Kbps - KILOBITS PER SECOND

Meaning thousands of bits per second. Indicating the amount of data that can flow in a given time.

Mbps - MEGABITS PER SECOND

Meaning millions of bits per second, indicating the amount of data that can flow in a given time.

1G - FIRST GENERATION

The first mass market cellphones in the 1980s. These analogue cellphones were the size of a small briefcase but slimmed down to the size of a brick. Used only for voice calls.

2G - SECOND GENERATION

Digital cellphones introduced in the early 1990s. This 10Kbps technology boasted stronger signals, data services such as texting or sms, and limited internet access.

2.5G

Introduced in 2001. Carried 2G-enhanced technologies such as GPRS (general packet radio service), an enhanced 2G standard. Data speeds between 56Kbps and 144Kbps.

3G - THIRD GENERATION

Mostly introduced in 2004. 3G stands for third generation, and is a wireless industry term for a collection of international standards and technologies aimed at increasing efficiency and improving the performance of mobile wireless networks. 3G wireless services offer enhancements to current applications, including greater data speeds, increased capacity for voice and data and the advent of packet data networks – offers speeds up to 2Mbps enhanced multimedia and streaming video.

EDGE

Enhanced Data for Global Evolution, a technology that gives GSM the capacity to handle services for the third generation of mobile telephony. EDGE was developed to enable the transmission of large amounts of data at a high speed, 384 kilobits per second.

UMTS - UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

The name for the third generation mobile telephone standard in Europe.

HSDPA - HIGH SPEED DOWNLINK PACKET ACCESS

An upgrade for 3G UMTS networks, offering data speeds of up to 14.4Mbps.

4G - FOURTH GENERATION

Could increase data speeds up to 40Mbps.

GSM

Global System for Mobile Communication.

GPRS

General Packet Radio Services.

WAP - WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL

WAP is the software that allows users to access mini browsers or portals on cellphones.