# Natel

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For the village in Iran, see [Natel, Iran](/source/Natel,_Iran).

**Natel** is a [generic trademark](/source/Generic_trademark) used in [Switzerland](/source/Switzerland) and in [Liechtenstein](/source/Liechtenstein) for '[mobile phone](/source/Mobile_phone)'.

The word was coined in 1975, when the [Swiss Postal Telegraph and Telephone](/source/Postal_Telegraph_and_Telephone_(Switzerland)) introduced a mobile phone service for vehicles in Switzerland: **N**ationales **A**uto-**TEL**efonnetz, or "National Car Telephone Network". When the PTT was dismantled in 1998, it split into two public service companies.

The telecom corporation, [Swisscom](/source/Swisscom), 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.[1]

In Switzerland, "Natel" is still used as a synonym for mobile (or cell) phone across the country.[2] 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](/source/1G):

- NATEL A (first subnet, 1978)[3]
- NATEL B (1983), another 12 kg portable suitcase [radiotelephone](/source/Radiotelephone)
- NATEL C (1987), a [1G](/source/1G) [NMT](/source/Nordic_Mobile_Telephone)-based system with analog voice transmission and digital switching and control information

[Digital Networks](/source/Integrated_Services_Digital_Network):

- NATEL D (1993), a [2G](/source/2G) [GSM](/source/Global_System_for_Mobile_Communications) network - Since the mid-1990s [SMS](/source/Short_Message_Service) - Since 2001 [2.5G GPRS](/source/General_Packet_Radio_Service) - Since 2004 [3G](/source/3G) [UMTS](/source/Universal_Mobile_Telecommunications_System) - Since 2012 [4G](/source/4G) [LTE](/source/LTE_(telecommunication)) - Since 2019 [5G](/source/5G) [NR](/source/5G_NR)

Since the liberalization of the market in 1997, two other [mobile operators have appeared in Switzerland](/source/List_of_mobile_network_operators_of_Europe#Switzerland).

## References

1. ["Swisscom gibt Bezeichnung Natel nach fast 40 Jahren auf | barfi.ch"](https://barfi.ch/Digital/Swisscom-gibt-Bezeichnung-Natel-nach-fast-40-Jahren-auf) (in German). *barfi.ch*. 22 February 2017. Retrieved 24 February 2017.

1. ["L'italiano elvetico"](https://web.archive.org/web/20150214122444/http://cle.ens-lyon.fr/italien/l-italiano-elvetico-32549.kjsp) (in Italian). *La clé des langues*. ENS de Lyon. Archived from [the original](http://cle.ens-lyon.fr/italien/l-italiano-elvetico-32549.kjsp) on 14 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.

1. [*So sah das erste Natel aus*](http://drs.srf.ch/www/de/drs/81435.so-sah-das-erste-natel-aus.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20131014232433/http://drs.srf.ch/www/de/drs/81435.so-sah-das-erste-natel-aus.html) 2013-10-14 at the Wayback Machine Radio DRS.ch retrieved 16 October 2010.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Natel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natel) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natel?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.