The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third-generation wireless telecommunication system and follows in the footsteps of GSM and GPRS. Since GSM was standardized in the 1980s, huge progress has been made in many areas of telecommunication. This allowed system designers at the end of the 1990s to design a new system that goes far beyond the capabilities of GSM and GPRS. UMTS combines the properties of the circuit-switched voice network with the properties of the packet-switched data network and offers a multitude of new possibilities compared to the earlier systems. UMTS was not defined from scratch and reuses a lot of GSM and GPRS.
When 3G standardization efforts began in the latter half of the 1990s, a conscious effort was made to align 3G with the existing 2G GSM solutions and technologies. GSM at that time was, and for the most part still is, the dominant mobile communications standard through much of Europe and Asia. The decision to base 3G specifications on GSM was motivated by widespread deployment of networks based on GSM standards, the need to preserve some backward compatibility, and the desire to utilize the large investments made in the GSM networks. As a result, despite its many added capabilities, the UMTS core network bears significant resemblance to the GSM network.
When 3G standardization efforts began in the latter half of the 1990s, a conscious effort was made to align 3G with the existing 2G GSM solutions and technologies. GSM at that time was, and for the most part still is, the dominant mobile communications standard through much of Europe and Asia. The decision to base 3G specifications on GSM was motivated by widespread deployment of networks based on GSM standards, the need to preserve some backward compatibility, and the desire to utilize the large investments made in the GSM networks. As a result, despite its many added capabilities, the UMTS core network bears significant resemblance to the GSM network.
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