15-02-2013, 04:15 PM
GSM’s Achievements
[attachment=51090]
of the process and the antagonism of the interests of
the different parties and the consensus building process in detail. The output of the process is
well documented in the technical specifications produced by the different groups. They can be
retrieved from the Internet.1
www.umtsforum.org. The GSM phase 1 standard can be
found on the attached CD ROM in folder A3, since it is not available from the Internet.
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication
Edited by Friedhelm Hillebrand
Copyright q 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBNs: 0-470-84322-5 (Hardback); 0-470-845546 (Electronic)
This book describes the building of the will and momentum to create a Pan-European
system to end the market segmentation and barriers to growth. Principles were agreed.
Advanced services’ requirements including international roaming were agreed. To fulfil
these requirements an advanced new digital system was developed. The system provided
for a competition of several operators in a country. Advanced low cost terminals were
achieved by large markets and manufacturers competition. Advanced low cost infrastructure
was enabled by large markets, multivendor concepts and manufacturers competition. All
major decisions were made in time, even the most difficult ones. A far-reaching system
evolution – even leading from second to third generation – was implemented. Manufacturers
and operators promoted GSM in Europe and beyond. The world was invited to become a
partner with equal rights in this process.
The book covers intensively the two phases which lead to the long-term strategic orientation
of GSM and UMTS. There were protracted and deep controversial debates, which lead to
a consensus:
† The debate about the concepts and the basic parameters of the GSM standard from the end
of 1986 to mid-1987 showed that the Europeans could agree on one solution and meant
business with GSM. It lead to the creation of a new more open organisation by moving all
work from CEPT GSM to ETSI GSM opening the doors for manufacturers to participate
with equal rights and the GSM MoU Group to participate as the operators’ club.
† The debate about the strategy, the concepts and the basic parameters of UMTS in 1996–
1997 lead to a re-orientation of the UMTS concept and an agreement on its cornerstones
within ETSI and with key players in North America and in Asia. This required also a new
more open and more efficient organisation of the work in 3GPP, which allowed access
with equal rights to non-European players.
In both cases a stable base and framework for the following phase of more detailed work
was achieved.
The much more competitive situation in the market created by the licensing of several
operators in a country did in principle not deteriorate the consensus building process, since
the new players understood very quickly that a constructive co-operation in the pre-competitive
sphere was the prerequisite of the success. These new players brought often more
demanding requirements. This was essential for the vivid and fertile system evolution.
The founding documents of the GSM/UMTS system are the GSM/UMTS Technical Specifications
and Standards and the Permanent Reference Documents (PRDs). The Technical
Specifications contain the basic technical definitions: services, system architecture, selected
interfaces and operation and maintenance functions, and test specifications. Some of these,
which are needed for regulatory purposes, are converted into formal Standards. The Technical
Specifications and Standards were elaborated by groups who varied over time: CEPT
GSM, ETSI GSM and SMG, ANSI T1P1 and 3GPP. The PRDs cover commercial and
operational aspects, e.g. service and commercial requirements, test specifications for roaming,
security algorithms, protocols for the interchange of charging data for roamers. They
were elaborated by working groups in the GSM MoU Group, later called GSM MoU Association
and now GSM Association.
The book provides in the rest of Chapter 1 key milestones and success statistics. It
describes in Chapters 2–9 the GSM phases and the evolution towards UMTS built on
GSM. Chapters 10–20 provide more details on technical aspects and working methods.
2 GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication
Chapter 21 deals with operators co-operation and the elaboration of the PRDs. Chapter 22
describes the world-wide acceptance of GSM and UMTS. Chapter 23 tries to explain from
our point of view, which factors enabled this success which surpassed all expectations. A CDROM
is attached to the book, which contains all reference documents mentioned in the
footnotes of the different contributions.
The success of GSM and UMTS was created by the working together of a very large
number of people in a network. The catalyst of this process was the co-operation of a smaller
number of people in the pre-competitive sphere using different forums. All these colleagues
created the technical system specifications for GSM and UMTS and the technical and
commercial documents needed for the marketing and operation of GSM and UMTS with
special emphasis on international roaming. All these people worked in a network. They
shared visions and strategy. It was for all of them a privilege to have the opportunity to
contribute to this ‘‘inner circle’’.
The book is structured into contributions, which are written as named contributions by key
players who played a long-term key role in the development of GSM and UMTS. The views
expressed in the different contributions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of their respective affiliation entities. There has been a lot of dialogue between all
authors during the writing of the book. However, it was the intention to provide different
views from different perspectives to the reader. We did not try to iron out all differences of
opinion. The book shows how different personalities could work together like a big orchestra,
create and play a great symphony. In selected cases the reader will find cross references by the
editor in footnotes highlighting to key differences. It is a major achievement of this book that
so many people – despite their loaded agenda took the time to report about their experiences
and views.
