1xRTT

1x (single-carrier) Radio Transmission Technology

The first in a family of cdma2000 1x digital wireless standards designed to extend and replace the IS-95 CDMA standard. 1xRTT is sometimes referred to as a "2.5G" standard.

Compared to the IS-95 CDMA technology it replaces, 1xRTT offers increased network voice capacity. This benefit requires support on both the base station (tower) and handset (phone). If everyone using a given tower has a 1xRTT phone, twice as many people can use that tower at the same time, compared to the old IS-95 standard.

1xRTT also offers much faster data speeds. The initial release - release 0 (zero) - supports data speeds peaking at 144 kbps. Typical real-world speeds are closer to 60-80 kbps.

A second release of 1xRTT was planned - release A - which doubled data rates at 288 kbps peak. Many carrier chose to skip 1xRTT release A, however, and move directly to 1xEV-DO.

See: 1xEV-DO

See: CDMA

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