iDEN operates in the 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz bands and is based on TDMA. It uses Motorola's VSELP (Vector Sum Excited Linear Predictive) vocoder for voice compression and QAM modulation to deliver 64 Kbps over a 25 kHz channel. Each channel can be divided six times to transmit any mix of voice, data, dispatch or text message. See cellular generations.
![]() | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Sprint: Can it convince customers to stay?
- Sprint had some good news Wednesday: The wireless provider lost 901,000 net customers and only 776,000 post-paid subscribers in the second quarter. Wall Street was expecting more customer defections. For instance, Morgan Stanley was expecting post-paid subscriber losses of 947,000. But let's get real here: Sprint is on the ropes...
- Blog posts 2008-08-06
- Wanted: Alcatel-Lucent new leaders to fix merger debacle
- Wanted: Alcatel-Lucent new leaders to fix merger debacleRelying on CDMA sales? LOL. CDMA is dead.Verizon Half of Sprint Nextel is IDEN, Japans' KDD, Korea Telecom, and India's Tata TeleServices are the last remaining CDMA strong holds. The rest of the world has moved to GSM and related technologies and this...
- Discussion threads 2008-07-29
- Samsung Z400 - black (Sprint Nextel)
- Photo gallery:Samsung Z400Though Sprint Nextel has been a combined company for three years, the carrier has pursued a rather circuitous post-merger strategy. At first, the carrier said it would move all voice calls to Sprint's CDMA technology, while keeping Nextel's iDEN network for push-to-talk communication. But when customers failed...
- Product reviews 2008-06-19
- Sanyo Pro-700 (Sprint)
- When Sprint merged with Nextel almost three years ago, there were concerns with how Sprint would integrate its CDMA network with Nextel's iDEN network, and how the two companies would coordinate their respective push-to-talk services. A new push-to-talk technology was developed by Qualcomm, called QChat, to help that process along....
- Product reviews 2008-06-06
- Sanyo Pro-200 (Sprint)
- When Sprint merged with Nextel almost three years ago, there were concerns with how Sprint would integrate its CDMA network with Nextel's iDEN network, and how the two companies would coordinate their respective push-to-talk services. A new tush-to-talk technology was developed by Qualcomm, called QChat, to help that process along....
- Product reviews 2008-06-06
- Size matters: Verizon Wireless buys Alltel; Will claim most subscribers
- Size matters: Verizon Wireless buys Alltel; Will claim most subscribersSubscriber envy? That's a ridiculous assumptionVerizon's 67.2 to AT&T's 71? Wasn't that gap larger after the ATT/Cingular deal? Looked as though industry analysts were right at the time, that Verion would overtake them after a few years, so why would this...
- Discussion threads 2008-06-05
- Boost Mobile
- Editor's note:Because evaluating wireless coverage requires experience with the network in a wide variety of physical locations, CNET does not rate wireless carriers. We can, however, tell you everything you need to know about the major carriers. We invite your feedback and ratings in our user opinions section--the more input...
- Product reviews 2008-04-21
- Virgin Mobile
- Editor's note: Because evaluating wireless coverage requires experience with the network in a wide variety of physical locations, CNET does not rate wireless carriers. We can, however, tell you everything you need to know about the major carriers. We invite your feedback and ratings in our user opinions section; the...
- Product reviews 2008-03-22
- Motorola i570 (Nextel)
- We have to admit that we're not sure what is going on with Sprint lately. Following its merger with Nextel three years ago, the company said it would be phasing out Nextel's iDEN network in favor of Sprint's CDMA network. And to show it meant what it said, it started...
- Product reviews 2008-02-05
- Motorola i335 (Nextel)
- Photo gallery:Motorola i335It's been so long since we've reviewed a Nextel cell phone (the last was the Motorola i580 in July 2006) that we almost forgot they existed. In the wake of the 2005 Next/Sprint merger, the carrier announced it was phasing out iDEN-only models in favor of dual-mode handsets...
- Product reviews 2007-12-13
- Wilson Electronics Wireless Amplifier Cradle Kit
- When we reviewed the Wilson Electronics SignalBoost Cellular Amplifier earlier this year, we were impressed with how significantly it boosted our cell phone reception in areas with patchy coverage. Where previously we struggled to get a consistent signal, the SignalBoost made it possible to make a call. Yet as useful...
- Product reviews 2007-12-04
- Foreseen: Forsee out at Sprint. But will they learn from these mistakes under his watch?
- Foreseen: Forsee out at Sprint. But will they learn from these mistakes under his watch?You're oversimplifying the issues......Sprint has way more wrong with it than is right. Sure, the Nextel purchase has gone slow - but it was a bone-headed decision to start with. Nextel's iDEN network was...
- Discussion threads 2007-10-09
- Sprint launches in home network booster
- Sprint on Monday launched a device called the Airave in Denver and Indianapolis that will boost the wireless company's coverage in homes. Samsung makes that Airave, a "femtocell," or a compact base station that hooks up to your broadband connection. The rollout is limited for now. All of...
- Blog posts 2007-09-17
- Motorola Deluxe ic902 (Sprint)
- When Sprint and Nextel launched its first PowerSource phone, the Motorola ic502, late last year, it was a sign the two companies have finally unified. The ic502 was the first dual-mode CDMA-iDEN cell phone--it uses Sprint for voice and Nextel for Direct Connect Push-to-Talk connections. Unfortunately, its limited feature set...
- Product reviews 2007-07-11
- Six dang good reasons why you (probably) hate your cell phone provider
- Six dang good reasons why you probably hate your cell phone providerSounds like Verizon WirelessNone of those things can be said about most phones on Cingular.Few/None of the Treo 650's features are crippled. Nor were my previous V551 or my wife's Razr.Not to mention Verizon's network isn't all that...
- Discussion threads 2007-05-14
- Wilson Electronics SignalBoost Cellular Amplifier
- If you live or work in an area with poor cell phone reception or you drive through too many dead zones during your commute, you know how frustrating it can be to place a simple call. And though you might think a cell phone signal booster is the answer to...
- Product reviews 2007-03-13
- Sprint Nextel
- Editor's note: Because evaluating wireless coverage requires experience with the network in a wide variety of physical locations, CNET does not rate wireless carriers. We can, however, tell you everything you need to know about the major carriers. We invite your feedback and ratings in our user opinions section. The...
- Product reviews 2007-02-15
- Can this merger be consummated? Dual Sprint-Nextel phones are a start but more needs to be done
- Can this merger be consummated? Dual Sprint-Nextel phones are a start but more needs to be doneReasons why...This is why I left Nextel. After the merger, Nextel's customer service went down hill...fast which is why I moved from Sprint to Nextel MANY years ago. After the merger, going...
- Discussion threads 2007-01-18
- Can this merger be consummated? Dual Sprint-Nextel phones are a start but more needs to be done
- For the year and a half since the Sprint-Nextel merger, the companies have struggled to combine disparate systems and technologies.Now, theyve made a tangible step forward.SprintNextel has just announced two phones that will function on both the Sprint and Nextel networks- Nextels iDEN and Sprints CDMA.Both are Motorola PowerSource phones.The...
- Blog posts 2007-01-18
- Motorola ic402
- Quick take: The Motorola ic402 is similar to the Motorola ic502 except it does not have an external display. It does, however, use Sprint's CDMA network for voice calls and Nextel's iDEN network for push-to-talk calls. Read our review of the ic502 for more information.
- Product reviews 2006-12-12
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