Editing GSM (section)

== History ==
===Initial European development===
[[File:Dupuis Haug GSM around 1990.jpg|thumb|Thomas Haug (first GSM president) and Philippe Dupuis (second GSM president) during a GSM meeting in Belgium, April 1992]]
In 1983, work began to develop a European standard for digital cellular voice telecommunications when the [[European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations]] (CEPT) set up the ''Groupe Spécial Mobile'' (GSM) committee and later provided a permanent technical-support group based in [[Paris]]. Five years later, in 1987, 15 representatives from 13 European countries signed a [[memorandum of understanding]] in [[Copenhagen]] to develop and deploy a common cellular telephone system across Europe, and EU rules were passed to make GSM a mandatory standard.<ref>{{Cite web |title=GSM (2nd Generation Mobiles) |url=http://www.cellular-news.com/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230130070716/https://www.engagingwithcommunications.com/Technology/Mobiles/GSM/gsm.php |archive-date=2023-01-30 |access-date=2023-05-23 |website=Engaging with Communications}}</ref> The decision to develop a continental standard eventually resulted in a unified, open, standard-based network which was larger than that in the United States.<ref name=zdnet_birthday>{{cite web|url=http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-devices/2007/09/07/happy-20th-birthday-gsm-39289154/ |title=Happy 20th Birthday, GSM |author=Leader |date=7 September 2007 |work=zdnet.co.uk |publisher=CBS Interactive |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20110505004052/http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-devices/2007/09/07/happy-20th-birthday-gsm-39289154/ |archivedate=5 May 2011 |accessdate=5 May 2011 |quote=Before GSM, Europe had a disastrous mishmash of national analogue standards in phones and TV, designed to protect national industries but instead creating fragmented markets vulnerable to big guns from abroad. |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=etsi_gsm>{{cite web|url=http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/Technologies/gsm.aspx |title=GSM |year=2011 |work=etsi.org |publisher=European Telecommunications Standards Institute |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211060002/http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/technologies/gsm.aspx |archivedate=11 February 2012 |accessdate=5 May 2011 |quote=GSM was designed principally for voice telephony, but a range of bearer services was defined...allowing circuit-switched data connections at up to 9600 bits/s. |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=gsmworld_history>{{cite web|url=http://www.gsmworld.com/about-us/history.htm |title=History |year=2001 |work=gsmworld.com |publisher=GSM Association |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519093843/http://gsmworld.com/about-us/history.htm |archivedate=19 May 2011 |accessdate=5 May 2011 |quote=1982 Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) is formed by the Confederation of European Posts and Telecommunications (CEPT) to design a pan-European mobile technology. |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=etsi_cellhist>{{cite web|url=http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/Technologies/Cellularhistory.aspx |title=Cellular History |year=2011 |work=etsi.org |publisher=European Telecommunications Standards Institute |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217044925/http://www.etsi.org/WebSite/Technologies/Cellularhistory.aspx |archivedate=17 February 2012 |accessdate=5 May 2011 |quote=The task was entrusted to a committee known as Groupe Spécial Mobile (GSMTM), aided by a "permanent nucleus" of technical support personnel, based in Paris. |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In February 1987 Europe produced the first agreed GSM Technical Specification. Ministers from {{clarify|text=the four big EU countries |date=May 2025}} cemented their political support for GSM with the Bonn Declaration on Global Information Networks in May and the GSM [[memorandum of understanding|MoU]] was tabled for signature in September. The MoU drew in mobile operators from across Europe to pledge to invest in new GSM networks to an ambitious common date.

