3 G SERVICES

Telecommunication companies nowadays, boast about their 3G services and its coverage. But what does a 3G network mean? What is the 3G wireless internet network that we can get through our phones all about? Can we really get mobile internet access comparable to the wired broadband internet? Starting with 1G, we have seen the evolution of 2G and then 3G and there are talks of 4G soon arriving in India. Before moving ahead, it would be pertinent to note that G is only an acronym for generation and the real difference lies in the technologies that are adopted in wireless network.

Analysis of 1G and 2G services

Both the 1G and 2G deal with voice calls and have to utilize the maximum bandwidth and limited to sending messages i.e. SMS. The latest technologies such as GPRS, is not available in these generations. But the greatest disadvantage as concerned to 1G is that, with this we could contact with in the premises of that particular nation, where as in case of 2G, the roaming facility a semi-global facility is available.

2.5 Generation
In between 2G and 3G, there is another generation called 2.5G. Firstly, this mid generation was introduced mainly for involving latest bandwidth technology with addition to the existing 2G generation. But, this had not brought out any new evolution and had not clicked to that extent.

3rd Generation
In order to overcome the limitations of 2G and 2.5G, the 3G had been introduced. Third-generation or 3G, is a family of radio interfaces which evolved from previous generations to facilitate wider range of services and advanced network capacity. It enables network operators to offer higher network bandwidth, to support simultaneous transmission of voice and data. Furthermore, it enables high capacity data transmission that would support video streaming and web browsing capabilities. In 3G, Wide Band Wireless Network is used with which the clarity increases and gives the perfection as like that of a real conversation. The data is sent through the technology called Packet Switching . It is a highly sophisticated form of communication that has come up in the last decade.

What is Packet Switching?

This is actually done by supplying various addressed packets, which will be interconnected to have the conversation. It is not necessary to create a new dedicated path for sending the data. It had been modified in such a way that the data can be send through any path; hence, this data will be received at a less time as compared to that of voice calls.

Accessibility:
To access the 3G network, you need to have 3 things: 3G Compatible Device 3G Network Subscription Plan 3G Coverage First, you need to have a 3G device which may be a 3G phone or any device with a 3G embedded module. Devices other than 3G mobile phones, such as video cameras, gaming devices and even vending machines are accessible to the network as long as it has a 3G embedded module. Furthermore, portable integrated 3G USB modules that would enable laptops to access the network are also available to the market. Secondly, you need a subscription to a 3G network service provider to get 3G connectivity. These services are often called data plan or network plan. SIM cards or data cards helps the service provider identify its subscribers at this point. Lastly, to access the 3G phone network you need to be in 3G cities or area where it is available. Through the 3G device and subscription plan, you can access the 3G network whenever within the 3G network. But even if you are not in one, you could still you the previous generation features provided by your carrier because 3G has backwards compatibility. What are 3G Mobile Phones? When we speak of 3G devices, one single device comes to our mind: 3G phones. Simply explained, a 3G phone is any phone which is compatible with the 3G network; it could access the 3G network, if given a data plan. The difference between previous generation phones may not be obvious to the consumers, although there are few similarities among 3G phones

which are obviously aimed to maximize the 3G features. They commonly have two cameras, one allowing the users to have video calls and the other for regular camera functions. It also requires a SIM card which enables the service providers to identify the subscribers. A SIMPLE COMPARISON BETWEEN 2G AND 3G: 2G Maximum 2G speed is up to 20Kbps 3G Maximum 3G speed is up to 3.1Mbps

Digital voice service Push-to-Talk (PTT) Short Message Service (SMS) Conference calling Caller ID Voice mail Simple data applications (email and Web browsing)

All 2G and 2.5G Features plus: Support for all 2G and 2.5G features plus: Full motion video Streaming music 3D gaming Faster Web browsing Improved Security

3G in India
In India, 3G was introduced on 11 December 2008 by Government owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), under the name 3G Jadoo, in Delhi and later, in Mumbai. After MTNL, another state operator Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) launched 3G services on 22 Feb 2009 in Chennai and later launched 3G as Nationwide.Now, there are around 2 million 3G subscribers. The 3G deployment in India is aggressively being

carried out since late last year with the conclusion of 3G spectrum auction for private operators. The first Private-sector service provider that launched 3G services is Tata DoCoMo, on November 5, 2010. And later on other service providers like Reliance Communications, Bharti Airtel, Aircel, Idea, Virgin joined them. As of now, the Government owned BSNL is the most successful company with over 3 million subscribers of 3G services. It also has the widest coverage with around 826 cities. The private operators are increasing their 3G coverage as well as the number of subscribers. The prices of the 3G services are currently out of reach of the pockets of most Indians. This led to the slow adoption of 3G, but the scenario is changing quickly with the introduction of cheap 3G handsets.

