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3G is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology, superseding 2G, and preceding 4G. It is based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) family of standards under the International Mobile Telecommunications programme, IMT-2000. A list of Mobile phones standards or generations is given in the table below. ... For other uses, see GSM (disambiguation). ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see GSM (disambiguation). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a Mobile Data Service available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 mobile phones. ... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. ... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. ... Circuit Switched Data (CSD) is the original form of data transmission developed for the time division multiple access (TDMA)-based mobile phone systems like Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). ... High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), is a development of Circuit Switched Data, the original data transmission mechanism of the GSM mobile phone system. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) cell phone technologies. ... High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA, also known as High-Speed Downlink Protocol Access) is a 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity. ... High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA) is a 3G mobile telephony protocol in the HSPA family with up-link speeds up to 5. ... Evolved HSPA (also known as HSPA Evolution) is a 3G mobile data protocol defined in 3GPP release 7 (expected in 2007). ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, being pursued in the Peoples Republic of China by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT), Datang and Siemens AG, in an attempt to develop home-grown technology and not be dependent on Western... FOMA, officially short for Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access, is the brand name for the 3G services being offered by Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) cell phone technologies. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. ... High Speed OFDM Packet Access (HSOPA) is a proposed part of 3GPPs Long Term Evolution (LTE) upgrade path for UMTS systems. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method utilized by various radio communication technologies. ... The 3rd Generation Partnership Project 2 (3GPP2) is a collaboration agreement that was established in December 1998. ... Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), is the first CDMA-based digital cellular standard pioneered by Qualcomm. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... CDMA2000 is a hybrid 2. ... Evolution-Data Optimized or Evolution-Data only, abbreviated as EV-DO or EVDO and often EV, is one telecommunications standard for the wireless transmission of data through radio signals, typically for broadband Internet access. ... Ultra Mobile Broadband is the brand name to describe the advanced technologies and services that will be supported by the CDMA2000 1xEV-DO Revision C (Rev. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) is the analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983[1][2] It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America (and other locales) through the 1980s and into the 2000s, and is still... Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) is the analog mobile phone system standard developed by Bell Labs, and officially introduced in the Americas in 1983[1][2] It was the primary analog mobile phone system in North America (and other locales) through the 1980s and into the 2000s, and is still... 1G (or 1-G) is short for first-generation wireless telephone technology, cellphones. ... Advanced Mobile Phone System or AMPS is the analog mobile phone system standard, introduced in the Americas during the early 1980s. ... IS-54 and IS-136 are second-generation (2G) mobile phone systems, known as Digital AMPS (D-AMPS). ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Mobile radio telephone systems preceded modern cellular mobile telephony technology. ... “Push to Talk” redirects here. ... The Mobile Telephone System (MTS) was one of the earliest mobile telephone standards. ... The Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS) is a pre-cellular VHF/UHF radio system that links to the PSTN. IMTS was the radiotelephone equivalent of land dial phone service. ... The Advanced Mobile Telephone System was a 0G method of radio communication, mainly used in Japanese portable radio systems. ... OLT (Norwegian for Offentlig Landmobil Telefoni, Public Land Mobile Telephony), was the first land mobile telephone network in Norway. ... MTD (Swedish abbreviation for Mobilelefonisystem D, or Mobile telephony system D) was a manual mobile phone system for the 450 MHz frequency band. ... Autotel (also called PALM, or Public Automated Land Mobile) is a radiotelephone service which was the missing link between earlier MTS/IMTS and later cellular telephone services. ... ARP (Autoradiopuhelin, Car Radio Phone in English) was the first commercially operated public mobile phone network in Finland. ... 