What are the developments in the market for 3G mobile devices??

3G means 3rd generation technology of the mobiles phones standards and technology, after 2G. It is based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) family of standards under the International Mobile Telecommunications programme, "IMT- 2000". It was introuduced few years ago gives the ability for users to video call or video conferencing using their mobile phones. This is more advanced technology when compared to the previous technology which was the 2G. The 2G technology features digital voice encoding. Examples include CDMA and GSM. Since its inception, 2G technology has steadily improved, with increased bandwidth, packet routing, and the introduction of multimedia. 3G is vey unlike 2G which allows users to use the video functions, it is able to send or recieve data at a higher rate.

3G technologies enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. 3G networks are wide area cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-speed internet access and video telephony unlike Wi-Fi networks which are short range, high-bandwidth networks primarily developed for data.

In the countries where 3G was launched first - Japan and South Korea over half of all subscribers use 3G. In Europe the leading country is Italy with a third of its subscribers migrated to 3G. Other leading countries by 3G migration include UK, Austria and Singapore at the 20% migration level.

The most significant feature of 3G mobile technology is that it supports greater numbers of voice and data customers — especially in urban areas — and higher data rates at lower incremental cost than 2G.

By using the radio spectrum in bands identified, which is provided by the UTI for Third Generation mobile services, it subsequently licensed to operators. 3G uses .6 MHz channel carrier width to deliver significantly higher data rates and increased capacity compared to 2G networks. The .5 MHz channel carrier provides optimum use of radio resources for operators who have been granted large, contiguous blocks of spectrum.

On the other hand, it also helps to reduce the cost to 3G networks while being capable of providing extremely high-speed data transmission to users. It also allows the transmission of 384 kbit/s for mobile systems and 2 Mb/s for stationary systems. 3G users are expected to have greater capacity and better spectrum efficiency which allows them to access global roaming between different 3G networks.

For 3G Under IMT-2000, offers the capability of providing value-added services and applications on the basis of a single standard. The system envisages a platform for distributing converged fixed, mobile, voice, data, Internet and multimedia services. One of its key visions is to provide seamless global roaming, enabling users to move across borders while using the same number and handset. It also aims to provide seamless delivery of services, over a number of media (satellite, fixed, etc…) providing higher transmission rates.


3G System Capabilities
Capability to support circuit and packet data at high bit rates:

• 144 kilobits/second or higher in high mobility (vehicular) traffic
• 384 kilobits/second for pedestrian traffic
• 2 Megabits/second or higher for indoor traffic

Interoperability and roaming Common billing/user profiles:

• Sharing of usage/rate information between service providers
• Standardized call detail recording
• Standardized user profiles

Capability to determine geographic position of mobiles and report it to both the network and the mobile terminal Support of multimedia services/capabilities:

• Fixed and variable rate bit traffic
• Bandwidth on demand
• Asymmetric data rates in the forward and reverse links
• Multimedia mail store and forward
• Broadband access up to 2 Megabits/second

IMT-2000 has the following key characteristics:

1. Flexibility
With the large number of mergers and consolidations occurring in the mobile industry, and the move into foreign markets, operators wanted to avoid having to support a wide range of different interfaces and technologies. This would surely have hindered the growth of 3G worldwide. IMT-2000 standard addresses this problem, by providing a highly flexible system, capable of supporting a wide range of services and applications.


2. Affordability
There was agreement among industry that 3G systems had to be affordable, in order to encourage their adoption by consumers and operators.
You may be wondering how 3G could help us in our daliy life. In fact, it could help us greatly in business e.g. companies can now use 3G Internet Business Back-up rather than just relying on broadband alone.

3. Compatibility with existing systems
IMT-2000 services have to be compatible with existing systems. 2G systems, such as the GSM standard will continue to exist for some time and compatibility with these systems must be assured through effective and seamless migration paths.

4. Modular Design
The vision for IMT-2000 systems is that they must be easily expandable in order to allow for growth in users, coverage areas, and new services, with minimum initial investment.

With this characteristics under this program, 3G has an competitive advantage over other technology of mobile devices.

Broadband has empowered small business. Businesses run applications over the web, send emails instead of using the postal system, and increasingly back-up data remotely. Therefore companies have become reliant on their internet connection and when that connection fails your business can be seriously damaged.

However, with 3G mobile technology. Companies can now begin to use a 3G backup product, it ensures that if and when your broadband goes down, your business doesn’t also.

While 3G is generally considered applicable mainly to mobile wireless, it is also relevant to fixed wireless and portable wireless. The ultimate 3G system might be operational from any location including use in or by:
· Homes
· Businesses
· Government offices
· Medical establishments
· The military
· Personal and commercial land vehicles
· Private and commercial watercraft and marine craft
· Private and commercial aircraft
· Portable (pedestrians, hikers, cyclists, campers)
· Space stations and spacecraft

There are also much more advantages to using 3G in business:

• Completely different technology so less chance of multiple failure (for example if the lines to a building are cut).
• Quick speeds (up to 7 Mb download are now available in the UK).
• Quick to set up (typically can be deployed on the same day, a huge advantage over the 14 day lead time on broadband).
• Cheap (the ongoing costs are likely to be only £25 to £30 per month depending on your 3G provider)..
• Seamless backup, kicking-in automatically when the connection drops.

Disadvantages of 3G:

• Expensive input fees for the 3G service licenses
• Numerous differences in the licensing terms
• Large amount of debt currently sustained by many telecommunication companies, which makes it a challenge to build the necessary infrastructure for 3G
• Lack of member state support for financially troubled operators
• Expense of 3G phones
• Lack of buy-in by 2G mobile users for the new 3G wireless services
• Lack of coverage, because it is still a new service
• High prices of 3G mobile services in some countries, including internet access (see flat rate)
• Current lack of user need for 3G voice and data services in a hand-held device
• High power usage

Proponents of 3G technology promise that it will "keep people connected at all times and in all places." Researchers, engineers, and marketeers are faced with the challenge of accurately predicting how much technology consumers will actually be willing to pay for. (Recent trends suggest that people sometimes prefer to be disconnected, especially when on vacation.)

Another concern involves privacy and security issues. As technology becomes more sophisticated and bandwidth increases, systems become increasingly vulnerable to attack by malicious hackers (known as crackers) unless countermeasures are implemented to protect against such activity. Development regarding security issues would be strengthening the cryptography used with the introduction of 128bit keys. Mutual authentication will be introduced using cryptographic keys to establish the identity of both user and base station over a connection. The signalling system providing authentication for users passing between different networks will also be protected using a public key cryptographic system.Employers that make use of 3G technology widely in work places should train their employees on securing their wireless device to prevent company secrets known to public.

Overall, I personally thinks that 3G mobile phones has really changed lots of people daily life. Not only can you see people video calling each other, video conferencing has also been made possible. This great invention allows e-meeting between employers and employees and also enables family to bond their relationship while staying abroad. However, with its vast benefits, contraints and limitations exist as well. In Singapore, the current status of mobile wireless communications is a mix of 2nd and 3rd generation technologies. With the 4G out in Japan, experts expected that end-to-end IP and high-quality streaming video will be among 4G's distinguishing features. Fourth generation networks are likely to use a combination of WiMAX and Wi-Fi.

Resouces used:
http://www.pc-correct.co.uk/it_support_3g_backup_internet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2007/30.html
http://www.itu.int/osg/spu/ni/3G/
http://www.wirelessdesignasia.com/article7302super3gmobilehandsetssettotopglobalmarketshareby2012-Asia.html
http://www.fcc.gov/3G/