Facilities of 3G
The new 3g technology has a lot of advanced facilities like video conferencing, fast uploading and downloading, gaming, mobile tv, superfast loading etc. It is mainly targeting the youth population who are always interested in media and entertainment. It provides high band width compared to the old 2g technology which will make enable fast loading. It enables face to face chatting which will make conversations much heartier. 3G networks have potential transfer speeds of up to 3 Mbps (about 15 seconds to download a 3-minuteMP3 song). For comparison, the fastest 2G phones can achieve up to 144Kbps (about 8 minutes to download a 3-minute song). 3G's high data rates are ideal for downloading information from the Internet and sending and receiving large, multimedia files. 3G phones are like mini-laptops and can accommodate broadband applications like video conferencing, receiving streaming video from the Web, sending and receiving faxes and instantly downloading e-mail messages with attachments

Applications of 3G
Application of 3g in business

There has been a surge in business interest in 3G applications over the last quarter. There is a big growth in business interest in 3G compared with a year ago. Most of that interest is centred on upgrading laptops with 3G data cards. Many application developers also believe that the time is right to launch B2B products and services that take advantage of 3G. Now a days people like to work from home. In this case this 3g technology helps them to have a better and speedy connectivity with the office and home. As this is the era of social media, an organization must take its technological advantages. E-marketing is getting very common these days. The influence of i-phone is shaking the business class. Iphones are completely depended upon the 3g technology. They can use this 3g technology to market themselves through cell phones..

Application of 3g in education Education sector is getting more fast and mobile. Media and internet are being used extensively in schools and other educational institutions since last decade. The learning of IT related subjects is very important now. Smart Class Rooms are getting common in every school. It also helps the students to learn things in a more easy way and give them much relief from the sleepy lectures. For teachers it is a big help. They will find it very easier to make the students understand the subjects without much effort. Colleges under one university can use the server in the university as the main information resource. This will keep the colleges up to date with the university. Learning becomes easy with the use of media and internet.

Application of 3g in government offices 3G technology helps to enable mobile workers to have full access to email, internet and office systems from remote locations through a wireless connection. This obviously gives a huge amount of freedom to mobile workers in government such as social service staff, housing officers, environmental workers and outreach workers such as Citizens Advice. Although there are clearly significant potential benefits for government services, social and individual citizens from the application of wireless technologies . Wireless broadband by way of smart click Internet cafe, village bars, and smart click vans may become the delivery

mechanism for e-education, e-health, etc. In terms of e-weather forecast, stakeholders are able to receive real time updates on weather conditions, accompanied by useful tips from experts on how to manage the produce for the coming periods..

Application of 3g in entertainment The arrival of 3g is a big hit in the entertainment -related things. As the bandwidth is very high, compared to the 2g, the downloading and uploading of music, video, data etc. are done in a superfast speed. In cell phones like iphone there are a huge number of apps like Beatmaker, Band, cycorder etc. which will make your phone allin-one device. Gaming is another big advantage of 3g technology. It enables online gaming with superfast loading time. It enables advanced wireless capabilities and helps to provide whatever game/music/video you like.

Limitations of 3G:

In comparison to 2G, customers will have to pay a relatively high license fee for 3G. The network construction and maintenance for 3G is much expensive than 2G. From the point of view of customers, expenditure will be excessively high if they make access to various facets of 3G. It is very difficult to provide 3G services in rural areas, owing to lack of infrastructure facilities.

To sum it up, the advent of newer technologies has paved way for better comfort and convenience for the people. It has brought the world more closer, making it a global village. Reliance also plans to launch 4G in India by next year,i.e.2012.

SUBMITTED BY, AJAYAN KAIPILLY AFTAB AMIT BISHT AMRUTHA A.SUBHASHINI