11 Facts About 3G

Several telecommunications companies market wireless mobile Internet services as 3G, indicating that the advertised service is provided over a 3G wireless network.

Services advertised as 3G are required to meet IMT-2000 technical standards, including standards for reliability and speed .

However, many services advertised as 3G provide higher speed than the minimum technical requirements for a 3G service.

The first pre-commercial 3G network was launched by NTT DoCoMo in Japan in 1998, branded as FOMA.

The first commercial launch of 3G was by NTT DoCoMo in Japan on 1 October 2001, although it was initially somewhat limited in scope; broader availability of the system was delayed by apparent concerns over its reliability.

Related searches

The first commercial 3G network was launched by Hutchison Telecommunications branded as Three or "3" in June 2003.

In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G, so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially to achieve high data transmission rates.

Roll-out of 3G networks was delayed by the enormous costs of additional spectrum licensing fees in some countries.

In Europe the leading country for 3G penetration is Italy with a third of its subscribers migrated to 3G.

In several places, 3G is being shut down while its older predecessor 2G is being kept in operation; Vodafone Europe is doing this, citing 2G's usefulness as a low-power fall-back.

Bandwidth and location information available to 3G devices gives rise to applications not previously available to mobile phone users.