Cellular frequencies

All cellular phone networks worldwide use a portion of the radio frequency spectrum designated as ultra high frequency, or "UHF", for the transmission and reception of their signals. The ultra high frequency band is also shared with television, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth transmission. The cellular frequencies are the sets of frequency ranges within the ultra high frequency band that have been allocated for cellular phone use.

Due to historical reasons, radio frequencies used for cellular networks differ in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. The first commercial standard for mobile connection in the United States was AMPS, which was in the 800 MHz frequency band. In Nordic countries of Europe, the first widespread automatic mobile network was based on the NMT-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) adopted TACS operating in 900 MHz. The GSM 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, including IS-95 (often known as "CDMA", the air interface technology it uses) and IS-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 US PCS (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.

Many GSM 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 as tri-band and quad-band phones, or world 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.

Frequency bands recommended by ITU

Main article: UMTS frequency bands

ITU-R approved in June 2003 the following bands to the terrestrial Mobile telecommunication IMT-2000: 806–960 MHz, 1,710–2,025 MHz, 2,110–2,200 MHz and 2,500–2,690 MHz.

Frequency bands used in the United States

Current / Planned Technologies	Previous Technologies	Band	Frequency (MHz)
3G, 4G, MediaFLO (defunct), DVB-H	UHF TV 52-69 (698-806MHz)	700	698–806
SMR iDEN, ESMR CDMA (future), ESMR LTE (future)	UHF TV 70-83 (806-890MHz)	800	806–824 and 851–869
GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), 3G	AMPS, IS-136 (D-AMPS)	850	824–849 and 869–894
Unknown		1400	1,392–1,395 and 1,432–1,435
GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), 3G, 4G	IS-136 (D-AMPS)	PCS	1,850–1,910 and 1,930–1,990
3G, 4G		AWS	1,710–1,755 and 2,110–2,155
4G		BRS/EBS	2,496–2,690

The usage of frequencies within the United States is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The US is then divided geographically into a number of Trading Areas. A mobile operator (or other interested parties) must bid on each trading area individually. A bidder can use the frequency spectrum for whatever purpose they want.

The 869–894 MHz cellular band is divided into 2 frequency blocks (A and B). There are 306 Metropolitan Service Areas and 428 rural service areas. Each trading area consists of one or more counties.

The 1850–1990 MHz PCS band is divided into six frequency blocks (A through F). Each block is between 10 MHz and 30 MHz bandwidth. License (A or B) is granted for Major Trading Areas (MTAs). License (C to F) is granted for Basic Trading Areas (BTAs). License (G), where issued, is granted for Economic Areas (EAs). There are 51 MTAs, 493 BTAs and 175 EAs in the United States.

• A: 1850–1865MHz and 1930–1945MHz (30 MHz)
• B: 1870–1885MHz and 1950–1965MHz (30 MHz)
• C: 1895–1910MHz and 1975–1990MHz (30 MHz, 15 MHz or 10 MHz)
• D: 1865–1870MHz and 1945–1950MHz (10 MHz)
• E: 1885–1890MHz and 1965–1970MHz
• F: 1890–1895MHz and 1970–1975MHz
• G: 1910–1915MHz and 1990–1995MHz

The AWS bands, auctioned in the summer of 2006, were for 1,710–1,755 MHz, and 2,110–2,155 MHz. The spectrum was divided into blocks: A blocks were for Cellular Market Areas, based on existing cellular (1G) licenses, and were 2 × 10 MHz. B and C blocks (2 × 10 MHz and 2 × 5 MHz respectively) were for Basic Economic Areas, larger than CMAs, usually comprising large portions of single states. D, E, and F blocks covered huge areas of the country, typically several states at a time, and covered 2 × 5 MHz for D and E blocks, 2 × 10 MHz for F.

The 700 MHz band was auctioned in early 2008 using spectrum previously used by television stations' analog broadcasts, with Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility winning the majority of available spectrum. Qualcomm and Echostar were winners of a significant amount of broadcast-oriented spectrum. Verizon Wireless will use the upper band of the 700 MHz spectrum to deploy their LTE network starting on Dec 5, 2010.

The SMR 800 MHz band was used exclusively for iDEN technology, however, Sprint Nextel is deploying CDMA and LTE technology on this band. As of 2 September 2011 (2011-09-02), the FCC has approved several CDMA devices for use on the SMR band.

More bands are under consideration for auction by the FCC. These are currently used by DoD, NASA, and other government agencies.

Cellular and PCS bands are also used in other countries in the Americas.

Carrier Frequency Use

USA Carrier	Voice Frequencies	3G	4G	3G Technology	4G Technology
AT&T	850 MHz, 1900 MHz	850 MHz, 1900 MHz	700 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz	GSM/HSPA+	LTE
MetroPCS	1700/2100 MHz, 1900 MHz	1700/2100 MHz, 1900 MHz	1700/2100 MHz	CDMA/EVDO	LTE
Sprint	800 MHz, 1900 MHz	1900 MHz	800 MHz, 1900 MHz, 2500 MHz	CDMA/EVDO	WiMAX (2010–present) LTE (2012–present)
T-Mobile USA	1700/2100 MHz, 1900 MHz	1700/2100 MHz, 1900 MHz	1700/2100 MHz	GSM/HSPA+	LTE (2013)
Verizon	850 MHz, 1900 MHz	850 MHz, 1900 MHz	700 MHz, 1700/2100 MHz (Planned)	CDMA/EVDO	LTE
U.S. Cellular	800 MHz, 1900 MHz

Most widely used channelization and frequencies

The following chart, courtesy of QRC Technologies, presents graphically the forward link (base station to mobile) frequencies and channelization most prevalently used in today's cellular communication systems.

Full Resolution PDF Version [External Source]

Frequency bands used by GSM

Main article: GSM frequency bands

System	Band	Uplink	Downlink	Channel Number
GSM 400	450	450.4–457.6	460.4–467.6	259–293
GSM 400	480	478.8–486.0	488.8–496.0	306–340
GSM 850	850	824.2–849.0	869.2–894.0	128–251
GSM 900 (P-GSM)	900	890.0–915.0	935.0–960.0	1–124
GSM 900 (E-GSM)	900	880.0–915.0	925.0–960.0	0–124, 975–1023
GSM-R (R-GSM)	900	876.0–880.0	921.0–925.0	955–973
DCS 1800	1800	1,710.0–1,785.0	1,805.0–1,880.0	512–885
PCS 1900	1900	1,850.2–1,910.0	1,930.2–1,990.0	512–810

GSM Frequency band usage is defined in ETS 05.05.

Other Regions

System	Country	Uplink	Downlink
CDMA fff	China	2,300–2,400
CDMA	Japan	915–925	860–870
CDMA	S. Korea	1,750–1,780	1,840–1,870
CDMA-450	Sweden	452.5–457.5	462.5–467.5

See also

• 3GPP
• GSM frequency bands
• Roaming
• UMTS frequency bands
• Dual-band
• Tri-band
• Quad-band
• 700 MHz wireless spectrum auction
• Microwave
• 4G
• 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE)
• List of deployed WiMAX networks

External links

• Wireless Advisor
• FCC
• New bands considered by FCC
• Full Resolution PDF Version