In this short 38-week period the whole of Europe (countries and industries) had been brought behind GSM in a rare unity and speed guided by four public officials: Armin Silberhorn (Germany), Stephen Temple (UK), [[Philippe Dupuis (engineer)|Philippe Dupuis]] (France), and Renzo Failli (Italy).<ref>{{cite web|title= Who created GSM?|date= 7 January 2007 |url= http://www.gsmhistory.com/created-gsm/ |publisher= Stephen Temple|accessdate= 7 April 2013
|quote= Before GSM, Europe had a disastrous mishmash of national analogue standards in phones and TV, designed to protect national industries but instead creating fragmented markets vulnerable to big guns from abroad.}}</ref> In 1989 the Groupe Spécial Mobile committee was transferred from CEPT to the [[European Telecommunications Standards Institute]] (ETSI).<ref name="etsi_gsm"/><ref name="gsmworld_history"/><ref name="etsi_cellhist"/>
The IEEE/RSE awarded to [[Thomas Haug]] and [[Philippe Dupuis (engineer)|Philippe Dupuis]] the 2018 [[IEEE/RSE James Clerk Maxwell Medal|James Clerk Maxwell medal]] for their "leadership in the development of the first international mobile communications standard with subsequent evolution into worldwide smartphone data communication".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ieee-ukandireland.org/duke-of-cambridge-presents-maxwell-medals-to-gsm-developers/|title=Duke of Cambridge Presents Maxwell Medals to GSM Developers|publisher= IEEE United Kingdom and Ireland Section|date= 2018-09-01|access-date= 2020-12-10}}</ref> The GSM (2G) has evolved into 3G, 4G and 5G.

=== First networks ===
[[File:GSM-Telefone-1991.jpg|thumb|alt=Prototype GSM phones from 1991|Prototype GSM phones]]
In parallel [[France]] and [[Germany]] signed a joint development agreement in 1984 and were joined by [[Italy]] and the [[United Kingdom|UK]] in 1986. In 1986, the [[European Commission]] proposed reserving the 900&nbsp;MHz spectrum band for GSM. It was long believed that the former [[Finland|Finnish]] prime minister [[Harri Holkeri]] made the world's first GSM call on 1 July 1991, calling [[Kaarina Suonio]] (deputy mayor of the city of [[Tampere]]) using a network built by [[Nokia Siemens Networks|Nokia and Siemens]] and [[mobile network operator|operated]] by [[Radiolinja]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=86&t=586&a=5126 |title= Maailman ensimmäinen GSM-puhelu |trans-title= World's first GSM call |date= 22 February 2008 |work= yle.fi |publisher= Yelisradio OY |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110706064231/http://www.yle.fi/elavaarkisto/?s=s&g=1&ag=86&t=586&a=5126 |archivedate= 6 July 2011 |accessdate= 5 May 2011 |quote= Harri Holkeri made the first call on the Radiolinja (Elisa's subsidiary) network, at the opening ceremony in Helsinki on 07.01.1991. |url-status= dead}}</ref> In 2021 a former Nokia engineer [[Pekka Lonka]] revealed to {{lang|fi|[[Helsingin Sanomat]]}} making a test call just a couple of hours earlier. "World's first GSM call was actually made by me. I called Marjo Jousinen, in Salo.", Lonka informed.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.hs.fi/visio/art-2000008075194.html |title= Ensimmäinen gsm-puhelu soitettiin 30 vuotta sitten |trans-title= World's first GSM call was made 30 years ago |date= 1 July 2021 |work= hs.fi |publisher= Helsingin Sanomat |accessdate= 11 October 2022 |quote= Tasan 30 vuotta sitten Esplanadin puistossa tehtiin historiaa. Kulisseissa vaikutti Nokian nykyinen toimitusjohtaja Pekka Lundmark. Hän uskoo, että seuraava murros kestää ainakin 10 vuotta. }}</ref> The following year saw the sending of the first [[short messaging service]] (SMS or "text message") message, and [[Vodafone UK]] and Telecom Finland signed the first international [[roaming]] agreement.

=== Enhancements ===
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
Work began in 1991 to expand the GSM standard to the 1800&nbsp;MHz frequency band and the first 1800&nbsp;MHz network became operational in the UK by 1993, called the DCS 1800. Also that year, [[Telstra]] became the first network operator to deploy a GSM network outside Europe and the first practical hand-held GSM [[mobile phone]] became available.

In 1995 fax, data and SMS messaging services were launched commercially, the first 1900&nbsp;MHz GSM network became operational in the United States and GSM subscribers worldwide exceeded 10 million. In the same year, the [[GSM Association]] formed. Pre-paid GSM SIM cards were launched in 1996 and worldwide GSM subscribers passed 100 million in 1998.<ref name=gsmworld_history />

In 2000 the first commercial [[General Packet Radio Service]] (GPRS) services were launched and the first GPRS-compatible handsets became available for sale. In 2001, the first UMTS (W-CDMA) network was launched, a 3G technology that is not part of GSM. Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 500 million. In 2002, the first [[Multimedia Messaging Service]] (MMS) was introduced and the first GSM network in the 800&nbsp;MHz frequency band became operational. [[Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution]] (EDGE) services first became operational in a network in 2003, and the number of worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded 1 billion in 2004.<ref name=gsmworld_history />

