Our mission continues to be the creation of the Mobile Broadband Standard, with an increasing emphasis towards connecting the internet of things – whether the need is for ultra-reliable low latency communications at one end of the scale or for energy efficient low-cost, low-power sensors and devices at the other.
The 5G and LTE-Advanced ecosystem will allow for global network evolution, at the appropriate pace for the market need and the local state of readiness. The 3GPP model is one that maximises on its compatibility with legacy 3GPP infrastructure and equipment, delivering the promise of a ubiquitous end-to-end ecosystem that can support a growing number of use cases.
There are links to more 'About 3GPP' below.
Why the name?
3GPP was created in 1998 to develop 3G mobile standards for WCDMA and TD-SCDMA accesses and their core networks. The aim was to maintain and evolve the ETSI standards for the (2G) GSM system. Another aim was to create an international way forward, where the regions could be part of a standards eco-system that would bring a new global scale and an enduring platform for the work.
The success of the 3GPP partnership model and the convergence of the world’s network operators on the 3GPP system is now encouraging new industries to join the work. The rocketing number of use cases for 5G is creating new requirements and is making a real impact on the 3GPP prioritization process for new studies and normative efforts in the groups.
We keep the name 3GPP as it has become a marker of what we are and where we have come from.
Some landmark years:
| Year | |
| 2023 |
Over 830 member companies active in 3GPP. In December, we had a first sighting of the 6G Timeline, but there will be more on that in 2024/2025. |
| 2022 |
Rel-17 - Completed under pandemic conditions, with e-meetings only during the whole release. Some important Rel-17 projects alongside 5G enhancements were: Reduced capability NR (Redap), NR to 71GHz, Non terrestrial Networks (NTN), IoT over NTN, RF reqs for NR FR2, Support for uncrewed aerial systems, Support for edge computing in 5GC, Proximity-based services in 5GS, Access traffic steering, switch and splitting (ATSSS), Support for the Industrial IoT, Advanced V2X... See a summary of Rel-17 Work Items in TR 21.917 |
| 2021 |
The complete 3GPP 5G proposal accepted by the ITU-R in ‘Detailed specifications of the radio interfaces of IMT-2020.’ (ITU-R M.[IMT-2020.SPECS]). |
| 2020 |
Rel-16 – 3GPP finalizes contribution for IMT-2020, submitting a single Radio Interface Technology (RIT) and combined Sets of 3GPP Radio Interface Technologies (SRIT). |
| 2019 |
Rel-15 – first release (Rel-15) of 5G-NR ready for implementation, in non-standalone networks. |
| 2018 |
Rel-14 – Improvements of the Mission Critical (MCx) aspects, Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), improvements for Cellular IoT, eLAA, 4 band & inter-band Carrier Aggregation. |
| 2016 |
Rel-13 – LTE in unlicensed spectrum, Mission-critical Push-To-Talk. Creation of the LTE-Advanced Pro brand, to promote progress on features for professional user services. |
| 2015 |
Rel-12 – First ‘vertical’ industry joins; mission critical experts look to take-up Device to Device (D2D) and Proximity Services features. Work on WiFi integration. |
| 2015 | 3GPP 5G Workshop held in Phoenix. Over seventy presentations contributed to the discussion, covering the full range of requirements that will feed TSG RAN work items for the next five years. |
| 2013 | Rel-11 Enhanced downlink control channel (E-PDCCH), Work on avoiding overloading networks with Machine-Type Communications (MTC). |
| 2012 | ITU approves IMT-Advanced terrestrial radio interfaces for the 4th Generation of mobile networks: 3GPP LTE Release 10 and Beyond and IEEE WirelessMAN-Advanced (802.16m). |
| 2011 | Rel-10 – LTE-Advanced brings Carrier Aggregation & HetNets; with improvement at cell-edge via enhanced Inter-Cell Interference Coordination (eICIC). |
| 2010 | Rel-9 – VoLTE, eHNB for indoor and EMBS broadcast specifications approved. |
| 2009 | Rel-8 – first LTE Release completed; Evolved UTRAN + Evolved Packet Core (EPC). |
| 2007 | Rel-7 – sets UE Performance Requirements for MBMS. |
| 2003 | Rel-6 included enhancements to the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), 3G/WLAN interworking. |
| 2002 | Rel-5 introduces the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA). |
| 2001 | Early 3G releases (Rel-99 and Rel-4) see UMTS ready for implementation. Multiple Input Multiple Output antennas (MIMO) work starts |
| 1999 | ITU approved five IMT-2000 terrestrial radio interfaces for the 3rd Generation of mobile networks: WCDMA (3GPP), CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, EDGE (3GPP), ETSI DECT. |
| 1998 | Creation of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) |
| 1989 | GSM committee transferred from CEPT to ETSI. |
| 1988 | First GSM specs ready for implementation. |
| 1987 | GSM Memorandum of Understanding signed |
IMT and 3GPP
Raising 3GPP to an international standards project has brought a synergy between the ITU’s calls for generations of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems and 3GPP’s work.
The cooperation between 3GPP TSG RAN and ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP 5D) has established a solid roadmap for the creation of new radio interface technologies and the evolving regulation and spectrum allocations for their use.
The original scope of 3GPP (1998) was to produce Technical Specifications and Technical Reports for a 3G Mobile System based on evolved GSM core networks and the radio access technologies that they support (i.e.,Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) both Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex(TDD) modes).
The scope was subsequently amended to include the maintenance and development of the Technical Specifications and Technical Reports for evolved 3GPP technologies, beyond 3G.
Important updates to the scope and structure of 3GPP are documented in the annexes of the latest version of the Project Agreement.