MfK Bern - Natel B, Indelco Compact 801625

Natel is a

generic trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...

used in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and in

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

for '

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 ...

'. The word was coined in 1975, when the Swiss Postal Telegraph and Telephone introduced a mobile phone service for vehicles in Switzerland: Nationales Auto-TELefonnetz, or "National Car Telephone Network". When the PTT was dismantled in 1998, it split into two public service companies. The telecom corporation,

Swisscom Swisscom AG is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Its headquarters are located in Ittigen near Bern. The Swiss government owns 51.0 percent of Swisscom AG. According to its own published data, Swisscom holds a market share of 56 ...

, continued to develop the Swiss mobile network, and registered the word ''Natel'' as a trademark. It remains a brand of the company's mobile telephony services to this day. In Switzerland, "Natel" is still used as a synonym for mobile (or cell) phone across the country. Like many words with origins in a specific culture, this word is unknown to French, German, and Italian speakers outside of Switzerland.

History

Analog Networks: * NATEL A (first subnet, 1978)''So sah das erste Natel aus''
Radio DRS.ch retrieved 16 October 2010. * NATEL B (1983), another 12 kg portable suitcase

radiotelephone A radiotelephone (or radiophone), abbreviated RT, is a radio communication system for conducting a conversation; radiotelephony means telephony by radio. It is in contrast to '' radiotelegraphy'', which is radio transmission of telegrams (mes ...

* NATEL C (1987), a 1G

NMT NMT may refer to: Science and technology * Nordic Mobile Telephone, an analogue mobile phone system * Neurologic Music Therapy * Neural machine translation * Network management protocols, in the CANopen#Network management (NMT) protocols, CANopen ...

-based system with analog voice transmission and digital switching and control information

Digital Networks Digital electronics is a field of electronics involving the study of digital signals and the engineering of devices that use or produce them. This is in contrast to analog electronics and analog signals. Digital electronic circuits are usually ...

: * NATEL D (1993), a 2G

GSM The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) is a standard developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for second-generation ( 2G) digital cellular networks used by mobile devices such as ...

network ** Since the mid-1990s

SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...

** Since 2001 2.5G GPRS ** Since 2004 3G

UMTS The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the Inte ...

** Since 2012 4G LTE ** Since 2019 5G NR Since the liberalization of the market in 1997, two other mobile operators have appeared in Switzerland. Natel-A 4079162.JPG, NATEL A MfK Bern - Natel B, Indelco Compact 801625.jpg, NATEL B (Indelco Compact 801625) MfK Bern - Natel C, Technophone PC 107-3.jpg, NATEL C (Technophone PC 107-3)

References

{{Reflist Mobile phone culture