Evolution Toward Digital Cellular Network in the U.S.

Since the beginning of commercial cellular service in 1983 in the United States, the market growth has exceeded industry's expectations. Major U.S. cities are fast approaching capacity limits in terms of the ability to add new users to their networks. As a result of this rapid growth, the U.S. cellular industry has started the search for a more spectrum-efficient second- generation cellular RF technology. In conjunction with the additional spectrum allocation and proposed relaxation of current public cellular radio rules, the U.S. cellular network is positioned for the evolution toward a digital cellular network.