3G; UMTS Defined

The next main target in future mobile communications is the Universal Mobile Telephony System - UMTS - a third generation (3G) technology that will underpin full-function mobile multimedia networks based on broadband wireless technologies.
These could revolutionise telecommunications by placing Internet access right on your mobile - at 2Mbit/s - around 50 times faster than today's 56kbit/s modems. That would make video streaming of Internet content a real possibility, for instance.
Using a 3G device, Internet access could become almost instantaneous, without any gateway delays. The 3G user will be on the Net all the time, since the phone will be permanently connected (always on). An economic model for funding this lavish level of provision has yet to be devised, however, especially with operators having paid governments immense sums for their 3G licences and needing to invest billions of pounds more in new facilities and equipment.