The cell phone interference issue seems to be a bigger problem for people using certain carrier networks. Why?
It’s true, customers on AT&T/Cingular, T-Mobile and the old Nextel networks experience this problem more frequently than those on Verizon Wireless and Sprint networks. The reason is that AT&T/Cingular, T-Mobile and Nextel use cell phone technologies that use a radio channel access method known as TDMA (time division multiple access). Networks for AT&T/Cingular and T-Mobile are built on GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), while Nextel uses iDEN (Integrated Digital Enhanced Network). These TDMA-based technologies allow several users to share the same frequency channel by dividing the signal into different timeslots. The users transmit in rapid succession, one after the other, each using his own timeslot. This allows multiple stations to share the same transmission medium or radio frequency channel while using only the part of its bandwidth they require. Because these networks operate in a “time division” fashion their radio frequency transmitters are turned on and off at fast
