Usain Bolt - File

Goodness! Gracious! Gosh! The three 'G's that proclaim excitement and wonder. But enter another 'G' , this time it is '3G', a technological leap that has local cellular phone companies awestruck. It is Usain-Bolt fast in transmitting information.

3G refers to third generation mobile technology. The fast pace of improvements in communication technology has ensured that higher speeds for transmission have become possible.

With 3G, one can realistically send the video while talking on the phone. You can see the expression on the face of your loved one while calling him or her in Miami. You can watch the evening news while on the go. Listening to your favourite radio or music station in Europe while travelling to and from work or watching the NBA finals while in the bus will now be a reality.

30 times faster than dial-up

Within the last year, the two local GSM/EDGE providers have announced upgraded infrastructure. They are now able to offer true broadband speeds being advertised at 1.5Mbps. This is approximately 30 times faster than dial-up.

A regular photo that would normally take about one and a half minutes to download on dial-up would take about three seconds on 3G networks!

The first commercial mobile service in the world was launched in 1979 in Japan and in Chicago Illinois, USA, shortly after the same year. The phone instrument used in Chicago was the Motorola DCX8000 which was roughly the size of a two litre carton of milk. Not to be left far behind, Jamaica saw mobile service being launched by Telecommunications of Jamaica (now LIME) on August, 8, 1991, with a capacity of 3,000 subscribers.

1G technology was based on analog transmission and was labelled AMPS (analog mobile phone system). Radio waves directly representing, or analagous to the voice sound waves being transmitted were used to establish a direct circuit between the two callers. As is the case with most new technologies, service was costly to install and subscribers paid dearly.

2G came when digital technology was deployed. The waves were converted to data streams represented by a series of 1s and 0s. By 1991, a Finnish company (Nokia) had commercialised the new transmission technology called GSM (general services for mobile). It rapidly became the defacto standard in Europe and Asia. This digital system was superior to the TDMA (time division multiplexer access) technology primarily used in North America, as it addressed issues of voice quality and security.

The SIM (subscriber information module) was at the centre of the GSM user experience. It allows subscribers to move between GSM service providers without having to buy a new instrument. Also, the SIM could store large amounts of data such as contact numbers, memos and photos. Because the technology required a matrix of towers covering smaller areas than 1G technology, the power required by the phones was much lower than earlier models so the batteries could hold the charge longer, give more talk time and give off less heat. Subscribers were now able to send (SMS) text messages of a maximum 160 characters.

Meanwhile, in North America a competing technology, CDMA (code division multiple access) was emerging. Unlike GSM which relied on the SIM for security and time slices to allow multiple calls on each of the wireless channels, CDMA was designed around a concept similar to computer data networking - uniquely coding each data packet being transmitted. This is similar to how the postal system is able to deliver your mail because it has your unique name and address on each envelope or parcel. CDMA provided higher voice quality, faster transmission speeds and greater security. Gone was the ability of persons to hijack GSM access codes and fraudulently make calls on other peoples' accounts. Both GSM and CDMA systems, however, continued to open a circuit between the two callers. 2G was for voice.

2.5G

By overlaying GPRS (general packet radio service) to their existing GSM networks or upgrading CDMA to 1xRTT then EV DO (evolution data only), carriers were able to offer data services in addition to voice. Now multimedia messaging (MMS), in which a photo or even video clips were attached to the message, could be sent. If you had a handset that was GPRS capable it would be indicated by EDGE (enhanced data GSM environment) signal instead of GSM. With the relevant adapter one could browse the Internet and download data from corporate sites using this communication capability. Mobile salesmen and account managers could use portable computers and smart phones to remotely transmit sales orders, update account information and get up-to-the-minute statistics and pricing. Business decisions could be made in real time. The speeds now made a significant difference - EDGE had a theoretical maximum data rate of 474kbps whereas as GPRS had a maximum of 115kpbs.

Enter the BlackBerry in 1999. This phone developed by a Canadian company called Research in Motion (RIM) facilitated corporate subscribers to transmit messages over a secure private network provided by RIM and its partner carriers. As a business tool it became extremely popular as corporate email could now be accessed from the mobile phone device. The 160 character limitation of SMS was finally overcome. Indeed, no lesser person than the current president of USA is well known for his BlackBerry.

Significant upgrade

On May 27, 2009, the major USA carrier, ATT, announced plans to upgrade its 3G network to deliver 7.2Mbps. Significantly, this represents a closing of the gap between typical cable Internet service (512kbps) and regular ADSL service of 1Mbps. On the other hand, CDMA/EV DO has morphed into WCDAM (wideband code division multiple access) with connections rated at 4.8Mbps.

Travelling sales reps and solution providers can improve the quality of their presentations and service by accessing data on their corporate network while away from the office.

Entrepreneurs can do their e-banking and e-commerce while on the move. Corporate users will be able to maintain access to their corporate network while on the move. At these speeds some small businesses may look at reducing their costs of Internet connections by replacing leased circuits with 3G links. Telecommuting is finally a realistic option for many companies trying to deal with the current economic situation in Jamaica.