Essential Guide to Telecommunications, The, Third Edition

The Transition from Second to Third Generation Mobile Networks

First generation cellular networks were analog. Carriers upgraded networks to second generation digital cellular technologies to add capacity without adding spectrum. TDMA, GSM and CDMA are second generation air interfaces used to transmit signals between handsets and antennas at base stations. As cellular service became even more popular, carriers wanted to increase capacity for voice traffic and offer higher speed cellular service for data and multimedia capability. As noted previously, the throughput of second generation digital cellular is 14.4 kilobits per second on TDMA and CDMA networks and 9.6 kilobits per second on GSM networks. Carriers also wanted to create a standard so ...