The GSM Association estimates that technologies defined in the GSM standard serve 80% of the global mobile market, encompassing more than 1.5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.Įarly European analog cellular networks employed an uncoordinated mix of technologies and protocols that varied from country to country, preventing interoperability of subscriber equipment and increasing complexity for equipment manufacturers who had to contend with varying standards from a fragmented market. 'GSM' is a trademark owned by the GSM Association.

GSM networks will evolve further as they begin to incorporate fourth generation (or '4G') LTE Advanced standards.

The GSM standard is succeeded by the third generation (or '3G') UMTS standard developed by the 3GPP. Packet data transmission speeds were later increased via EDGE. The standard was expanded over time to include first circuit switched data transport, then packet data transport via GPRS. Developed as a replacement for first generation analog cellular networks, the GSM standard originally described a digital, circuit switched network optimized for full duplex voice telephony. GSM ( Global System for Mobile Communications, originally Groupe Spécial Mobile), is a standard set developed by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe technologies for second generation (or '2G') digital cellular networks.

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