Short for personal communications service, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) term used to describe a set of digital cellular technologies being deployed in the U.S. Also referred to as digital cellular, PCS works over CDMA (also called IS-95), GSM, and North American TDMA(also called IS-136) air interfaces. Three of the most important distinguishing features of PCS systems are:
- They are completely digital
- They operate at the 1900MHzfrequency range (unlike other cellular systems that operate in the 800MHz frequency range)
- They can be used internationally
PCS is a second-generation mobile communications technology.
