Where 3G Is Now

Technology changes very quickly, which is why you have to be very sure about the gadgets and tools you purchase to get the most benefits. There are several generations available, as far as mobile phones are concerned. You may find that some are still very functional enough to provide for your personal and professional needs. Here are some details about the technology and corresponding network.

The Technical Terms

Generations are defined according to their period of existence. The first kinds are 1G networks, namely C-Nets, NMT, TACS and AMPS which are categorized among the first analogue cellular systems. These began in the early periods of the 1980s. There are radio telephone systems before these. The 2G networks, namely DAMPS, GSM and CDMAOne are the initial digital cellular systems released during the early 1990s. The 2.5G networks, CDMA2000 1x and GPRS are the improved versions of the 2G networks with information speeds moving up to 144 Kbps.

3G networks, namely UMTS TDD and UMTS FDD, CDMA2000 3x, TD-SCDMA, CDMA2000 1x EVDO, Arib WCDMA, IMT-2000 DECT and EDGE are the most recent cellular networks with data rates ranging up to 384 Kbit/s and higher. 4G is generally a marketing concept at present. There are already studies and research being conducted to develop the 4G, although no frequencies have been assigned yet. This newest technology is expected to launch in 2012.

The International Groups

ETSI or European Telecommunications Standards Institute is functioning in Europe to improve technical standards for the UMTS. 3GPP or 3rd Generation Partnership Project is a participation between international standards groups will lead to UMTS and 3G mobile telephony technical specifications. The starting members include TTC and ARIB from Japan, TTA of Korea, T1 (ANSI) of the United States and ETSI from Europe. The function of the groups is presented globally by the ITU or International Telecommunication Union.

ITU direct worldwide spectrum and the standardization of IMT2000, lets regional regulatory policies work together and is a framework and base for 3G combination over different technologies and regions. The UMTS Forum shows the opinions and views of the telecommunication operators and industry. These are a mobile operator group, together with GSM Associates. European Union or EU brings together the 15 members on implementation of the UMTS.

Comparing UMTS

UMTS is quite different and unique from other 2G networks at present. It offers higher speech quality that available networks now have, in addition to speech traffic UMTS, with information services and advanced information. UMTS is advantageous compared to 2G because of its capacity to support 2 Mbit/s data speeds. UMTS is considered as a true global system, made of both satellite and terrestrial components. The consistent service area is one of the best aspects, even when the person is roaming through the VHE or Virtual Home Environment. Users still get to have a variety of services, despite a roaming status.

Being Wideband

WCDMA is called wideband, because 3G WCDMA systems have a bandwidth of 5 MHz in a single direction. 5 MHz is not considered wide or narrow, but the bandwidth is relatively very high. The recent 3G WCDMA systems have a bigger bandwidth compared to current 2G CDMA systems. The new 3G WCDMA systems have wider bandwidth compared to current CDMA systems. There are also commercial CDMA systems with 20 MHz bandwidth.