Although it has since been put to extensive use in business applications, 3G technology was designed primarily for the mobile phone market.
In 1998, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed, to encourage development of new networks as a step up from the existing GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) 2G technologies.
In 2000, 3GPP issued a set of technical specifications – IMT-2000, “International Mobile Telecommunications”- which defined what the industry wanted to achieve with a third generation system. The launch of the first iPhone was still seven years away. However, there was a realisation that 3G would need to deliver converged mobile, voice, data, internet and multimedia services. Seamless connection was a further goal: new systems would need to allow users to move across borders without switching numbers or handsets.
According to the specification, 3G would provide significantly higher data transmission rates: a minimum of 2Mbit/s for stationary devices and 348 kbit/s in a moving vehicle. At the time, 2G networks generally only delivered speeds from 9.6 kbit/s to 28.8 kbit/s.
The first commercial 3G networks started appearing in South Korea, Japan, the U.S. and U.K. from about 2002. By the end of 2007, there were 190 3G networks operating in 40 countries. However, since the rollout of 4G starting in around 2008, 3G usage has been in decline. In fact, several operators across the globe have announced plans to shut down their 3G networks (see 3G sunsetting below).
