CT2 - Deployment and Usage

Deployment and Usage

CT2 was deployed in a number of countries, including Britain and France. In Britain, the Ferranti Phonezone system was the first public network to go live in 1989, and the much larger Rabbit network operated from 1992 to 1993. In France, the Bibop network ran from 1991 to 1997. In Finland, Pointer service was available for a short time on the 1980s before being overridden by NMT. Outside of Europe, the system achieved a certain amount of popularity in Hong Kong with three operators offering service until licenses were terminated in 1996. Since 31 December 2008, CTA1 and CTA2 based phones are forbidden in Germany.

Typical CT2 users were sold a handset and base station which they could connect to their own home telephone system. Calls via the home base station would be routed via the home telephone line and in this configuration, the system was identical to a standard cordless phone. When in range, the user could receive incoming calls.

Once out of range of the home, the CT2 user could find signs indicating a network base station in the area, and make outgoing calls (but not receive calls) using the network base station. Base stations were located in a variety of places, including high-streets and other shopping areas, gas stations, and transportation hubs such as rail stations. In this configuration, callers would be charged a per-minute rate higher than if they made calls from home, but not as high as conventional cellular charges.

The advantages to the user were that the rates were generally lower than cellular, and that the same handset could be used at home and away from home. The disadvantages, compared to cellular, were that many networks did not deliver incoming calls to the phones (Bibop was a notable exception), and that their areas of use were more limited.

There are no known open CT2 networks still running, though CT2 phones are still used by some as cordless phones.