The world’s largest broadcasting organization, the BBC, is taking a confident step towards making its content fully available on 3G devices, by syndicating its content via leading 3G networks Vodafone, Orange and 3. Last year, the BBC clocked up a massive 90 million page views on mobile phones and other hand held devices last year, and this move is designed to strengthen the BBC’s position at the forefront as a mobile content provider.
The BBC is syndicating some its leading content as part of the twelve-month trial, which started in February. Users are able to access BBC One, BBC News 24 and BBC Three, as well as up to eight radio stations, including the flagship new music station Radio One and current affairs channel Radio Four.
While the BBC expects 3G to be an important part of the broadcasting landscape, it admits that at the moment it’s difficult to make accurate assessments of user behavior. The BBC hopes to have a clearer picture of 3G broadcasting after the trial.
Meanwhile, the already popular BBC Mobile service, bbc.co.uk/mobile, has recently announced plans to re-vamp its service. BBC Mobile is currently accessible to any device that can read XHTML, and the improvements will improve functionality, navigation and design. Both BBC Mobile and 3G will be hoping to emulate the success of the BBC website which consistently ranks highly in the global user figures, and has grown 100% year on year since 2004.
3G Mobile Systems
3G systems will provide access, by means of one or more radio links, to a wide range of telecommunication services supported by the fixed telecommunication networks and to other services that are specific to mobile users. A range of mobile terminal types will be encompassed, linking to terrestrial and/or satellite-based networks, and the terminals may be designed for mobile or fixed use.
Key features of 3G systems are a high degree of commonality of design worldwide, compatibility of services, use of small pocket terminals with worldwide roaming capability, Internet and other multimedia applications, and a wide range of services and terminals.
third-generation technology. It is used in the context of mobile phone standards. The services associated with 3G provide the ability to transfer simultaneously both voice data (a telephone call) and non-voice data (such as downloading information, exchanging email, and instant messaging). In marketing 3G services, video telephony has often been used as the killer application for 3G.
Worldwide roll-out of 3G networks was delayed in some countries by the enormous costs of additional spectrum licensing fees. In many parts of the world 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G, requiring mobile operators to build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies; a notable exception is the United States where carriers operate 3G service in the same frequencies as other services. The license fees in some European countries were particularly high, bolstered by initial excitement over 3G's potential. Other delays were as a result of the expenses related to upgrading equipment for the new systems.
Japan and South Korea were relatively quick to adopt 3G, because their governments prioritize technological infrastructure development, and spectrum licensing fees are minimal.
The first country which introduced 3G on a large commercial scale was Japan. In 2005, about 40% of subscribers used 3G networks only, with 2G being on the way out. It was expected that the transition from 2G to 3G would be largely completed during 2006, and upgrades to the next 3.5G stage with 3 Mbit/s data rates were under way.
3G wireless technology represents the convergence of various 2G wireless telecommunications systems into a single uniform global system which includes terrestrial and satellite components in its functioning.
3G or the third-generation wireless refers to near future developments in personal & business wireless technology, especially relating to mobile communications. 3G or The Third Generation will usher in many benefits as roaming capability, broad bandwidth and high speed communication (upwards of 2Mbps).
Network operators & telecommunications service providers are embracing the recently adopted global third generation (3G) wireless standards in order to cater to emerging user demands and to offer new services to their customers.3G wireless technology represents a shift from voice-centric services to multimedia-oriented like video, voice, data, fax services.
The most interesting & useful aspect of 3G wireless technology is its ability to unify existing cellular standards such as GSM, CDMA and TDMA.