GSM, Groupe Speciale Mobile
now Global System for Mobile communications, was the result
of the analog mobile phones being used in the early 1980’s
in Europe. Europe is comprised of smaller countries, which
are closely packed onto a small continent. Therefore, it is
no wonder that Europe felt the erasing of national borders
before the rest of the planet.
The analog mobile phones used
during this period posed a huge problem. They would work well
in their originating country, but because of a lack of international
standards they would not work outside that country. The analog
services were teetering on the edge of becoming overloaded.
Something had to be accomplished to revamp the system without
destroying the young infrastructure that had already been
developed.
The problem raised serious
concerns among many European nations, and in an unprecedented
turn of events the countries of this region not only united
together, but were also committed to developing standards.
Their vision was very far sighted, they realized that analog
was a ticking time bomb and would need to be replaced in the
near future with an alternative. The logical replacement was
a digital alternative. They developed standards for quality
and data transmission among other things, and have helped
to make the cellular industry in Europe and around the world
what it is today. |
