A cellular tower with GSM technology.
Originally dubbed the Group Special Mobile in 1982, GSM later had its acronym changed to Global Systems Mobile Telecommunications. As of 2010 GSM is the world's most popular cellular technology with over 2 billion users across 213 countries.
Intentions
According to the "GSM History" by privateline.com the system was proposed to meet seven criteria: "Good subjective speech quality, low terminal and service cost, support for international roaming, ability to support handheld terminals, support for range of new services and facilities, spectral efficiency, and ISDN compatibility."
Frequencies
There are a total of four major GSM frequencies. In Europe and most of Asia and Australia GSM uses the 900 Mhz and 1800 Mhz bands. In North America and South America the 850 Mhz and 1900 Mhz bands are used.
Commercialization
Commercial use of GSM technology began in April of 1991. Only 18 months later there were 36 GSM networks spread across 22 countries. It quickly became a worldwide standard, and as of 2010 is by far the world's most popular cellular technology.
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