1G (or 1-G) is short for first-generation wireless telephone technology, cellphones. ... For other meanings of the abbreviation, see: NMT. NMT (Nordisk MobilTelefoni or Nordiska MobilTelefoni-gruppen, Nordic Mobile Telephone in English) is a mobile phone system that was specified by the Nordic telecommunications administrations (PTTs) starting in 1970, and opened for service in 1981 as a response to the increasing congestion... hicap is a mobile techonology which has a consumer interface with a wide variety of industry references. ... Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) uses unused bandwidth normally used by AMPS mobile phones between 800 and 900 MHz to transfer data. ... Cingular Interactive Truck at Ground Zero on 9/11/2001 Mobitex Network Design Mobitex is an OSI based open standard, national public access wireless data network first introduced in 1991 by carriers RAM Mobile Data and in Canada 1990 by Rogers Cantel. ... DataTac is a wireless data network technology originally developed by Motorola and deployed in the United States as the ARDIS network. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Iden is also a village in East Sussex, England Integrated Digital Enhanced Network (iDEN) is a mobile telecommunications technology, developed by Motorola, which provides its users the benefits of a trunked radio and a cellular telephone. ... Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) is a 2G mobile phone standard developed and used exclusively in Japan. ... Circuit Switched Data (CSD) is the original form of data transmission developed for the time division multiple access (TDMA)-based mobile phone systems like Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). ... The Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), also marketed as the Personal Access System (PAS) and known as Xiaolingtong (小灵通) in China, is a mobile network system operating in the 1880-1930 MHz frequency band, used mainly in Japan, China, Taiwan and some other Asian countries. ... Wideband Integrated Dispatch Enhanced Network, or WiDEN, is a software upgrade developed by Motorola for its iDEN enhanced specialized mobile radio (or ESMR) wireless telephony protocol. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... iBurst (or HC-SDMA, High Capacity Spatial Division Multiple Access) is a wireless broadband technology developed by ArrayComm. ... HIPERMAN stands for High Performance Radio Metropolitan Area Network and is a standard created by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) Broadband Radio Access Networks (BRAN) group to provide a wireless network communication in the 2 - 11 GHz bands across Europe and other countries which follow the ETSI standard. ... Official WiMax logo WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. ... WiBro (Wireless Broadband, Korean: 와이브로) is a wireless broadband Internet technology being developed by the Korean telecoms industry. ... Generic Access Network (GAN), also known as Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA), is a telecommunication system allowing seamless roaming and handover between local area networks and wide area networks using a dual-mode mobile phone. ... In communications, a channel access method is used to share a communications channel or physical communications medium between multiple users. ... FDMA, or frequency-division multiple access, is the oldest and most important of the three main ways for multiple radio transmitters to share the radio spectrum. ... Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) is a multiple access scheme for OFDM systems. ... Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) is a technology for shared medium (usually radio) networks. ... Spread-spectrum telecommunications is a technique in which a signal is transmitted in a bandwidth considerably greater than the frequency content of the original information. ... Code division multiple access (CDMA) is a channel access method utilized by various radio communication technologies. ... All cellular phone networks worldwide utilize a portion of the radio frequency spectrum designated as Ultra High Frequency, or UHF, for the transmission and reception of their signals. ... All cellular phone networks worldwide utilize a portion of the radio frequency spectrum designated as Ultra High Frequency, or UHF, for the transmission and reception of their signals. ... GSM frequency bands or frequency ranges are the radio spectrum frequencies designated by the ITU for the operation of the GSM system for mobile phones. ... UMTS frequency bands or frequency ranges are the radio spectrum frequencies designated for the operation of the UMTS / HSDPA / HSUPA / HSPA+ system for mobile phones. ... Personal Communications Service or PCS is the name for the 1900-MHz radio band used for digital mobile phone services in Canada and the United States. ... The Specialized Mobile Radio system (SMR) is a conventional two-way radio system, or trunked radio system, operated by a service in the 800 or 900 Mhz bands. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... The International Telecommunication Union (ITU; French: Union internationale des télécommunications, Spanish: Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones) is an international organization established to standardize and regulate international radio and telecommunications. ... International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) is the global standard for third generation (3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. ...

