3G Mobile Technology

The Future is Now

The Third Generation of services and technology for mobile telephony allows advanced services because it has a better spectral efficiency, and that leads to the transmission of large sets of data in a quick way. Transmission rates can get as fast as 2 Mbps. This speed and reach allow, for example, mobile video conferences really close to the experience of the idea of a videophone. The main objective of the Third Generation services is to provide a greater user capacity, higher data rates and, where possible, worldwide compatibility


By GABRIELA ZAGO
from Pelotas, BRAZIL


Imagine what would be like if you could check your e-mails anytime, anywhere, and answer an important message straight right after it's received. Or if you could have access to news as they happen right next to you. Wouldn't it be interesting if you could watch video-on-demmand on a portable device while you're traveling from one place to another, or if you could video conference with your partners from anywhere in the world? You can do all of these and some more if you have a 3G mobile phone. And it's not something for the far away future. It's something that is happening now, everywhere, all the time.

The desire of ubiquity, or the ability of being everywhere at the same time, has come close to the reality with 3G. The third generation of mobile services (know as 3G) has started its operations in Tokyo, Japan, in 2001. Since then, it got widespread all over the world. It is considered a standard in Europe and Asia, and it was adopted in many countries of the world.

3G is the Third Generation of services and technology for mobile telephony. 3G allows advanced services because it has a better spectral efficiency, and that leads to the transmission of large sets of data in a quick way. Transmission rates can get as fast as 2 Mbps. This speed and reach allow, for example, mobile video conferences really close to the experience of the idea of a videophone. The main objective of the Third Generation services is to provide a greater user capacity, higher data rates and, where possible, worldwide compatibility. With more speed to send and receive information, it's possible, for example, to watch TV on the cellphone (in some countries, like Japan, it is already possible), make video conferences, or then use a carrirer-supplied PC Card to access mobile Internet on a laptop.

The first generation of mobile services, 1G, was AMPS, acronym for Advanced Mobile Phone Service, an analog cellular network, that allowed only voice, and it was the dominant technology during the 1980 decade and the beginning of 1990. Between 1990 and 1995 appeared GSM, the Global System for Mobile Communicatios, a 2G service, that operated in a digital frequency, and allowed voice and some limited type of data (like SMS and conference calls), in speeds no faster than 20Kbps. In 1999, appeared CDMA, or Code-Division Multiple Access, another 2G cellular network launched to replace AMPS. It was around that time, also, that GPRS, General Packet Radio Service, first appeared, an upgrade in the GSM networks, that is considered to be 2.5G, since it has an increased speed connection (up to 100Kbps), which allows MMS, web browsing, and some basic multimedia content. 3G refers to UMTS, Universal Mobile Telephone Service, a technology that first appeared in the beginning of this century, that can get to speeds up to 2Mbps. This speed allows video and music streaming, as well as a faster web browsing experience. And evolution doesn't stop there. There's also HSDPA, High Speed Downlink Packet Access, an upgrade to UMTS, that is considered "3.5G", and promises speeds up to 14.4Mbps, and WiMax, an upgrade in the concept of Wi-Fi, that some call it a 4G wireless network, with speeds up to 100Mbps.

The faster speeds allowed by 3G technology can be a revolutionary tool for a lot of things, including social mobilization. 3G mobile also brings interesting perspectives for journalism. With a 3G mobile phone with permanent access to the Internet, a full coverage of events can be made, with pictures, videos and text, that can be added to the Internet right after it was captured. By the end of 2007, Reuters did an experiment using N95 Nokia cellphones. Journalists were provided a a Mobile Journalism Toolkit, consisted of a Nokia N95, a Bluetooth keyboard, a tripod, a microphone, and a solar charging system, to cover events.

To be able to take all these advantages, you should have a 3G mobile phone. And iPhone (more about iPhone here) doesn't count as one so far. But according to Wall Street Journal columnist Walt Mossberg, the second generation of iPhone, that will be prepared for 3G technology, might be released in the next 60 days. That would be an important step in order to iPhone to become popular in Europe.


(Published: 10.04.2008.)

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