Glossary

3G

Third-generation mobile telephone technology. A digital mobile phone system standardized by ITU-T (International Telecommunication Union Telecommunication Standardization Sector), and is also known as IMT-2000. The data rate is 144 kbps for high-speed terminal motion, 384 kbps for low-speed terminal motion and 2 Mbps when the terminal is stationary.

Of the multiple communication specifications that 3G covers, NTT DOCOMO uses the W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) system (IMT-DS: International Mobile Telecommunications Direct Spread). European operators employed the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), an international standard that added modulation schemes. Other systems are also recognized as 3G, including CDMA2000, DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) and EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution).