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178 Part 1 Introduction

Wireless Internet access standards

The capabilities of mobile phones have evolved tremendously since the first generation
brick-like phones were introduced in the 1980s. There is a bewildering range of data transfer
standards which are summarized in Table 3.6. Many subscribers are still using the second-
generation GSM technology which does not permit Internet access, but many have the
option for 2.5G web access via WAP. The 3G and 3.5G phones are sometimes known as
video phones since they support video calls and broadband speed access

Table 3.6 Comparison of mobile phone technologies

Generation of mobile Main standards Maximum data transfer Approximate adoption
technology rate (downlink) levels 2008

1G Analogue cellphones Frequency Division Multiple Access 9600 bits/sec N/A
of 1980s (FDMA)
2G Circuit-switched, GSM (Global System for Mobile 13 kbit/s c80% globally
digital cellphones introduced communications)
in 1991 Code division multiple access
(CDMA)
TDMA (’time division multiple
access’)
2.5G Introduced in 2001 GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) 114 kbit/s N/A
EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for
Global Evolution)
3G Packet-switched UMTS (Universal Mobile 14.4 Mbit/s c28% in Europe and US
introduced Telecommunications System) according to Comscore
in 2004 W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division
Multiple Access)
High-Speed Downlink Packet Access
(HSDPA)
3.5G 2008 Evolved HSPA / HPSA+ 42 Mbit/s N/A
4G 2012–15 Fourth generation 2012–15 time scale N/A
No agreed standards

Wireless Application A further standard term associated with mobile Internet access is ‘Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP) Protocol’ or WAP phones. This offers the facility to access information on web sites that has
WAP is a technical been specially tailored using Wireless Markup Language (WML) for display on the small
standard for transferring
information to wireless screens of mobile phones. There was a tremendous amount of hype about this access mode
devices, such as mobile around 2000 when they were introduced since they seemed to provide all the benefits that
phones.
have been provided by the World Wide Web, but in a mobile form. But levels of product
purchase by mobile phone and content access proved very low in comparison with the Inter-
net, even for standardized products such as books and CDs. Many m-commerce providers
such as Sweden’s M-box went into receivership. However, analysts expect that with new
access platforms, such as 3G, this will change.
i-Mode One other form of mobile access popularity is Japanese i-Mode standard which uses a
A mobile access platform derivative of HTML for content display. Mobile-phone ringtones and other music down-
that enables display of
colour graphics and loads are the most popular i-Mode purchases, followed by other paid-for information
content subscription services such as dating. The strength of the proposition is indicated since over 30 million
services. Japanese were using this service less than two years after its launch. It was subsequently
made available in European countries, but providers who adopted it in Germany, Russia and
the UK ended the service in 2007 since flat-rate access to 3G services proved more appealing.