What it means: 1G, 2G, 3G, hike
Our wireless savvy users are already familiar with the differences between 1G, 2G and 3G. But like us you might find yourself having to explain the differences to non-TDW readers. The International Herald Tribune has a good summary of the Gs, but as expected from a European GSM perspective. This is completely applicable to US GSM operators with one exception. US GSM operators already plan to implement EDGE (think of it as 2.75G), which many Euro operators plan to skip to go straight to UMTS (aka 3G). For CDMA operators, they started with 2G and their new faster 1xRTT networks (SprintPCS Vision, Verizon Express Network) are technically 2.5G, but they like to call them 3G. However Verizon has started testing true CDMA 3G data networks which could role out next year.![Hide This Hide this](https://ii.techdirt.com/s/t/i/topclose.png)
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team