In the future.....

With the growing maturity of digital cellular systems around the world, attention has increasingly turned to the development of "Third Generation" cellular Systems. Interest in this topic was given a large boost by the announcement regarding next generation standards made by Motorola, Inc. and other vendors of Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) handset and infrastructure equipment at the CDMA World Congress in June of 1997. These companies plan to work together with the CDMA Development Group (CDG), and with standards bodies worldwide, to develop specifications for next generation wireless communications standards. In addition, there has also been a tremendous amount of activity around the world, across a much broader range of organizations towards similar goals.

The anticipated advent of Third Generation, or "3G", Systems represents a juncture in the history of the cellular business with even greater implications than were seen over the last few years with the introduction of Second Generation systems. Important new technologies are being developed to meet a set of requirements that the industry is only just beginning to understand. Those vendors who demonstrate competency early on, and target the needs of the right set of markets, will be the leaders in the industry for 3G and beyond.

Some environrnental and technical issues relating to next generation systems are discussed below. First, though, a brief review of cellular "Generations" is appropriate.