subject: GSM, What Does It Mean On Your Mobile Phone? [print this page] Some of you may have seen the initials GSM in your mobile phones and wondered what it meant. Whatever joke you made for this acronym will be funnier than its actual meaning. GSM stands for Groupe Spcial Mobile or Global System for Mobile Communications. It is the most popular mobile telephony network in the world and it is the de facto standard in Europe and large parts Asia.
In order for mobile phones to communicate with one another there has to exist a network, which can talk with and keep tabs on all phones. This means that the phones and their cell towers have to speak the same language or standard. GSM is one of many cell phone standards that lets mobile phone users communicate.
The GSM standard not only made calling possible, it also popularized text messaging or SMS. The emoticon you receive today was made possible by the GSM networks. Another innovation, which began on this network, was the emergency telephone number feature.
GSM was introduced in 1991. It is actually a 2G (Second Generation) network standard. It replaced the analog 1G (First Generation) networks, that existed in the beginning of mobile telephony, with a digital network. We still use digital-based networks today.
There are several 2G digital networks that exist. One example is CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access). It is popular only in North America. The rest of this world followed GSM and there are benefits to the ubiquity of GSM mobile phones. For one, it allowed international roaming arrangements between mobile network operators in different countries. A mobile phone user, with an international roaming enabled phone, can go anywhere in the world and continue using his mobile phone without any changes. He doesn't have to subscribe to a new network.
GSM networks in different countries have different frequency bands. Most mobile phones connect with cell towers using one frequency. There are 14 bands that are available. Most of the world, meaning Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia, usually use one of these three bands, GSM-900, GSM-1800 and EGSM-900. In North America, GSM-850 or GSM-1900 are used. Travelers, who usually visit countries on different frequency bands, may acquire a multi-band mobile phone. These are phones that can connect with networks on different frequencies.
The GSM standard has been updated a number of times. In a new release, more capabilities were added like General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE).
