Private mobile radio
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CB radio's decline in popularity was partly down to the arrival of the two-way private mobile radio (PMR) network. There are two main types of PMRs: the licence-free PMR-446 frequencies and the licence-regulated PMR networks. The type and choice depends on what you want to do and how great a range you need.
Two-way radio is shedding its image as the cheap, crackly communications system much-loved by taxi firms. The switch from analogue to digital radio networks has removed many of the drawbacks of analogue, which led many companies to abandon them for more reliable cellular communications between base and driver. Digital transmission improves the clarity of the signal, so there is no loss of voice quality over a wider range, explains Motorola, and audible static is simply filtered out as an "error signal" by the digital receiver. There is also greater privacy because transmissions can be encrypted, Digital systems allow you to put separate users into private workgroups (drivers and loaders, for example), each with their own encryption key. Some of the latest systems also incorporate limited data