Does it matter what the 3G mobile network technology happens to be as long as you can make phone calls, send text and photo messages, read email and watch video clips on a phone? Well, it does if you want to know where on earth you can use your 3G phone (that you will own one of these days). Two different 3G mobile technologies are widely used across the world and if your new 3G phone happens to be of the other technology than the network you are trying to connect to, don't bother calling the helpdesk.

The greatest benefits from 3G mobile technologies for our daily lives will be the new and improved communication possibilities, such as fast email and instant messaging capabilities, sending and receiving video and music, or watching highlights of TV programs on a mobile phone. 3G won't be such a big deal when it comes to ordinary phone calls, except for people who travel (they'll benefit from better global roaming arrangements) and for people who like to do many things simultaneously (they'll be able to talk and download emails at the same time).

The mobile industry has come a long way to reach the 3G era, and has managed to agree on only two global standards for mobile phones and networks: WCDMA and CDMA 1xEV. (for explanation of the abbreviations, see the glossary at the end of this story).

Before going into further details of 3G, it is important to understand where the two technologies and their family members come from, because a mobile phone typically belongs to one technology family only.

Telecommunication experts may argue which technology belongs to which generation, and especially proponents of a particular 2.5G technology often try to raise their technology to a higher category, but these categories of mobile technology generations represent a commonly agreed view. ITU has defined some factors that make a technology 3G compliant, such as the capability to transfer information at broadband speeds, international roaming and multimedia functionality on the phone.