3G: The third generation never looked better

Clockwise: 3G video phone call, 3G Video News Service by Reuters, and 3G GPRS mobile connect PCMCIA card in a laptop

3G is actually a global solution to the same extent as the Y2K bug was a threat.

3G, short for third generation, is the resent most talked about concept in cell-phone technology.

In 3G, users, besides talking on cellphone, can also use it to transfer non-voice data like downloading information, e-mailing, instant messaging etc. Video telephony is one of its most celebrated feature.

Before understanding the concepts of the 3G, one would need to know about the evolution of the cellphone technology. That's right! Their was a 1st and 2nd generation of cellphones before 3G.

1G began with systems like NMT, AMPS, TACS etc. in the 80's. In September 1981, the first cell phone network was initiated in Saudi Arabia, which used the NMT system. Back in those days, analog transmission was in use in all systems.

You can still see one of these massive 1G phones in episodes of the hit 80's TV series like "The A team" or "The Fall guy".

2G era began in USA during the early 90's with the GSM, IS-95 (CDMA), iDEN and IS-136 systems. Finally the digital transmission was in effect.

The 2G phones were also noteworthy for their highly efficient phone to network connectivity.

These phones had smaller handsets, advanced batteries, and had a wide variety of functions, as opposed to the 1G cell phone sets. And yes, the cellphones being used in Bangladesh are of the 2G era.

Soon, the 2.5G and the 2.75G was developed as an extension of the 2G cellphones. These phones used systems like GPRS, HSCSD, etc under 2.5G and CDMA2000 1xRTT and EDGE under 2.75G.

The development of 3G has been going on for quite a while. A number of companies were trying to develop their own technologies with their own desired standards.

Unlike 2G, which was a standard, the 3G technology is currently a set of requirements that need to be fulfilled.

These requirements can be detailed as usability on all popular modes (cellular telephone, e-mail, paging, fax, video conference, and Web browsing), high speed data transmission (at least 2 Mbps), routing flexibility (repeater, satellite, LAN), operation at approximately 2 GHz, transmit and receive frequencies and worldwide roaming capability.

3G is split into UMTS (W-CDMA), CDMA 2000, TD-SCDMA, Wideband CDMA and UMTS TDD variations.

So after its development, where did the 3G fever first break out? The first 3G service was initiated in Japan. Fifty three percent of Japan's cellphone users are currently using 3G and it is speculated that the entire mobile phone using population of the country would be using 3G by the end of this year. Already the development of 3.5G is underway in the country.

Over 70 countries throughout the world have 3G phone services. And why would not the cellphone users of those countries move on to 3G, with all the features being offered by some of the big names in the cellphone industry.

Besides multimedia messaging (MMS) and Instant Messaging (IM), 3G will soon offer music downloads from online music stores according to Motorola and Microsoft. It will also support Windows Media Digital Bytes Management (WMDBM), Windows Media Audio (WMA), WMA Pro, MTP and other features.

Some of the latest sets like Sony Ericsson's W950 and others would have a memory of 4GB. This means that you would be able to store around 4,000 mp3 tracks. Hey, who would need an Ipod or an mp3 player then?

Furthermore, 3G users would also be able to watch TV with video streaming features.

But some of these companies are literally going overboard to sell their technology. In some countries, online gambling via 3G is an option and Hutchison 3G currently provides subscriptions to Playboy images and videos from the Playboy website.

Due to these reasons some concerned individuals worldwide are protesting against the 3G invasion.

So when would we be experiencing 3G? Sources from the leading cellphone operators informed StarTech they are currently working to provide the technology in the Bangladesh. As always, we would have to do the waiting.