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GSM Vs. UMTS
Cell phone technology has taken communication to a whole new level by truly unplugging the world. The wave of wireless telecommunication has spread all over the world now with connectivity reaching the most remote corners of the world. GSM and UMTS are two different technologies that have represented two different waves in the cell phone revolution. The aim of this article is to present the basic differences between GSM and UMTS technologies.
Difference Between GSM and UMTS
GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) and UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) are two of the prime communication technologies that form the backbone of cell phone communication. Let us begin the comparison by tracing the history of these two technologies. After that, we will have a look at their applications.
History
Development of GSM technology began in 1982, under the aegis of 'Groupe Spcial Mobile', which was created by CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations) for development of a cell phone technology that would cover all of Europe. From 1989, the work was continued further by ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute), who developed its first phase in 1990. The first real GSM based network became operational in Finland around 1991. After that, the GSM network spread across many other countries around the world and today it is a global established standard for cell phone communication.
UMTS is also known as W-CDMA, FOMA or 3G/3G+ around the world. This technology is an alternative cell phone communication technology that was first released in 2001 as an alternative to existing GSM technologies. Its development began in 1992 and it is one of the many CDMA based technologies that have been integrated to provide third generation service, compared to the second generation services offered by GSM.
Difference in Technology
GSM is second generation technology that divides regions into cells for mobile communication. Every cell has a main base antenna where a cell phone connects with one that is closest. Size of cells depends on the power and height of the transreceiver antennas. The operation bands of GSM networks is carried out in very specific frequency bands which include the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands.
A feature of GSM based mobile phones is the use of SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards which is a smart card installed in every cell phone. This system is based on the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) technology and offers data transfer speeds of up to 144 Kbps. It is the preferred cell phone technology in almost 200 countries over the world, with more than 700 cell phone companies using it.
UMTS is a third generation technology that has continued to evolve over the years and now offers 3G services like video calling, high speed Internet access and multimedia services. It is based on the CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technique of modulating carrier signals. It offers the highest data transfer speeds currently, which has an extremum of 3.6 Mbps. This makes UMTS or 3G services phenomenally more faster than the older GSM technology. 3G mobile phones have now been launched to take advantage of services offered under UMTS.
However, this technology hasn't yet spread as widely as GSM. That is because the infrastructure needed for deployment of UMTS is still in the development mode. However, many cell phone providers have already started providing 3G and 4G services in USA. To conclude this comparison, the latter is the superior technology which is going to be the default standard for cell phone communication.
UMTS is the revolutionary technology that is developing the mobile phone as the new Internet technology platform, with multimedia services. It is the dawn of a new era in communication technology that is going to take communication to a whole new level.
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