UMTS will be a mobile communications system that can offer significant user benefits including high-quality wireless multimedia services to a convergent network of fixed, cellular and satellite components. It will deliver information directly to users and provide them with access to new and innovative services and applications. It will offer mobile personalised communications to the mass market regardless of location, network or terminal used.
From a physical point of view, UMTS will comprise a new air interface and
new radio components. The aim is to combine these in a modular way with new
network components and components from pre-UMTS fixed and mobile networks,
provided these have undergone the necessary evolutionary preparation. This
approach will allow new entrants to establish UMTS networks and enable existing
operators a smooth migration by re-using parts of their existing infrastructure
to the maximum possible extent.
It is also a key enabler for convergence, and is considered an important building block in the construction of the Information Society. UMTS will play a key role by providing citizens with mobile access to advanced, higher quality, higher speed information and communication services than is possible from today's mobile systems. The true innovation of UMTS is that it will provide a federation of services, both those existing and their extension, to meet the ever-increasing demands and needs of users. Consequently, the business of UMTS represents a major investment opportunity for the telecommunications industry.
