The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a broadband, packet-based, 3G mobile cellular system based upon GSM standards. The specifications of UMTS covers the entire network system, including the radio access network, the core network and user authentication.
Features
UMTS is a component of IMT-2000 standard of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), developed by 3GPP.
It uses wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA) air interface.
It provides transmission of text, digitized voice, video and multimedia.
It provides high bandwidth to mobile operators.
It gives a high data rate of 2Mbps. For High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) handsets, the data-rate is as high as 7.2 Mbps in the downlink connection.
It is also known as Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA).
It encompasses specifications for the entire mobile network system −
Radio access network specified by UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network)
Core network specified by MAP (Mobile Application Part)
Authentication of the users by SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) cards.