Mobile Revolution

With the advent of digital mobile phone networks and the surprising innovations in engineering ever smaller mobile phones, new features have cropped up that have made our lifestyles more convenient and fun.

New breeds of mobiles sporting megapixel cameras comparable to consumer digital cameras is all the rage in Europe and Asia. Voice recording functions have relegated the mini-tape recorder to the dust bin. Internet connectivity, via WAP or wireless access protocols, have made the mobile even more connected than ever. Some phones are quickly becoming the epitome of fun by incorporating games and 3D acceleration, like Nokia's N-Gage series and the SonyEricsson P800/P900 series, have made the mobile phone less of a business tool and more of a toy.
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Third Generation

In Japan, ordinary people are now using their mobiles in ways that were pure science fiction: as video phones, portable network gaming machines, a television, streaming media receiver, and make calls that are crystal clear. The 3G networks that the country has embraced only a few years ago are bringing the Japanese to the future.

3G, which stands for ‘third generation’, is a new network standard for cellular phones that turns the airwaves into broadband connections for the mobile consumer. Promising data rates of 384 thousand bits per second (Kbps), the network standard is capable of bringing huge amounts of information and media files to a mobile phone in less time than a typical computer DSL connection. Companies like NTT Docomo have trumpeted the service for quite some time now and the features it brings, especially that of video communication, has clearly attracted the curiosity of Japan’s mobile generation.

3G uses a different higher waveband than what current cellular networks around the world use, this requires that both government and mobile phone companies cooperate in the creation of such a network; reserving bandwidth and building the proper infrastructure like fibre-optic connections between service coverage areas. European governments and companies have pledged to the new network standard and are currently in the process of rolling out the new technology. Some countries in Southeast Asia are already 3G ready.

Not Quite Ready

A downside to the emergence of 3G is that it requires a completely different handset than what consumers already have. In some cases, a regular GSM mobile will not even detect a 3G network. Japanese 3G mobile phones are expensive with average prices almost double that of a typical GSM phone. Some communications companies have not taken well to 3G and are scoffing at the advertised features, which they say is not readily achievable. Which might be true since current 3G users in Japan are only getting a data rate of 64Kbps or lower on their phones. This is far lower than the expected 384Kbps speed that was supposed to bring new media content to subscribers.

Also, the cost of actually putting up a 3G capable network is incredibly expensive. These and other technology problems have hampered the distribution of 3G services around the world. Some mobile phone carriers have gone around these issues by introducing a 2.5G which offers almost the same features as 3G but only utilizing a fraction of the bandwidth and lesser quality media.

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