3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls, and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Additional features also include HSPA data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s on the downlink and 5.8Mbit/s on the uplink. Spectral efficiency or spectrum efficiency refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific digital communication system. ... In telecommunication, Telephony encompasses the general use of equipment to provide voice communication over distances. ... High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) is a collection of mobile telephony protocols that extend and improve the performance of existing UMTS protocols. ...

Unlike IEEE 802.11 (common names Wi-Fi or WLAN) networks, 3G networks are wide area cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-speed internet access and video telephony. IEEE 802.11 networks are short range, high-bandwidth networks primarily developed for data. IEEE 802. ... Wi-Fi (IPA: ) is the common name for a popular wireless technology used in home networks, mobile phones, video games and more. ... The notebook is connected to the wireless access point using a PC card wireless card. ... A videophone is a telephone which is capable of both audio and video duplex transmission. ...

Implementation and history

The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan branded FOMA, in May of 2001 on a pre-release of W-CDMA technology. The first commercial launch of 3G was also by NTT DoCoMo in Japan on October 1, 2001. The second network to go commercially live was by SK Telecom in South Korea on the CDMA2000 1xEV-DO technology in January 2002. By May 2002 the second South Korean 3G network was launched by KTF on EV-DO and thus the Koreans were the first to see competition among 3G operators. A building of NTT DoCoMo in Shinagawa, Tokyo. ... The word Foma has several meanings: Foma is a term in the fictional Bokononist religion in Kurt Vonneguts novel Cats Cradle. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... CDMA2000 is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, one of the approved radio interfaces for the ITUs IMT-2000 standard, and a successor to 2G CDMA (IS-95, branded cdmaOne). ...

The first European pre-commercial network was at the Isle of Man by Manx Telecom, the operator owned by British Telecom, and the first commercial network in Europe was opened for business by Telenor in December 2001 with no commercial handsets and thus no paying customers. These were both on the W-CDMA technology. Manx Telecom (Manx: ) is the primary telecommunications provider in the Isle of Man. ... BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ... Telenor (OSE: TEL, NASDAQ: TELN) is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. ...

The first commercial United States 3G network was by Monet, on CDMA2000 1x EV-DO technology, but this network provider later shut down operations. The second 3G network operator in the USA was Verizon in October 2003 also on CDMA2000 1x EV-DO, and this network has grown strongly since then. Oscar-Claude Monet (November 14, 1840 - December 5, 1926), French impressionist painter. ...

The "first pre-commercial demonstration network" in the southern hemisphere was built in Adelaide, South Australia by m.Net Corporation in February 2002 using UMTS on 2100 MHz. This was a demonstration network for the 2002 IT World Congress. The first "commercial" 3G network was launched by Hutchison Telecommunications branded as Three in April 2003. Australia's largest and fastest 3G UMTS/HSDPA network was launched by Telstra branded as "NextG(tm)" on the 850 MHz band in October 2006, intended as a replacement of their cdmaOne network Australia wide. Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... Telstra Corporation (ASX: , NZX: TLS, NYSE: TLS) (formed from Telecom Australia) is an Australian telecommunications and media company under private ownership, with a dominant position in landline telephone services, a large share of mobile phone services, domestic consumer (including dial-up access, 50% of Broadband internet broadband cable modem, satellite... Interim Standard 95 (IS-95), is the first CDMA-based digital cellular standard pioneered by Qualcomm. ...

In December 2007, 190 3G networks were operating in 40 countries and 154 HSDPA networks were operating in 71 countries, according to the Global mobile Suppliers Association. In Asia, Europe, Canada and the USA, telecommunication companies use W-CDMA technology with the support of around 100 terminal designs to operate 3G mobile networks. High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) is an organization dedicated to the promotion of the GSM mobile phone standard worldwide. ... W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ...

In Europe, mass market commercial 3G services were introduced starting in March 2003 by 3 (Part of Hutchison Whampoa) in the UK and Italy. The European Union Council suggested that the 3G operators should cover 80% of the European national populations by the end of 2005. For other uses, see 3 (disambiguation). ... Hutchison Whampoa Limited or HWL (Traditional Chinese: , SEHK: 0013) of Hong Kong is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. ...

Roll-out of 3G networks was delayed in some countries by the enormous costs of additional spectrum licensing fees. (See Telecoms crash.) In many countries, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G, so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies; an exception is the United States where carriers operate 3G service in the same frequencies as other services. The license fees in some European countries were particularly high, bolstered by government auctions of a limited number of licenses and sealed bid auctions, and initial excitement over 3G's potential. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading equipment for the new systems. The 2001 Telecoms crash is often confused with the Dot Com crash which happened at around the same time. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The 2001 Telecoms crash is often confused with the Dot Com crash which happened at around the same time. ... A sealed bid auction is a type of auction. ...

By June 2007 the 200 millionth 3G subscriber had been connected. Out of 3 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide this is only 6.7%. In the countries where 3G was launched first - Japan and South Korea - over half of all subscribers use 3G. In Europe the leading country is Italy with a third of its subscribers migrated to 3G. Other leading countries by 3G migration include UK, Austria, Australia and Singapore at the 20% migration level. A confusing statistic is counting CDMA 2000 1x RTT customers as if they were 3G customers. If using this oft-disputed definition, then the total 3G subscriber base would be 475 million at June 2007 and 15.8% of all subscribers worldwide.

Still several major countries such as Turkey, China etc have not awarded 3G licenses and customers await 3G services. China has been delaying its decisions on 3G for many years, partly hoping to have the Chinese 3G standard, TD-SCDMA, to mature for commercial production.

China announced in May 2008, that the telecoms sector was re-organized and three 3G networks would be allocated so, that the largest mobile operator, China Mobile would retain its GSM customer base and launch 3G onto the Chinese standard, TD-SCDMA. China Unicom would retain its GSM customer base but relinquish its CDMA2000 customer base, and launch 3G on the globally leading WCDMA (UMTS) standard. The CDMA2000 customers of China Unicom would go to China Telecom, which would then launch 3G on the CDMA 1x EV-DO standard. This means that China will have all three main cellular technology 3G standards in commercial use.

The first African use of 3G technology was a 3G videocall made in Johannesburg on the Vodacom network in November 2004. The first commercial launch of 3G in Africa was by EMTEL in Mauritius on the W-CDMA standard. In north African Morocco in late March 2006, a 3G service was provided by the new company Wana. A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ... Wana (formerly Maroc Connect) (established in 1999) is the third main telecommunication company in Morocco. ...

Rogers Wireless began implementing 3G HSDPA services in eastern Canada early 2007 in the form of Rogers Vision; expansion into western Canada is expected soon. Rogers AT&T Wireless logo when Rogers wireless division was in partnership with AT&T Rogers Wireless, formerly known as Rogers AT&T Wireless, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rogers Communications. ...

Phones and networks

3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

UMTS terminals

The technical complexities of a 3G phone or handset depends on its need to roam onto legacy 2G networks. In the first countries, Japan and South Korea, there was no need to include roaming capabilities to older networks such as GSM, so 3G phones were small and lightweight. In Europe and America, the manufacturers and network operators wanted multi-mode 3G phones which would operate on 3G and 2G networks (e.g., W-CDMA and GSM), which added to the complexity, size, weight, and cost of the handset. As a result, early European W-CDMA phones were significantly larger and heavier than comparable Japanese W-CDMA phones.

Japan's Vodafone KK experienced a great deal of trouble with these differences when its UK-based parent, Vodafone, insisted the Japanese subsidiary use standard Vodafone handsets. Japanese customers who were accustomed to smaller handsets were suddenly required to switch to European handsets that were much bulkier and considered unfashionable by Japanese consumers. During this conversion, Vodafone KK lost 6 customers for every 4 that migrated to 3G. Soon thereafter, Vodafone sold the subsidiary (now known as SoftBank Mobile).

The general trend to smaller and smaller phones seems to have paused, perhaps even turned, with the capability of large-screen phones to provide more video, gaming and internet use on the 3G networks.

Speed

The ITU has not provided a clear definition of the speeds users can expect from 3G equipment or providers. Thus users sold 3G service may not be able to point to a standard and say that the speeds it specifies are not being met. While stating in commentary that "it is expected that IMT-2000 will provide higher transmission rates: a minimum speed of 2Mbit/s for stationary or walking users, and 348 <sic> kbit/s in a moving vehicle", ^[1] the ITU does not actually clearly specify minimum or average speeds or what modes of the interfaces qualify as 3G, so various speeds are sold as 3G intended to meet customers expectations of broadband speed. It is often suggested by industry sources that 3G can be expected to provide 384 kbit/s at or below pedestrian speeds, but only 128 kbit/s in a moving car. While EDGE is part of the 3G standard, some phones report EDGE and 3G network availability as separate things, notably the iPhone. The Samsung SGH-A707, was introduced on November 7, 2006 by Cingular Wireless, who chose to brand it as the Cingular SYNC instead of using the manufacturers model number. ... For the Internet appliance line, see Linksys iPhone. ...

Network standardization

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) defined the demands for 3G mobile networks with the IMT-2000 standard. An organization called 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has continued that work by defining a mobile system that fulfills the IMT-2000 standard. This system is called Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The International Telecommunication Union (ITU; French: Union internationale des télécommunications, Spanish: Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones) is an international organization established to standardize and regulate international radio and telecommunications. ... The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration agreement that was established in December 1998. ... International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) is the global standard for third generation (3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) cell phone technologies. ...

IMT-2000 standards and radio interfaces

Main article: IMT-2000

International Telecommunications Union (ITU): IMT-2000 consists of six radio interfaces International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) is the global standard for third generation (3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. ...

• W-CDMA also known as UMTS
• CDMA2000
• TD-CDMA / TD-SCDMA
• UWC (often implemented with EDGE)
• DECT
• Mobile WiMAX^[2]

W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... CDMA2000 is a hybrid 2. ... UMTS-TDD is a mobile data network standard built upon the UMTS 3G cellular mobile phone standard, using a TD-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, or other 3GPP-approved, air interface that uses Time Division Duplexing to duplex spectrum between the up-link and down-link. ... TD-SCDMA (Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access) is a 3G mobile telecommunications standard, being pursued in the Peoples Republic of China by the Chinese Academy of Telecommunications Technology (CATT), Datang and Siemens AG, in an attempt to develop home-grown technology and not be dependent on Western... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. ... See http://en. ...

Advantages of a layered network architecture

Unlike GSM, UMTS is based on layered services. At the top is the services layer, which provides fast deployment of services and centralized location. In the middle is the control layer, which helps upgrading procedures and allows the capacity of the network to be dynamically allocated. At the bottom is the connectivity layer where any transmission technology can be used and the voice traffic will transfer over ATM/AAL2 or IP/RTP.

3G evolution (pre-4G)

See also section Pre-4G wireless standards of the 4G article.

The standardization of 3G evolution is working in both 3GPP and 3GPP2. The corresponding specifications of 3GPP and 3GPP2 evolutions are named as LTE and UMB, respectively. 3G evolution uses partly beyond 3G technologies to enhance the performance and to make a smooth migration path. This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article needs cleanup. ... 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution) is the name given to a project within the Third Generation Partnership Project to improve the UMTS mobile phone standard to cope with future requirements. ... UMB may refer to the Marc Bloch University of Strasbourg the Norwegian University of Life Sciences a method for adressing extended memory University of Maryland, Baltimore University of Massachusetts Boston This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ...

There are several different paths from 2G to 3G. In Europe the main path starts from GSM when GPRS is added to a system. From this point it is possible to go to the UMTS system. In North America the system evolution will start from Time division multiple access (TDMA), change to Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) and then to UMTS. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Time division multiple access (TDMA) is a channel access method for shared medium (usually radio) networks. ... Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. ...

In Japan, two 3G standards are used: W-CDMA used by NTT DoCoMo (FOMA, compatible with UMTS) and SoftBank Mobile (UMTS), and CDMA2000, used by KDDI. Transition to 3G was completed in Japan in 2006. W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) is a type of 3G cellular network. ... A building of NTT DoCoMo in Shinagawa, Tokyo. ... The word Foma has several meanings: Foma is a term in the fictional Bokononist religion in Kurt Vonneguts novel Cats Cradle. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... SoftBank Mobile Corp. ... CDMA2000 is a hybrid 2. ... KDDI Corporation is a Japanese telecommunication operator formed in October 2000 through the merger of DDI, KDD, and IDO Corp. ...

Evolution from 2G to 3G

2G networks were built mainly for voice data and slow transmission. Due to rapid changes in user expectation, they do not meet today's wireless needs.

Cellular mobile telecommunications networks are being upgraded to use 3G technologies from 1999 to 2010. Japan was the first country to introduce 3G nationally, and in Japan the transition to 3G was largely completed in 2006. Korea then adopted 3G Networks soon after and the transition was made as early as 2004. The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ...

From 2G to 2.5G (GPRS)

"2.5G" (and even 2.75G) are technologies such as i-mode data services, camera phones, high-speed circuit-switched data (HSCSD) and General packet radio service (GPRS) were created to provide some functionality domains like 3G networks, but without the full transition to 3G network. They were built to introduce the possibilities of wireless application technology to the end consumers, and so increase demand for 3G services. 2. ... NTT DoCoMos i-mode is a wireless Internet service popular in Japan and is increasing in popularity in other parts of the world, such as the Israel (Cellcom being the main company to sell i-mode phones and service there). ... A camera phone in use Camera phones are a type of cellphone which has a camera built in. ... High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), is a development of Circuit Switched Data, the original data transmission mechanism of the GSM mobile phone system. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a Mobile Data Service available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 mobile phones. ...

When converting a GSM network to a UMTS network, the first new technology is General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). It is the trigger to 3G services. The network connection is always on, so the subscriber is online all the time. From the operator's point of view, it is important that GPRS investments are re-used when going to UMTS. Also capitalizing on GPRS business experience is very important. General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a Mobile Data Service available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and IS-136 mobile phones. ...

From GPRS, operators could change the network directly to UMTS, or invest in an EDGE system. One advantage of EDGE over UMTS is that it requires no new licenses. The frequencies are also re-used and no new antennas are needed. Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Enhanced GPRS (EGPRS), or IMT Single Carrier (IMT-SC) is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. ...

