with over 2000 trial cellular phone customers. In 1979, the first commercial cellular phone system began operation in Tokyo. In 1981, Motorola and American Radio phone started a second U.S. cellular radio-phone system test in the Washington/Baltimore area. By 1982, the slow moving FCC finally authorized commercial cellular phone service for the USA. A year later, the first American commercial for analog cellular phone service or AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) was offered in Chicago, IL by Ameritech. Despite the incredible demand, it took cellular phone service 37 years to become commercially available in the United States.

Consumer demand quickly outstripped the cellular phone system’s 1982 standards, by 1987, cellular phone subscribers exceeded one million, and the airways were crowded. Three ways of improving services existed:

• one – increase cellular phone frequencies allocation
• two – split existing cellular phone cells
• three – improve the cellular phone technology

The FCC did not want to handout any more bandwidth and building/splitting cells would have been expensive and add bulk to the cellular phone network. To stimulate the growth of new cellular phone technology, the FCC declared in 1987 that cellular phone licensees may employ alternative cellular phone technologies in the 800 MHz band. The cellular phone industry began to research new transmission technology as an alternative.

In the last decade the cell phone industry has grown thousand fold all around the world. A cell phone is somewhat necessary for an individual to keep up with the busy life of the current era. A few years back, a cell phone was not considered a necessity; it was just a luxury that was being enjoyed by only a small number of individuals. But nowadays, life without a cell phone seems impossible. People all around the world are addicted to the use of a cell phone. This is mainly because the cell phone is no longer just a cell phone; it has evolved into many things like a personal digital assistant (pda), music player, a global positioning system (gps) and a lot more. Everyday different manufacturers around the world are introducing the models with the new features. This is what needs to be taken into consideration when you go for buying a cell phone. You need to be sure about the features you want that suit your lifestyle well.

The Money Matter

Nowadays there is so much choice for an individual to buy a cell phone. Every company is producing the models with state of the art technology and features everyday. Price is the main thing that makes a difference in these different models. An expensive phone is likely to have more features, reliability and a better technology than a cheap one. Everyone wants a best phone in the market for him but high price of the cell phones comes in the way therefore price is a big thing that needs to be kept in mind while buying a cellular phone. But expensive and sophisticated phones are not everyone’s choice; there are people who just want a simple cell phone which is not much expensive but does its job well only as a cell phone. Also the extra features provided in the expensive phones are not everyone’s need.
Therefore the price is a main thing to keep in mind whenever you to buy a cell phone. Do not buy a cell phone just because it is expensive; buy the one that suits your needs.

Choices in Different Vendors and their Models

Lucky for the customers that nowadays there are a huge number of cell phone manufacturers who have a vast number of models for customers to choose from. Every vendor holds certain advantages that the other lacks in. This creates a great competition which is very healthy for the cell phone industry. Also this competition results in the reduction of the price which is beneficial for the end user.
Some people have liking for a certain brand but they still have a lot of choice in the models offered by the same brand. Every other day a new model is launched by a company, this is a strategy of companies to keep a customer stick to their brand and attract more.

Research is Always Better

It is always better to research about the phone you are going to buy before you set out to actually buy it. There are number of ways to know about that phone, the best one is internet. You can read the product reviews on the internet for that phone and know if there are any issues with it. You can also know the people’s view about the certain features offered by that particular device on internet. Also try to read the review by some critic about that phone; it will further clarify its view in your mind.
Hence it is to be said that in order to get the desired satisfaction, the above things should be kept in mind before buying a cell phone.

Now that where to buy has been sorted, and if you have decided to take advantage of the online offers, the next is choosing a plan and a phone that is best for you, a topic dealt with below.

Choosing A Mobile Phone And A Calling Plan:
When you sign a mobile phone contract you are in most cases buying two items, the handset you choose and the network voice and/or data allowance you get with it. The best way to start is to avoid bowing to ’societal’ pressures. Let your personality and needs guide you to choosing the right combination, as any wrong mix will cost you hugely at the long run. Societal pressures may come in the form of a salesman chatting you up on the phone network website, or the one in the stores on commission pushing a particular handset at you. It can also come in the form of a friend, colleague or family member who has a handset model, and with a good intent, feels the same is the best for you.

