Daily Notes

Q. What's 3G (internal link) and where is it in the U.S.?

A. Third generation cellular radio promises high data rates, compatibility with different mobile terminals, not just phones, and packet switching (internal link), what the internet uses to work.

First generation commercial systems, a hybrid of analog and digital, started in 1985, full digital or second generation systems began in 1992, [internal link to history] and 3G, well, who knows? Right now we're in 2.5G land, with fancy phones and features waiting for faster data transfer speeds to bring us 3G. Hold on to your picture phone with color display. This may take a while.

The ITU (external link) in 2000 listed clear goals for 3G. Given America's topography and the economics of cellular, it may not be possible to provide 3G unless definitions are changed. Installing the infrastructure to cover large areas in the United States may be cost prohibitive. A single cell site costs between half a million and one million dollars. 3G can be put in Denver and its suburbs, but can customers afford the number of sites required? Carriers certainly can't equip any area beyond major cities; there will be no demand in Billings, Montana for a system priced at what it actually costs.

Carriers will need years to economically install enough cell sites and radio gear to handle the transition to 3G. Even after that time I doubt the original goals can be met. Do we really think a car moving at 60 miles an hour around Dallas can maintain a reliable wireless connection at 144 Kbs? When voice calls are now routinely dropped in that same car?

Will people pay an extremely high price for such spotty service? When they are mad about dropped calls now? Especially when technology doesn't help with recovery? If I am downloading a file and the connection breaks I want that file transfer to resume once I'm back on-line. Simple things like that aren't happening now but should be planned for in the future.

One last point. Mobility and high data rates are key. Without these two we don't have 3G. It doesn't matter if some of 3G's goals aren't met, these two have to work. We're not building fixed wireless here, WiFi or some other scheme can do that. What we want is the same as with voice, seamless transfers between cell sites at speed. Anything else is no big whoop.