Let’s Know About 3G

3G stands for “third generation” — this makes analog cellular technology generation one and digital/PCS generation two. 3G technology is intended for the true multimedia cell phone — typically called smartphones — and features increased bandwidth and transfer rates to accommodate Web-based applications and phone-based audio and video files.

3G comprises several cellular access technologies. The three most common ones as of 2005 are:

• CDMA2000 – based on 2G Code Division Multiple Access (see Cellular Access Technologies)
• WCDMA (UMTS) – Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
• TD-SCDMA – Time-division Synchronous Code-division Multiple Access

3G networks have potential transfer speeds of up to 3 Mbps (about 15 seconds to download a 3-minute MP3 song). For comparison, the fastest 2G phones can achieve up to 144Kbps (about 8 minutes to download a 3-minute song). 3G’s high data rates are ideal for downloading information from the Internet and sending and receiving large, multimedia files. 3G phones are like mini-laptops and can accommodate broadband applications like video conferencing, receiving streaming video from the Web, sending and receiving faxes and instantly downloading e-mail messages with attachments.