It was a pleasure for me to act as editor of this book and work together with so many
excellent colleagues to provide this record of events and our explanations. We are open to
dialogue with our readers. Our CVs and e-mail addresses are provided in the attached CD
ROM File G.
Practical Advice on how to use the Book
The content list is structured into chapters and sections containing the individual contributions
written by named authors. A short CV and e-mail address of each author is provided in
the attached CD ROM file G. All footnotes in a contribution are numbered locally.
The decision making plenary meetings changed over time from GSM (Groupe Spe´cial
Mobil) to SMG (Special Mobile Group) to 3GPP TSG SA (Technical Specification Group
Services and System Aspects). The Plenary meetings are numbered in sequence: GSM#1 to
32, SMG#1 to 32 and SA#1...
Similarly the subgroups reporting to the plenary changed their names. The group
responsible for services was WP1 (Working Party), then GSM1, then SMG1 and finally
TSG SA WG SA1. Equal developments had the radio groups using the number 2 and the
network aspects group using the number 3. The data group started as IDEG and became
GSM4 and SMG4.
Reference documents, which are relevant and often difficult to retrieve are provided on
the attached CD-ROM. Reference documents are mentioned in footnotes in the sections. The
Chapter 1: GSM’s Achievements 3
vast majority are temporary documents of the different standardisation groups. Their number
contains a serial number and a year number. Often the format is SSS/YY (e.g. 123/87 ¼
temporary document 123 of 1987). This was changed in later years to YY-SSS. The CDROM
uses file names of uniform format with the year followed by the serial number for an
easy automatic sorting. The CD-ROM provides the quoted reference documents and all
Plenary Meeting Reports of the technical standardisation groups: CEPT, ETSI GSM and
SMG and 3GPP. In addition key documents of other areas are provided e.g. the GSM
Memorandum of Underatanding and the UMTS Task Force report. Finally a folder F contains
funny things and a video and some photographs. More details are given in the contents list of
the CD-ROM in the file ‘‘Introduction’’.
Several overview lists and descriptions are provided:
† Milestones: Chapter 1, Section 2
† Plenary Meeting Lists in Annex 1
† Technical groups and their evolution in Annex 2
† Chairpersons lists in Annex 3
† Key abbreviations in Annex 4
The current version of the complete GSM and UMTS Specifications can be found at the
following website: www.3gpp.org. The GSM Phase 1 specifications of 1990/1 can be found
on the attached CD-ROM in folder A3.
[attachment=51090]
of the process and the antagonism of the interests of
the different parties and the consensus building process in detail. The output of the process is
well documented in the technical specifications produced by the different groups. They can be
retrieved from the Internet.1
www.umtsforum.org. The GSM phase 1 standard can be
found on the attached CD ROM in folder A3, since it is not available from the Internet.
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication
Edited by Friedhelm Hillebrand
Copyright q 2001 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBNs: 0-470-84322-5 (Hardback); 0-470-845546 (Electronic)
This book describes the building of the will and momentum to create a Pan-European
system to end the market segmentation and barriers to growth. Principles were agreed.
Advanced services’ requirements including international roaming were agreed. To fulfil
these requirements an advanced new digital system was developed. The system provided
for a competition of several operators in a country. Advanced low cost terminals were
achieved by large markets and manufacturers competition. Advanced low cost infrastructure
was enabled by large markets, multivendor concepts and manufacturers competition. All
major decisions were made in time, even the most difficult ones. A far-reaching system
evolution – even leading from second to third generation – was implemented. Manufacturers
and operators promoted GSM in Europe and beyond. The world was invited to become a
partner with equal rights in this process.
The book covers intensively the two phases which lead to the long-term strategic orientation
of GSM and UMTS. There were protracted and deep controversial debates, which lead to
a consensus:
† The debate about the concepts and the basic parameters of the GSM standard from the end
of 1986 to mid-1987 showed that the Europeans could agree on one solution and meant
business with GSM. It lead to the creation of a new more open organisation by moving all
work from CEPT GSM to ETSI GSM opening the doors for manufacturers to participate
with equal rights and the GSM MoU Group to participate as the operators’ club.
† The debate about the strategy, the concepts and the basic parameters of UMTS in 1996–
1997 lead to a re-orientation of the UMTS concept and an agreement on its cornerstones
within ETSI and with key players in North America and in Asia. This required also a new
more open and more efficient organisation of the work in 3GPP, which allowed access
with equal rights to non-European players.
In both cases a stable base and framework for the following phase of more detailed work
was achieved.
The much more competitive situation in the market created by the licensing of several
operators in a country did in principle not deteriorate the consensus building process, since
the new players understood very quickly that a constructive co-operation in the pre-competitive
sphere was the prerequisite of the success. These new players brought often more
demanding requirements. This was essential for the vivid and fertile system evolution.
