There are a variety of mobile phone standards operating throughout the globe. Consumers cannot travel from one country to the next without having multiple phones in tow to comply with these multiple standards. However, a new standard is in the works-one that not only brings us closer to the concept of global roaming, but also provides a bigger data/voice pipeline to accelerate Internet-enabled mobile devices and will allow users to access music, photos, and videos while on the move. This emerging standard, now in development and soon to begin initial deployment, is known as 3G. The first generation of cellular phones was based on frequency modulated (FM) analog technology. Most countries developed their own systems, but while these phones allowed for roaming within one region, especially in Europe.To address this problem, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) created the first second-generation (2G) digital technology called Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). GSM was mandated in the early 1990s as the digital technology for all of Europe. GSM has become the most widely-deployed digital cellular technology, with over 250 million subscribers.
