Activation
Activation is making a phone active on a cell phone network. It is the process that links a specific cell phone to a specific customer account and phone number.
It requires configuration on the network side, for the network to recognize that specific phone as belonging to that customer.
It may also require configuration on the phone itself. This may be automated to some extent, or it may require following special instructions to enter specific codes into menus that are normally hidden.
Phones that accept a SIM card can usually call and text immediately after inserting an active SIM card. But if the SIM card is new, the SIM card may need to be activated first. And more advanced features – beyond basic calling and texting — may still require that the phone is registered with the network through a specific process like activation.
See: SIM
Last updated Apr 22, 2022 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
