What is 3G?

A radio communications technology that will create a "bit pipe" for providing mobile access to internet-based services. It will enhance and extend mobility in many areas of our lives.

In the near future, mobility won't be an add-on: it will become a fundamental aspect of many services. We'll expect high-speed access to the internet, entertainment, information and electronic commerce (e-commerce) services wherever we are - not just at our desktop computers, home PCs or television sets.

3G services will add an invaluable mobile dimension to services that are already becoming an integral part of modern business life: Internet and Intranet access, video-conferencing, and interactive application sharing.

We are not just talking about "road warriors" who spend their entire lives travelling. It's more a question of supporting new, flexible working practices where employees need access to a wide range of information and services via their corporate intranets, whether they are at their own desk or anywhere else.

Employees who spend some of their working at home. Accountants that carry out audits at client premises. On-site maintenance engineers who need access to detailed instruction manuals, mobile emergency services who need a video link with a hospital or doctor for specialised advice. These are a few situations where 3G will play a valuable role.

We're likely to see 3G services enter our day -to-day lives in all sorts of new ways: for example, in shopping, especially Internet "mail order" (e-commerce), banking, or playing interactive computer games over the Net.

We'll think nothing of sitting on a train and using a mobile palmtop with Internet browser to log into our bank accounts. While on-line we'll be able to check our accounts, pay a few bills and click on a screen icon to immediately set up a video-conference to discuss our account with a bank clerk.

On vacation, we'll be able to use our mobile palmtops to obtain local tour guides, make a last-minute reservation at a hotel, find and call the nearest taxi firm, and send video postcards. We'll expect location-independent mobile access to a personalised set of services that matches the way we live and work.

Increasingly, machine-to-machine communications will also be enabled and enhanced with future mobile network technology. Domestic appliances will have built-in radio modems to provide remote control and diagnostics. Our refrigerators will have built-in sensors that detect which items need restocking and automatically send a reminder message to our Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs). We could even get the refrigerator to send an order direct to our local store. Likewise, vending machines will be able to tell the warehouse when they need restocking.