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2G: Second generation of mobile wireless, which utilizes various digital protocols, including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, iDEN, and PDC.

3G: Third Generation Wireless. A general term that refers to technologies which offer increased capacity and capabilities delivered over digital wireless networks.

Access fee: A special fee that local telephone companies are allowed to charge all telephone customers for the right to connect with the local phone network. Cellular subscribers pay this fee along with a 3 percent federal telephone excise tax.

Active Satellite: A satellite that receives and transmits radio-communication signals to or from a base station.

Advanced Intelligent Networks: Systems that allow a wireless user to make and receive phone calls while roaming in areas outside the user's "home" network. These networks, which rely on computers and sophisticated switching techniques, also provide many Personal Communications Services features such as "one person/one phone."

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.

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 cellular 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.

Analog: The original form of cellular service using waveform transmissions. A method of modulating radio signals to transmit voice or data information.

Antenna: A device for transmitting and/or receiving signals. The size and shape of antennas are determined, in large part, by the frequency of the signal they are receiving. Antennas are need on both the wireless handset and the base station.

Attenuation: loss of signal energy due to absorption, reflection, or diffusion during transmission.

Authentication: A fraud prevention technology that takes a number of values to create a shared, secret value used to verify a user's authenticity.

Automatic Call Delivery: A feature that permits a cellular phone to receive incoming calls, even when roaming.