What’s 3G?

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3G service is the third generation of cellular telecommunications technology, offering high-speed access to voice and data technology. It provides better reach, wider accessibility, multimedia applications, and faster data transfer speeds. The key component is mobile-to-mobile voice transfer, and it uses large satellite connections that connect to a system of telecommunication towers. There are security issues with this service, and some countries have delayed its rollout due to licensing restrictions and cost.

High-speed access to voice and data technology is known as 3G service, as it is considered the third generation of cellular telecommunications technology. A 3G network is required for this service to work. It offers advances on 1G and 2G networks such as multimedia applications such as video and broadband services.

3G service is based on standards developed by the International Telecommunications Union, known as the IMT-2000 criteria. The phone service itself benefits from better reach and wider accessibility. Also, data transfer speeds are better than dial-up speeds and more in line with cable modem technology.

The minimum speed for a fixed user is 2 megabits per second. When in a moving vehicle, users get 348 kilobits per second. Under ideal conditions, 3G service provides download speeds of 14.4 megabits per second. The upload speed is around 5.8 megabits per second.

The key component of 3G service is mobile-to-mobile voice transfer. Three levels of information are sent during this process. The first level is the actual speech information. The second layer is a control transmission to keep the quality high. The last level is the basic connection information that prevents dropped calls.

While there are a number of similarities between WiFi technology and 3G services, there are some distinct differences. WiFi was created to allow high bandwidth data transfer over a short range transmission. This makes it ideal for local connectivity to larger networks. 3G networks use large satellite connections that connect to a system of telecommunication towers. This means that the range is far greater than with other technologies.
The first countries to roll out this service option were Japan and South Korea, where 3G now accounts for almost 70% of networks. Europe and North America, especially companies in the UK and the US, have also implemented these services for a large number of business customers.
Many countries such as China and Indonesia have delayed the rollout of 3G service due to licensing restrictions and the overall cost of the system. 2G uses a different radio frequency which means that all new equipment and infrastructure is required to use this service.
There are also a number of security issues with this service. Mobile-to-mobile communication uses encryption to keep communications and data exchange hidden from eavesdropping. The size and reach of the 3G network required a new technique known as KASUMI block encryption. This encryption has many weaknesses compared to its predecessor, the A5/1 stream cipher.




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