No Dumb Questions
There are no dumb questions at TelecomWriting.com, only opportunities to look into ideas and terms. Got this question yesterday:
Q: What is the program that a cell phone uses? And where can I get a copy ?
A: Well, actually, you can't because there isn't any. The cell phone is like a dumb computer terminal, with no intelligence built in. The exceptions are PCS and GSM phones which have SIM cards, you know, a memory module that contains some information. But that information is about the subscriber and the carrier, it's not a set of operating instructions. The cell phone instead is controlled by the nearest base station which a mobile switch supervises. That mobile switch in turn relies on network resources: landline telephone switches, carrier servers, and databases in many locations. So there isn't a cell phone program.
