3G Mobile Phones - Where Did They Come From - Where Are They Going?

When you use your 3G mobile phone do you wonder about what technology and history lies behind one of the wonders of the modern world in which we live?

The fact is the 3G mobile revolution occurred only recently and yet history has transformed 2G technology into the modern marvel that is 3G, or third generation technology and which has ensured that we can now lead lives that are totally removed from where we were even 20 years ago.

The first 3G revolution occurred with the launch of the Japanese DoCoMo network in 2001 - yes, just that few years ago. However the Japanese 3G phone network was one that only started a limited-scope3G application, notwithstanding its technological advancement.

The initial move towards third generation mobile phones and 3G applications came with the introduction of General Packet Radio Service or GPRS and we had what became known as '2.5G'.

GPRS could provide data rates that were then unheard of, ranging from 56 kbit/s up to 114 kbit/s, which was very fast. It can be used for services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access along with other applications including Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access.

The GPRS data transfer is usually charged per megabyte although data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed for each minute of connection time and this ignores whether the user is using the capacity or not.

Following the DoCoMo, 'Foma' network a Korean network and then a European 3G network was started by British Telecom.

In the United States the first 3G network was started by Monet mobilee Networks and this was followed by major commercial operators like Verizon Wireless and AT&T.

Today, of course, we have a huge range of 3G network providers who have gone through the technological and regulatory hoops to permit us to connect our 3G mobile handsets and phones to different networks to download data, video, voice and other material via our 3G cell phones.

It is a 3G revolution that has transformed our lives, transformed business and transformed entertainment and the way we communicate generally. Next time you pick up your 3G mobile phone, which may be in your hand as you read this! - consider the 'history' all those short, years ago which lead to the 3G mobile phone revolution.

Peter Hagen writes about 3g mobile phones as well as looking at 3g pricing and 3g phone offers. If you enjoyed this article go to the 3g mobile phone review website at 3gMobilePhones1.com

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