What is UMTS?

UMTS™ (Universal Mobile Telephone Service) is a Third Generation (3G) mobile system being developed by ETSI™ within the (International Telecommunications Union) ITU's IMT-2000 framework. UMTS is a European System which is attempting to combine cellular, cordless, low-end wireless, local area network, private mobile radio, and paging system. It will provide data speeds of up to 2Mbps, making portable videophones a reality.

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) has attracted growing interest since its adoption by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). UMTS is a third generation mobile communication system, currently being developed in Europe.

UMTS has the support of many major telecommunications operators and manufacturers, because it represents a unique opportunity to create a mass market for highly personalised and user friendly mobile access to the Information Society.

UMTS seeks to build on and extend the capability of today's mobile, cordless and satellite technologies by providing increased capacity, data capability and afar greater range of services using an innovative radio access scheme and an enhanced, evolving core network.

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