Pelephone
Encyclopedia
Pelephone (lit. "wonder phone") is an Israel
i-based telecommunications company, founded in 1986 as a joint venture between Motorola
and Tadiran
, today owned by Bezeq
. It was the first company to offer mobile phone
services in Israel. Due to this, the brand-name "Pelephone" became the genericized trademark
for mobile phones in Israel, regardless of service provider.
Pelephone has 4,500 employees and 2.4 million subscribers.
The network started as AMPS/NAMPS
in the 800/850 MHz band. In the mid-to-late 1990s it converted to IS-95
CDMA and later added CDMA2000
/EV-DO
capabilities as well. A UMTS network in the 850/2100 MHz bands was launched in early 2009 and in March of that year, Pelephone stopped selling cellphones that use the CDMA system, though it is expected to continue supporting its CDMA network for the foreseeable future. In mid-2010, the UMTS network was upgraded to HSPA+
.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-based telecommunications company, founded in 1986 as a joint venture between Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
and Tadiran
Tadiran
Tadiran refers to a former Israeli conglomerate, which was founded in 1962 by the merger of two companies, Tadir and Ran...
, today owned by Bezeq
Bezeq
Bezeq, the Israeli company for communications, is a telecommunications provider in Israel.Until the mid-first decade of the 21st century when it was owned by the Israeli government, Bezeq had a monopoly on landline telephony and Internet access infrastructure...
. It was the first company to offer mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
services in Israel. Due to this, the brand-name "Pelephone" became the genericized trademark
Genericized trademark
A genericized trademark is a trademark or brand name that has become the colloquial or generic description for, or synonymous with, a general class of product or service, rather than as an indicator of source or affiliation as intended by the trademark's holder...
for mobile phones in Israel, regardless of service provider.
Pelephone has 4,500 employees and 2.4 million subscribers.
The network started as AMPS/NAMPS
Advanced Mobile Phone System
Advanced Mobile Phone System was an analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983, Israel in 1986, and Australia in 1987. It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America through the 1980s and into the 2000s...
in the 800/850 MHz band. In the mid-to-late 1990s it converted to IS-95
IS-95
Interim Standard 95 is the first CDMA-based digital cellular standard by Qualcomm. The brand name for IS-95 is cdmaOne. IS-95 is also known as TIA-EIA-95....
CDMA and later added CDMA2000
CDMA2000
CDMA2000 is a family of 3G mobile technology standards, which use CDMA channel access, to send voice, data, and signaling data between mobile phones and cell sites. The set of standards includes: CDMA2000 1X, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. 0, CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A, and CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. B...
/EV-DO
Evolution-Data Optimized
Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data only is a telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access...
capabilities as well. A UMTS network in the 850/2100 MHz bands was launched in early 2009 and in March of that year, Pelephone stopped selling cellphones that use the CDMA system, though it is expected to continue supporting its CDMA network for the foreseeable future. In mid-2010, the UMTS network was upgraded to HSPA+
Evolved HSPA
HSPA+, or Evolved High-Speed Packet Access, is a technical standard for wireless, broadband telecommunication. HSPA+ was first defined in the technical standard 3GPP release 7....
.