Cell Phone Glossary – Explaining It All

What does GSM mean? What is WAP? Do these and other cell phone terms confuse you? Don’t you wish there was some place to find these definitions, so that you can better understand what is being offered? Well your wish has come true, here is a glossary of some of the most common terms used in relation to cell phones and plans. So read on and you will be able to exchange jargon with ease.

Access Fee
Everyone wants their share of the action, meaning your money. An access fee is the cut taken by local telephone providers for allowing access to local networks. There is also a 3% excise tax tacked on by the federal government.
Activation Fee
is a charge from your carrier that is added when you make your first call. Some carriers collect this up front when you sign up.
Airtime
is the time spent actually using your phone. Both incoming and outgoing calls are charged to your airtime.
Antenna
This could be internal, a stub or extendable. No signals can be sent or received without an antenna. Value your antenna, don’t pick up or carry your phone by the antenna, this could damage it. Don’t cuss at your antenna when the signal is blocked by terrain or buildings, because these gizmos don’t forget insults and will punish you later by not working as they should.
Blue Tooth
This is named after an ancient king of Denmark who backed what was then the “United Denmark and Norway” and now devices that are similar but different, like cell phones and palm computers, are connected through wireless wizardry called the blue tooth. This is short range, only approximately 30 feet or 10 meters.
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
These are the folks who make the rules for telecommunications in the U.S.
GSM (Global Standard for Mobile Communications)
Considered the leader in digital phone services and also the most widely used digital technology. GSM network phones are the most popular in the world.
Pre-paid
No contract to sign, and no credit checks done, ideal as a more affordable cell phone if you aren’t using it all day long. If you shop around a bit you can get some fair deals.
Roaming
Wherever you may roam, no matter how far from home, you will likely bring your cell phone. If you are in an area where your carrier doesn’t have service, roaming charges will apply. This is so that other carriers will allow you access to their networks. These can be fairly high charges and long distance charges may apply also.
Round Up Billing Calls
Many cell phone carriers charge by full minutes, so if you talk to your friend for 2 minutes and 2 seconds, you are billed for three minutes. However if you shop around you can find plans that only charge you for actual time used. These plans are usually above the basic plans that carriers offer.
SIM Card
SIM stands for Subscriber Identification Module, a vital component of GSM phones, it holds security information and subscriber details.
SMS (Short Message Service)
Short Message Service, A.K.A. text messaging is one of the most popular cell phone features. SMS allow messages to be sent between cell phones, or to/from faxes and internet addresses. Since SMS is limited to only 160 characters (letters and numbers), most use abbreviated forms of words and phrases similar to the BRB (be right back) or LOL (laughing out loud) of internet instant messaging. Text messaging phones have predictive text input which allows the phone to assume what word you are typing by the first few letters.
Standby Time
This can be listed in days or hours and is the measure of how long your cell phone can be turned on and ready to send or receive calls between recharges of the battery.
Subscriber
Cell phone user and hopefully happy customer - meaning you!
Talk Time
Amount of time expressed in hours or minutes, that you can use the phone to make or take calls before you need to recharge the battery.
Text Messaging
Same as SMS above.
Third Generation
The next step with cell phones, offering more capacity, higher speed data transfer and other multi-media stuff such as video highlights of last night’s game.
Vibrating Alert
For times when noise is unwelcome but it is vital you get certain calls.
WAP (Wireless Application Protocol)
WAP enabled cell phones have mini browsers that allow you to view web pages designed for wireless devices.

Hopefully when you go to purchase your cell phone and plan, this little glossary will be of some help. Just know what you want and don’t be pressured into buying more than you want. I, for instance, have no desire for a camera phone, or text messaging. As a compulsive talker I’d rather spend my money and minutes on conversation with a real person.