GSM and UMTS

So you have a cell phone that has an option for GSM and UMTS but you don't know what to do with it. This page shows you little about what these two options in your phone are.

GSM or Global System for Mobile Communications is the most widely used network interface for cell phones in over 212 countries and territories. It had been used since 1991 and was by Radiolinja in Finland and was a joint technical infrastructure maintained from Ericsson. Over a million subscribers were then using GSM by the end of 1993 operated by 70 carriers across 48 countries. GSM works by searching for cellular networks in the vicinity or cells and connecting to it using radio signals. When a connection is established, users are then able to make calls and send text messages through it.

UMTS or Universal Mobile Telecommunications Network is built upon the concepts learned from GSM and is now operated by carriers worldwide, GLOBE, SMART, SUN Cellular, and Red Mobile included in our country. UMTS operates at newer frequencies that are capable of transmitting faster signals through and from cellular towers that are also supporting this new network interface. Faster data transmission allowed for newer mobile services such as video calling, email, and high-speed internet access that let you stream videos right to your mobile.

Although UMTS is relatively new and catchy, UMTS and GSM work hand in hand to bring the best in mobile phones. UMTS, however fast, is limited in coverage compared to GSM. But cell phones are set, by default, to use UMTS when available and switch to GSM when UMTS coverage is unavailable. But you can choose to use UMTS or GSM on your mobile.

Setting your phone to use UMTS is only useful when you are expecting a video call and you would not want your cell phone to switch to GSM by accident.

Another advantage of UMTS is that it does not disrupt other devices such as your computer monitor and speakers when you receive calls and messages. These disruptions are the annoying lines in the computer monitor and the unwanted sound in speakers whenever you make a call or send and receive text messages. These are caused by GSM radio signals that interfere with the operation of these devices. Since UMTS sends radio signals at a higher frequency, it does not disrupt other devices near it.

UMTS is 3G or Third-Generation standard while GSM is the 2G or Second-Generation. 3G shows up in the signal bar whenever we are connected in a 3G network. When we have 3G, we know we are connected to a faster network. We can send and receive emails faster and send text messages faster too without the annoying disruptions in speakers and in computer monitors. But when 3G is no covered, automatically, we are switched back to GSM when we have set our cell phone to Dual Mode which automatically switches our phone to either GSM or UMTS.

UMTS is available for most cell phones released after 2007 and is in every Nokia Nseries mobile phones.