The founding documents of the GSM/UMTS system are the GSM/UMTS Technical Specifications
and Standards and the Permanent Reference Documents (PRDs). The Technical
Specifications contain the basic technical definitions: services, system architecture, selected
interfaces and operation and maintenance functions, and test specifications. Some of these,
which are needed for regulatory purposes, are converted into formal Standards. The Technical
Specifications and Standards were elaborated by groups who varied over time: CEPT
GSM, ETSI GSM and SMG, ANSI T1P1 and 3GPP. The PRDs cover commercial and
operational aspects, e.g. service and commercial requirements, test specifications for roaming,
security algorithms, protocols for the interchange of charging data for roamers. They
were elaborated by working groups in the GSM MoU Group, later called GSM MoU Association
and now GSM Association.
The book provides in the rest of Chapter 1 key milestones and success statistics. It
describes in Chapters 2–9 the GSM phases and the evolution towards UMTS built on
GSM. Chapters 10–20 provide more details on technical aspects and working methods.
2 GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication
Chapter 21 deals with operators co-operation and the elaboration of the PRDs. Chapter 22
describes the world-wide acceptance of GSM and UMTS. Chapter 23 tries to explain from
our point of view, which factors enabled this success which surpassed all expectations. A CDROM
is attached to the book, which contains all reference documents mentioned in the
footnotes of the different contributions.
The success of GSM and UMTS was created by the working together of a very large
number of people in a network. The catalyst of this process was the co-operation of a smaller
number of people in the pre-competitive sphere using different forums. All these colleagues
created the technical system specifications for GSM and UMTS and the technical and
commercial documents needed for the marketing and operation of GSM and UMTS with
special emphasis on international roaming. All these people worked in a network. They
shared visions and strategy. It was for all of them a privilege to have the opportunity to
contribute to this ‘‘inner circle’’.
The book is structured into contributions, which are written as named contributions by key
players who played a long-term key role in the development of GSM and UMTS. The views
expressed in the different contributions are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect
the views of their respective affiliation entities. There has been a lot of dialogue between all
authors during the writing of the book. However, it was the intention to provide different
views from different perspectives to the reader. We did not try to iron out all differences of
opinion. The book shows how different personalities could work together like a big orchestra,
create and play a great symphony. In selected cases the reader will find cross references by the
editor in footnotes highlighting to key differences. It is a major achievement of this book that
so many people – despite their loaded agenda took the time to report about their experiences
and views.
It was a pleasure for me to act as editor of this book and work together with so many
excellent colleagues to provide this record of events and our explanations. We are open to
dialogue with our readers. Our CVs and e-mail addresses are provided in the attached CD
ROM File G.
Practical Advice on how to use the Book
The content list is structured into chapters and sections containing the individual contributions
written by named authors. A short CV and e-mail address of each author is provided in
the attached CD ROM file G. All footnotes in a contribution are numbered locally.
The decision making plenary meetings changed over time from GSM (Groupe Spe´cial
Mobil) to SMG (Special Mobile Group) to 3GPP TSG SA (Technical Specification Group
Services and System Aspects). The Plenary meetings are numbered in sequence: GSM#1 to
32, SMG#1 to 32 and SA#1...
Similarly the subgroups reporting to the plenary changed their names. The group
responsible for services was WP1 (Working Party), then GSM1, then SMG1 and finally
TSG SA WG SA1. Equal developments had the radio groups using the number 2 and the
network aspects group using the number 3. The data group started as IDEG and became
GSM4 and SMG4.
Reference documents, which are relevant and often difficult to retrieve are provided on
the attached CD-ROM. Reference documents are mentioned in footnotes in the sections. The
Chapter 1: GSM’s Achievements 3
vast majority are temporary documents of the different standardisation groups. Their number
contains a serial number and a year number. Often the format is SSS/YY (e.g. 123/87 ¼
temporary document 123 of 1987). This was changed in later years to YY-SSS. The CDROM
uses file names of uniform format with the year followed by the serial number for an
easy automatic sorting. The CD-ROM provides the quoted reference documents and all
Plenary Meeting Reports of the technical standardisation groups: CEPT, ETSI GSM and
SMG and 3GPP. In addition key documents of other areas are provided e.g. the GSM
Memorandum of Underatanding and the UMTS Task Force report. Finally a folder F contains
funny things and a video and some photographs. More details are given in the contents list of
the CD-ROM in the file ‘‘Introduction’’.
Several overview lists and descriptions are provided:
† Milestones: Chapter 1, Section 2
† Plenary Meeting Lists in Annex 1
† Technical groups and their evolution in Annex 2
† Chairpersons lists in Annex 3
† Key abbreviations in Annex 4
The current version of the complete GSM and UMTS Specifications can be found at the
following website: www.3gpp.org. The GSM Phase 1 specifications of 1990/1 can be found
on the attached CD-ROM in folder A3.