Mobile Telephone Service
The
Mobile Telephone Service (MTS) is a pre-
cellular VHF radio system that links to the
PSTN. MTS was the radiotelephone equivalent of land dial phone service.
As of 2005, only
rural and wilderness areas are still using the system.
MTS uses 25 VHF radio channels in the
United States and
Canada. The channels are identified by pairs of letters taken from positions on a
North American
telephone dial that, when changed to digits, form (for 12-channel mobile sets) 55, 57, 95 and 97.
12-Channel
Mobile | Ident | 24-Channel
Mobile | Base Station MHz |
|---|
| Transmit | Receive |
|---|
| JJ | | 152.480 | 157.740 |
| XJ | 1 | 152.495 | 157.755 |
| 1 | JL | 2 | 152.510 | 157.770 |
| XK | 3 | 152.525 | 157.785 |
| 2 | YL | 4 | 152.540 | 157.800 |
| XL | 5 | 152.555 | 157.815 |
| 3 | JP | 6 | 152.570 | 157.830 |
| XP | 7 | 152.585 | 157.845 |
| 4 | JJ | 8 | 152.600 | 157.860 |
| XR | 9 | 152.615 | 157.875 |
| 5 | YJ | 10 | 152.630 | 157.890 |
| XS | 11 | 152.645 | 157.905 |
| 6 | YK | 12 | 152.660 | 157.920 |
| XT | 13 | 152.675 | 157.935 |
| 7 | JS | 14 | 152.690 | 157.950 |
| XU | 15 | 152.705 | 157.965 |
| 8 | YS | 16 | 152.720 | 157.980 |
| XV | 17 | 152.735 | 157.995 |
| 9 | YR | 18 | 152.750 | 158.010 |
| XW | 19 | 152.765 | 158.025 |
| 10 | JK | 20 | 152.780 | 158.040 |
| XX | 21 | 152.795 | 158.055 |
| 11 | JR | 22 | 152.810 | 158.070 |
| XY | 23 | 152.825 | 158.085 |
| 12 | JW | 24 | 152.840 | 158.100 |
These channels are prone to
network congestion and
interference since a radio closer to the terminal will sometimes take over the channel due to having a more powerful signal. Many MTS
frequencies are now used for local
paging services. They are only found in some parts of rural North America, having been replaced in most areas by cellular service in the
1980s and later.
The service territory of
NorthwesTel has only eliminated four MTS locations during
2004, since cellular is available and the company had to rent tower space, making them even more unprofitable. The remainder of the MTS network is still operating, though at a
deficit, virtually blanketing the
Yukon and northern
British Columbia highway network, the western
Great Slave Lake region, the
Mackenzie River and the
Mackenzie Delta. Cellular service is too costly to install in these areas.
See also Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS)
