Personal communication networks (PCNs) capture the concept of low-cost, mobile communications for the mass market and are seen as a major growth area for public telecommunications, offering new areas of choice and flexibility to the customer. With commercial PCN service due to be offered in the first half of 1993, the availability of infrastructure equipment and handsets, complying with internationally agreed standards, together with novel design methods to meet the special needs of PCN are important ingredients for a successful system implementation. The article examines the technical requirements of PCN and explains the factors which influenced the development of the DCS 1800 standard.