| Term | Description |
Packet switching | Packet switching - A communication system wherein the information is transmitted in packets of a set size. These packets have address headers and find their way to their destination by the most efficient route through the network. Compared to circuit switching where a connection is occupied until the traffic exchange is completed, packet switching offers considerable efficiencies as connections can be used by a number of users simultaneously
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PACS | PACS - Personal Access Communication System; a digital cordless technology developed initially by Bell Labs in the US, PACS was designed to compete with DECT
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PAMR | PAMR - Public Access Mobile Radio; Commercial service using trunking techniques in which multiple groups of users can set up their own closed systems within a shared public network
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PAP | PAP - Public Access Profile; a DECT term
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PCH | PCH - Paging Channel; downlink only, the MS is informed of incoming calls by the BTS via the PCH
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PCM | PCM - Pulse Code Modulation; the standard digital voice format at 64kbit/s
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PCMCIA | PCMCIA - Personal Computer Memory Card Interface Association the body responsible for defining the standards and formats for memory expansion cards for laptop computers and PDAs. Now extended to cover cards for mobile phones
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PCN | PCN - Personal Communications Network; a designation initially used in the UK to refer to networks operating in the 1800MHz band (see also DCS1800). No longer in use
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PCS 1900 | PCS 1900 - Personal Communications Systems 1900MHz; the terminology used in the US to describe the new digital networks being deployed in the 1900MHz band; rarely used today
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PCU | PCU - Packet Control Unit; an element in a GPRS/UMTS network
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PDA | PDA - Personal Digital Assistant
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PDC | PDC - Personal Digital Communications; a digital cellular technology developed and deployed uniquely in Japan. A TDMA technology, PDC is incompatible with any other digital cellular standard
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PEDC | PEDC - Pan European Digital Communications; A designation occasionally used in the early 1990’s to describe GSM. No longer in use
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Penetration | Penetration - The percentage of the total population which owns a mobile phone
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Phone book | Phone book - A list of personal names and numbers stored in a mobile phone’s internal memory or in the SIM card. These numbers can be called by accessing the appropriate memory and making a single key stroke
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PHS / PHP | PHS / PHP - Personal HandyPhone System/Phone; a digital cordless technology developed in Japan which achieved great success. Deployed by NTT DoCoMo and other Japanese operators PHS offered two-way communications, data services and Internet access and eventually won some 28 million customers. Now in decline as cellular’s wide area capabilities offer better service
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PIN | PIN - Personal Identifier Number
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PKI | PKI - Public Key Infrastructure
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PLMN | PLMN - Public Land Mobile Network; any cellular operator’s network
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PMR | PMR - Private Mobile Radiocommunications; two-way radio technology widely used for despatch and delivery services, taxi companies and the like. See TETRA
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POCSAG | POCSAG - Post Office Code Standardisation Group; a now defunct industry grouping which standardised pager addressing systems
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Polyphonic Ringtones | Polyphonic Ringtones - Polyphonic ringtones can create multiple tones simultaneously. This produces a more natural and realistic sound for melodies.
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PoP | PoP - Points of Presence; a method of measuring the value of a cellular licence; the approximate number of potential customers within a geographical area
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POTS | POTS - Plain Old Telephone Service
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Predictive Text Input | Predictive Text Input - A technology which allows you to enter text by pressing only one key per letter. The phone will automatically compare all of the possible letter combinations against a built-in dictionary of words. The current Predictive Text Input implementations are T9, iTAP and eZiText.
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PROM | PROM - Programmable Read Only Memory
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PSDN | PSDN - Public Switched Data Network
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PSK | PSK - Phase Shift Keying
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PSPDN | PSPDN - Public Switched Packet Data Network
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PSRCP | PSRCP - Public Safety Radio Communications Project; an initiative by the UK Government to standardise all emergency services communications on to a single digital technology (see TETRA)
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PSTN | PSTN - Public Switched Telephone Network
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PSU | PSU - Power Supply Unit
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PTO | PTO - Public Telecommunication Operator
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PTT | PTT - Posts, Telephone and Telegraph Administration
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PWT | PWT - Personal Wireless Telecommunications; a variant of DECT developed for use in the USA
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