European mobile communications on the move

Abstract

A brief summary of the main activities performed under the RACE program in the field of mobile communications is presented, In particular, the technological studies and development have been outlined, showing that work has significantly progressed with major systems performance results already available from the various testbeds developed and coordinated by the projects. In parallel, possible evolution paths from second to third generation systems have been presented, together with regulatory trends, Beyond the technological work performed under the RACE program, it is hoped that the new ACTS program will further the progress in developing wireless technologies while paying progressively growing attention to the development of a strategic vision of mobile and personal communications beyond the year 2000. Finally, a brief presentation of the ACTS program has shown that the coming years should be devoted to services validation through active user involvement in field trials. The results are expected to he of great use to potential operators, providing them the possibility of testing user acceptance of broadband mobile services. Future mobile communications systems will need to provide users with broadband capabilities and advanced services, allowing for seamless provision across fixed and mobile networks.