3 Mobile Broadband

3 Mobile Broadband Glossary

We at 3 Mobile Broadband have put a Mobile Broadband Glossary together in order to explain the technical side of mobile broadband to you our customers.

• 3G: The Third Generation mobile phone standard that introduced the high data rates necessary to make Web access and video calling a practical reality. The 3G system uses WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). In 2003, 3 mobile was the U.K.`s first network to utilise the 3G standard.
• 4G: Short for fourth generation and is a specification that is currently being developed for enhanced mobile broadband capabilities. 4G technologies would enable IP-based voice, data and streaming multimedia at higher speeds than 3G.
• Analogue Broadcast : Generally an analogue TV signal that is transmitted over via cable, over the air or by satellite.
• Broadband: A DSL or cable internet connection that is substantially faster than dial up or ISDN connections.The word is derived from the two words broad and bandwith and can multiple audio, video or data signals in a single cable.
• Data Allowance: Describes the monthly allowance of the combined data up and download capacities of a mobile broadband deal.
• Download Speed: Describes the speed an internet connection is able to achieve when downloading data from the internet and is usually measured in Mbps.
• E-mail: Electronic Mail is the most common method of transferring messages over the Internet. Although many e-mails consist only of text messages, an e-mail can be used to send attachments such as files and pictures to other people.
• Facebook: Facebook is the world`s biggest social networking site with over 200 million active users. It was founded by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and friends in February 2004 and today has the headquarters in Palo Alto, California.
• Femtocell: Mobile base stations that boost reception indoors through improving the mobile phone network signal, therefore making Mobile Broadband more effective.
• GB: A unit of data storage equal to approximately one thousand megabytes, or one billion bytes, 1,073,741,824 bytes to be exact.
• HTML: Hypertext Markup Language is a programming language consisting of tags and other rules and is used to create documents for display on the World Wide Web.
• Internet: A global communication network that enables computers worldwide to connect and exchange information.
• IM: Instant Messaging is a form of electronic communication that allows two or more people to send eachother text based messages in realtime while they are online.
• ISP: Short for internet service provider, describing a company that offers internet connections such as mobile broadband to customers.
• Laptop: Laptops or Notebooks are small personal computers designed for mobile use.
• Mbps: A measurement of data transmission speed in a communication system, the number of megabits transmitted or received each second.
• Mobile Internet Connection:Is a connection to the internet without cables, usually describing a mobile broadband connection via a 3G mobile phone network.
• Mobile Phone Network:Is a radio network made up of several radio cells that enables mobile phone user to use their phones in the covered area.
• Ofcom: The Office of Communications is the U.K.`s independent competition authority and regulator of the telecommunications industry.
• PAYG: Stand for Pay As You Go is a form of mobile broadband or mobile phone deals, that enables the user to use mobile services without committing to a contract and credit is added through so called top ups.
• PDA: Is the abbreviation for Personal Digital Assistant and is a handheld mobile computing device that integrates, phone/fax, internet,, computing, scheduler , email and other networking functions.
• Skype: Skype is a VoIP software that allows people to make free of charge phone calls online to over 400 million registered users world wide.
• USB: Universal Serial Bus is a type of cable connection for transferring data between your mobile phone and another device such as a computer. The batteries in some mobile phones can be charged via their USB connector.
• USB 2.0: Progression of the Universal Serial Bus with a higher data transfer rate of 480 Mbps, therefore 40 times faster than USB 1.0.
• PC: A Pesonal Computer with a microprocessor and a hard drive, designed to be used by one person.
• PDA:Is the abbreviation for Personal Digital Assistant and is a handheld mobile computing device that integrates, phone/fax, internet,, computing, scheduler, email and other networking functions.
• Plug`n`Play: A specification in computing terms describing a device or hardware component, that automatically get detected and configured in a system without the need of user intervention or assistance.
• USB Dongle: A mobile phone sized modem connected to a PC or Laptop via a USB cable that is used to connect a PC or Laptop to a wireless network.
• USB Modem: An ultra portable modem in the form and size of a USB flash drive that is used to connect a PC or Laptop to a wireless network.
• WLAN: Stands for Wireless Local Area Network, and is another name for WiFi. This enables suitably equipped mobile phones to transfer high speed data by radio communication over short distances. This is a good option for mobile phone users to access the Internet and communicate by E-mail.
• WiFi: Wireless fidelity or broadband service, usually conforming to the 802.11a or 802.11b IEEE standards in the 2.4GHz frequency range.
• Wireless Router: A network device that performs combined functions of a router and a wireless access point used to allow access to the internet or computer network without the need for cables.
• WWW: The World Wide Web is a computer network developed by scientists at Cern in Switzerland and consists of approximately 2.1 trillion websites to date, that offers graphic, text, animation and sound resources to users through the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).