An operator logo is a logo which appears on the status screen of a

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

. Originally intended as a way for phone companies to brand phones attached to their networks, the operator logo has since become a method by which owners may customise their phones to reflect their own interests. It helped kick off mobile phone content advertising which became particularly prominent with

ring tone A ringtone, ring tone or ring is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. Originally referring to and made by the electromechanical striking of bells, the term now refers to any sound on any device alerting of a new incoming ...

adverts. The older mobile phones of 90's (Black & white LCD Screen) had options to show telecom operator logo instead of the showing the name in plain text. Later various companies provided custom logo and designs to set as Operator logo. These logos can be shared by SMS with other people. Later on when color mobiles came to market, Colorful logo option came to mobile devices. An industry has sprung up around the use of these logos, and around

s, tailored towards phones, such as those made by

Nokia Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporatio ...

, which can receive new logos in a

text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

. Several mobile phone companies provide services on their websites where users can design their own logos, and there is also software available which can be used to create them.

See also