Results from recent research carried out in the Greater London area of UK show that 79 percent of people polled under-utilize their mobile phones. 82 percent more at some point went over their monthly calling allowance plan and paid out-of-bundle fees as a result. Predominant chain of reasons behind this result was because respondents admit to choosing phones with high functionality – which they rarely used, and got very low calling plans to keep the contracted monthly fees down – a plan which often was never enough. It was therefore almost impossible not to use ‘out-of-bundle’ minutes at some point which eventually end up costing more.

Letting your personality and needs guide your decision requires considering what you do, what and how you communicate, and what phone fits in. There is no need choosing a high speed internet browsing phone with touch screen technology, push email functionality, Satnav, huge GB of memory, etc – you may not need the functions you are paying for, and may compromise on the calling plan you really need to communicate better. Where finance is an issue as with many of us in these troubling economic times, you may be better off with an adequate calling plan that suits how and what you communicate for a monthly fee closest to what you are comfortable to pay today.

Finally, don’t let latest phones be your number one guide. Remember, the latest phones of today won’t be the latest phones 3 months down the line – the technology now changes daily. However, the right and good calling and data plan – like 1000 minutes to be used anytime calling across any mobile network, plus 200 texts with unlimited landline and mobile internet usage – will remain a great deal even up to 24 months down the line.

Contracts To Rebuild Your Credit Rating
If you know you have a poor credit rating and perhaps have been refused by a particular network, do not think you can easily go to the next network and get a contract. In very rare circumstances you may succeed, but while networks are in competition with each other, in most countries they also file in reports of refused applications with credit rating agencies to help alert other networks if a reason of refusal is credit related. I have held conversation with the staff of some mobile phone networks in the UK on this matter and in this circumstance the best the networks can do is extend their services to you, so you can start rebuilding your credit worthiness, but they can only do so where the risk to the network is low

Still using the UK where are based as a case study, all the mobile phone networks here now have short term contracts, some in the form of a one month rolling contract usually SIM only, – no phones involved. With SIM only contracts the network’s risk is limited to the minutes you use and they don’t have to hand you any mobile phone. Some networks may risk signing you up on a 12 or 18 months contract with a phone, so long as the mobile phone set involved is not worth more than £100 – about US$155. An application with high calling plan which enables the phone network to recoup cost of the handset within your first 3 to 6 months on the plan also stand a chance if your credit rating situation is not too poor.

Choosing A Mobile Broadband:
With mobile broadband, it’s quite simple because you are looking at only 3 straightforward issues, coverage, monthly allowance and cost.

Coverage:
Though mobile broadband signals can be received in over 90 percent of UK populated areas at the moment, signal levels vary between the networks. All mobile broadband service providers in the UK have online coverage checker, we strongly advise that you use the online coverage checker of your preferred network before you buy, to check against the signal strength of your preferred network service at your home, office and areas you are likely to use the service

Monthly Allowance:
Depending on how much time you spend online and what you do while on the go. If you intend to use the internet just for emails, and especially if you have a fixed broadband at home, you may go for 1GB monthly allowance, otherwise you are advised not to settle for a 1GB data allowance – it’s rarely enough, even the daily updates of the anti-virus software alone running on your system and other activities rarely under your user control will almost use up your 1GB allowance by the end of the month. A manageable level of data usage will be at least 3GB – an average of 3 hours surfing per day, and the relative cost of the extra 2GB is narrow across all the networks compared to the 1GB monthly cost. Except for mobile broadband contracts with free laptops on offer which generally require a 24 months contract, it is advisable to go for 12 months contract if no laptop offer is included. This is because the sector is very competitive and might yet record lower prices in the near future.

Phone contracts last a long time, and in these days of slow global economic recovery, taking a little more time to research the market and understanding what really matters just before you buy can make a little difference