These days many telecommunication service provider companies have started 3G services in India. Major players like Airtel, Tata DOCOMO, Idea, BSNL etc are taking the major share of these services. To customers however, to select this 3G service is still a doubtful decision. Many people try to know the difference between 2G and 3G services before they opt for 3G service. Given below are some of the major characteristics of 2G and 3G that you can find helpful before deciding for 3G service.
2G Technology and 2G Phones
2G is shortened form of 2nd generation telecom technology. 2G technology has evolved as 2.5 G, also known as GPRS, and 2.75 G, also known as EDGE. 2G technology allows you more voice clarity in voice calls as compared to 1G and allows you to send text messages using SMS. 2G also allows roaming facility which was not present in 1G technology. GPRS technology in 2G series allowed users to download rates from 56 kbit/s up to 115 kbit/s. Thus GPRS helped to go one step ahead by allowing to users to use WAP, SMS & MMS services along with internet access.
3G Technology and 3G Phones
3G stands for 3rd generation telecom technology. UMTS standards for 3G were first adopted in 2001 and were used in countries of Europe, Japan and China. Other widely used interfaces are W-CDMA, HSPA+ and EVDO. One of the biggest advancement in 3G technology compared to 2G technology was data speed. Compared to 115kbit/s, 3G can offer speed minimum of 2Mbit/s which is much greater than 2G speed. 3G technology has also helped to do many other things that 2G phones won’t support. You can do video calls, faster download and upload and many other things. Some basic functions like online mobile recharge, streaming videos, download have become more faster.
Price Comparison of 2G and 3G services in India
3G services been just launched in India, is more expensive compared to 2G services. The services are also been available in few selected circles. This makes price of 3G services much higher as compared to price of 2G services. Except for major cities in India, 3G is not available in other interior parts, whereas 2G services are present all over India. This adds as one more reason to keep price higher. Price creaming or skimming had been done from 3G service subscribers to get more profit out of this service before they made available to other towns and cities. But still, the prices of 3G services are expected to remain high because of download and upload speed benefit.