AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System)

Advanced Mobile Phone System was the analog 1G cellular standard launched commercially in Chicago in 1983, using FDMA and FM voice modulation in the 800 MHz band. AMPS calls were transmitted in the clear, trivially eavesdropped with consumer scanners, and famously vulnerable to cloning fraud. AMPS networks were sunset across North America by 2008.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkCore NetworkThreats and Attacks

AMPS in context

The radio access network is where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations and downgrade attacks; defenses rest on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

The mobile core carries subscriber sessions, mobility and policy. In 4G it is the EPC (MME, HSS, S/PGW); in 5G it is the Service-Based Architecture with AMF, SMF, UPF, AUSF, UDM and the NRF.

To place AMPS in the wider telecom-security picture, review Backhaul, BTS, Jamming, Open RAN, RAN and Slice Hopping — each entry cross-references back to this page so you can walk the topic in either direction.

Related terms

More from the TelcoSec Glossary

Browse the full TelcoSec Glossary, the Ultimate Guide to Mobile Network Security, or the P1 Arsenal of telecom-security tools.