What is “3G Wireless”?
The term “3G”, now being used in many cell phone advertisements, refers to the 3rd Generation of wireless technology. To put a frame of reference around that, 1G was developed back in the 1970’s. That technology — the first version of the mobile radio phone — was at a level not much higher than that used by amateur radio operators. 2G Wireless followed in the 1990’s, bringing us the digital cell phone that is still the primary technology in use today.
3G wireless features multimedia (data, voice, and video) services and is being developed under an international master plan. The service is currently available on about 200 networks in 40 countries. Using this technology we will be able to communicate wirelessly wherever we are in the world, no longer tethered to our home Internet modems or Internet hotspots around town. The services currently include cellular telephone, e-mail, paging, fax, videoconferencing, and Web browsing.
The 3G technologies are gaining users rapidly in Europe and Asia, but still only a small percentage of all cell phone users are 3G subscribers. In Japan, however, one-half of all cell phone users subscribe to it. We can only imagine what the future holds for us when 4G Wireless arrives. We know that it will be even faster, more secure, and higher quality — but the full capabilities of 4G may not be seen for another 5 years.
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