Migrating from GPRS to UMTS

From GPRS network, the following network elements can be reused:

• Home location register (HLR)
• Visitor location register (VLR)
• Equipment identity register (EIR)
• Mobile switching centre (MSC) (vendor dependent)
• Authentication centre (AUC)
• Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) (vendor dependent)
• Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN)

From Global Service for Mobile (GSM) communication radio network, the following elements cannot be reused

• Base station controller (BSC)
• Base transceiver station (BTS)

They can remain in the network and be used in dual network operation where 2G and 3G networks co-exist while network migration and new 3G terminals become available for use in the network.

The UMTS network introduces new network elements that function as specified by 3GPP: This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

• Node B (base station)
• Radio Network Controller (RNC)
• Media Gateway (MGW)

The functionality of MSC and SGSN changes when going to UMTS. In a GSM system the MSC handles all the circuit switched operations like connecting A- and B-subscriber through the network. SGSN handles all the packet switched operations and transfers all the data in the network. In UMTS the Media gateway (MGW) take care of all data transfer in both circuit and packet switched networks. MSC and SGSN control MGW operations. The nodes are renamed to MSC-server and GSN-server. Node-B is a term used in UMTS to denote the BTS (base transceiver station). ... The Radio Network Controller (or RNC) is the governing element in the UMTS radio access network (UTRAN) responsible for control of the Node-Bs, that is to say the base stations which are connected to the controller. ...

Issues

Although 3G was successfully introduced to users across the world, some issues are debated by 3G providers and users:

• Expensive input fees for the 3G service licenses
• Numerous differences in the licensing terms
• Large amount of debt currently sustained by many telecommunication companies, which makes it a challenge to build the necessary infrastructure for 3G
• Lack of member state support for financially troubled operators
• Expense of 3G phones
• Lack of buy-in by 2G mobile users for the new 3G wireless services
• Lack of coverage, because it is still a new service
• High prices of 3G mobile services in some countries, including Internet access (see flat rate)
• Current lack of user need for 3G voice and data services in a hand-held device
• High power usage

Categories: Wikipedia cleanup | Stub ...

See also

• 2G
• 2.5G
• 2.75G
• 3.5G
• 3.75G
• 4G
• 3GP
• IP Multimedia Subsystem
• WiBro
• HSDPA
• UMTS
• GPRS
• WiMAX
• Wireless modem
• Spectral efficiency
• DigRF V3

This article does not cite any references or sources. ... 2. ... A 2G mobile phone is a circuit switched digital mobile phone. ... The term 3. ... HSUPA, High-Speed Uplink Packet Access, is a data access protocol for mobile phone networks with extremely high upload speeds up to 5. ... This article is about the mobile phone standard. ... 3GP is a multimedia container format defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) for use on 3G mobile phones. ... The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an architectural framework for delivering internet protocol (IP) multimedia to mobile users. ... WiBro (Wireless Broadband, Korean: 와이브로) is a wireless broadband Internet technology being developed by the Korean telecoms industry. ... High-Speed Downlink Packet Access or HSDPA is a mobile telephony protocol. ... Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is one of the third-generation (3G) mobile phone technologies. ... General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM mobile phones. ... Official WiMax logo WiMAX, the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access, is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing wireless data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular type access. ... Mobile phones can be employed as data modems to form a wireless access point connecting a personal computer to The Internet (or some proprietary network). ... Spectral efficiency or spectrum efficiency refers to the amount of information that can be transmitted over a given bandwidth in a specific digital communication system. ... DigRF is an electronics interface standard intended for the cellular market. ...

Further reading

• Holma and Toskala (editors), WCDMA for UMTS, (Wiley, 2000) first book dedicated to 3G technology, ISBN 978-0471720515
• Ahonen and Barrett (editors), Services for UMTS (Wiley, 2002) first book on the services for 3G, ISBN 978-0471485506
• Laiho, Wacker and Novosad, Radio Network Planning and Optimization for UMTS (Wiley, 2002) first book on radio network planning for 3G, ISBN 978-0470015759
• Ahonen, M-Profits Making Money with 3G (Wiley, 2002), first business book about 3G, ISBN 978-0470847756
• Ahonen, Kasper and Melkko, 3G Marketing (Wiley, 2004), first marketing book for 3G, ISBN 978-0470851005
• Kreher and Ruedebusch, UMTS Signaling: UMTS Interfaces, Protocols, Message Flows and Procedures Analyzed and Explained (Wiley 2007), ISBN 978-0470065334

References