Wireless Technology and Spectrum Demand: Third Generation (3G) and Beyond Page: 2 of 6
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Wireless Technology: Development and Demand
In order to deploy third-generation (3G) and other advanced wireless technologies,
telecommunications carriers and their suppliers are seeking effective strategies to move
to new standards, upgrade infrastructure, and develop software for new services. This
migration path includes decisions about using spectrum.
Radio frequency (RF) spectrum is used for all wireless communications. It is
managed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for commercial and other
non-federal uses and by the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA) for federal government use. International use is facilitated by
numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements covering many aspects of usage, including
mobile telephony. Spectrum is segmented into bands of radio frequencies and typically
measured in cycles per second, or hertz.'
Spectrum bandwidth is a finite resource that is infinitely re-usable. Commercial
wireless communications currently rely on bandwidth within a narrow range.2 American
competitiveness in advanced wireless technology may be constrained by the limited
amount of exploitable bandwidth that is available. This constraint is both specific, in the
inherent finiteness of useful spectrum, and relative, in comparison to the amount of
spectrum available for commercial use in other countries. Developments in technology
have in the past facilitated the more efficient use of bandwidth within a given portion of
the spectrum. New technologies, such as Software-Defined Radio (SDR) and "smart"
antennae for terrestrial wireless, are being explored and implemented to increase the
efficiency of spectrum and to expand its usable range.
Technology Development. Mobile communications became generally available
to businesses and consumers in the 1980s. This "first generation" technology, still in use,
is analog, the prevailing telecommunications technology of the time. Second generation
(2G) wireless devices are characterized by digitized delivery systems that provide
qualitatively better delivery of voice and small amounts of data, such as caller ID. The
next major advance in mobile technology is referred to as the third generation -3G-
because it represents significant advances over the analog and digital services that
characterize current cellular phone technology. A dramatic increase in communications
speed is the most important technical feature of 3G.3
Wireless communications services have grown significantly worldwide, andexplosively in some countries. Consumer demand for wireless telephony in the United
States has soared in recent years, totaling over 164 million mobile phone subscribers in
One million hertz = 1 megahertz (MHZ); 1 billion hertz = 1 gigahertz (GHz).
2 The FCC limits consideration of bandwidth available for 3G to frequencies below 3 GHz.
3 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) identifies key service attributes and
capabilities of 3G as the following: capability to support circuit and packet data at high bit rates;
interoperability and roaming; common billing and user profiles; capability to determine and
report geographic position of mobiles; support of multimedia services; and capabilities such as
"bandwidth on demand." 3G speeds are: 144 kilobits per second at vehicular traffic speeds; 384
kilobits for pedestrian traffic; 2 megabits or higher for indoor traffic, [http://www.fcc.gov/3G].
(Visited May 27, 2004.)
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Moore, Linda K. Wireless Technology and Spectrum Demand: Third Generation (3G) and Beyond, report, May 27, 2004; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs6072/m1/2/?q=%22telecommunication%22: accessed May 2, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.