3G is the third generation of mobile phone standards and technology, superseding 2.5G. It is based on the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) family of standards under the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). ITU launched IMT-2000 program, which, together with the main industry and standardization bodies worldwide, targets to implement a global frequency band that would support a single, ubiquitous wireless communication standard for all countries, to provide the framework for the definition of the 3G mobile systems. Several radio access technologies have been accepted by ITU as part of the IMT-2000 framework. 3G networks enable network operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls, and broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment. Additional features also include HSPA data transmission capabilities able to deliver speeds up to 14.4Mbit/s on the down link and 5.8Mbit/s on the uplink.

3G networks are wide area cellular telephone networks which evolved to incorporate high-speed internet access and video telephony. IMT-2000 defines a set of technical requirements for the realization of such targets, which can be summarized as follows:

• high data rates: 144 kbps in all environments and 2 Mbps in low-mobility and indoor environments
• symmetrical and asymmetrical data transmission
• circuit-switched and packet-switched-based services
• speech quality comparable to wire-line quality
• improved spectral efficiency
• several simultaneous services to end users for multimedia services
• seamless incorporation of second-generation cellular systems
• global roaming
• open architecture for the rapid introduction of new services and technology.