3G

Abbreviation for 'third generation mobile phone technology', the new range of infrastructure and handsets developed to provide enhanced data communication services. 3G offers higher data speeds, always-on data access, and greater voice capacity, enabling advanced features such as high speed Internet access, video and audio streaming and video calling. 3G uses the 2100 Mhz frequency in the UK. To use 3G services, a 3G-enabled handset is required.

There are a number of different 3G technology standards; the most prevalent being UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), which is based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access).

The other major standard of 3G is CDMA2000, which is an evolution of CDMA 2G technology. There are a number of different types of CDMA2000, each offering different data rates and levels of compatibility with 2G CDMA.