Commsmakers: at the table with Mr 3G [UMTS Forum

Abstract

The article takes a close look at the UMTS Forum, a key player in the world of 3G. In the late 1990s, the acronym 3G was guaranteed to trigger excitement amongst engineers, analysts and stock market traders alike. The third generation of mobile communication technology promised to revolutionise the way people communicated in many fields. There were, of course, plenty of technical challenges ahead, but that was why the engineers were so excited. The industry had plenty of champions to help it get off the ground. One significant player in this category was the UMTS Forum. Founded in 1996 and headquartered in London, the forum consists of companies from all the industry sectors, including operators, equipment makers, software companies and applications developers. The official mission of the organisation is to "promote a common vision of the development of 3G/UMTS and of its evolution, and to ensure its worldwide commercial success". While the world of third generation cellular communications finally starts to show the first signs of success, there is no denying that uncertainties remain. The forum's main current focus is on the fairly near-term goals of guiding regulators as they license spectrum and fighting for more spectrum resources.