By 2005 GSM networks accounted for more than 75% of the worldwide cellular network market, serving 1.5 billion subscribers. In 2005, the first [[HSDPA]]-capable network also became operational. The first [[HSUPA]] network launched in 2007. ([[High Speed Packet Access]] (HSPA) and its uplink and downlink versions are 3G technologies, not part of GSM.) Worldwide GSM subscribers exceeded three billion in 2008.<ref name=gsmworld_history />

=== Adoption ===
[[File:Icons on GSM mobile phone Siemens S4 (1996).jpg|thumb|GSM logo icon shown on the face of a Siemens GSM mobile phone from 1996]]
The [[GSM Association]] estimated in 2011 that technologies defined in the GSM standard served 80% of the mobile market, encompassing more than 5 billion people across more than 212 countries and territories, making GSM the most ubiquitous of the many standards for cellular networks.<ref name=gsma_stats>{{cite web|url=http://www.gsmworld.com/newsroom/market-data/market_data_summary.htm |title=GSM World statistics |year=2010 |work=gsmworld.com |publisher=GSM Association |accessdate=8 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521013451/http://www.gsmworld.com/newsroom/market-data/market_data_summary.htm |archivedate=21 May 2010 }}</ref>

GSM is a second-generation (2G) standard employing time-division multiple-access (TDMA) spectrum-sharing, issued by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). The GSM standard does not include the 3G [[Universal Mobile Telecommunications System]] (UMTS), [[code-division multiple access]] (CDMA) technology, nor the 4G LTE [[orthogonal frequency-division multiple access]] (OFDMA) technology standards issued by the 3GPP.<ref>{{cite web|title= Mobile technologies GSM|url= http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/mobile/gsm?highlight=YToxOntpOjA7czozOiJnc20iO30=|accessdate= 7 November 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140330060902/http://www.etsi.org/technologies-clusters/technologies/mobile/gsm?highlight=YToxOntpOjA7czozOiJnc20iO30=|archive-date= 30 March 2014|url-status= dead}}</ref>

GSM, for the first time, set a common standard for Europe for wireless networks. It was also adopted by many countries outside Europe. This allowed subscribers to use other GSM networks that have roaming agreements with each other. The common standard reduced research and development costs, since hardware and software could be sold with only minor adaptations for the local market.<ref>{{Cite book |author= Martin Sauter |title= From GSM to LTE-Advanced : An Introduction to Mobile Networks and Mobile Broadband |edition= Second |publisher= John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated |date= 23 June 2014 |isbn= 9781118861929 }}</ref>

=== Discontinuation ===
{{See also|2G#Phase-out}}
[[Telstra]] in [[Australia]] shut down its 2G GSM network on 1 December 2016, the first mobile network operator to decommission a GSM network.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2016/12/02/telstra-switches-off-gsm-network/ |title=Telstra switches off GSM network |publisher=TeleGeography |date=2016-12-02 |accessdate=2016-12-02}}</ref> The second mobile provider to shut down its GSM network (on 1 January 2017) was [[AT&T Mobility]] from the [[United States]].<ref>[[bmobile]] in [[Trinidad and Tobago]] shut down its 2G GSM network in December 2017.
{{cite web 
|url= https://www.business.att.com/content/other/2G-Sunset-FAQ_2016.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510144041/https://www.business.att.com/content/other/2G-Sunset-FAQ_2016.pdf |archive-date=2016-05-10 |url-status=live
|title= 2G Sunset |work= ATT Mobility
|accessdate= 10 August 2016
}}
</ref> 
[[Optus]] in [[Australia]] completed the shut down of its 2G GSM network on 1 August 2017, part of the Optus GSM network covering [[Western Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]] had earlier in the year been shut down in April 2017.<ref>{{cite web|date=2017-08-01|title=Optus to complete 2G network turn off|url=https://www.optus.com.au/about/media-centre/media-releases/2017/07/optus-to-complete-2g-network-turn-off|accessdate=2020-11-20|publisher=Optus}}</ref>
[[Singapore]] shut down 2G services entirely in April 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.m1.com.sg/AboutM1/NewsReleases/2017/2G%20services%20to%20cease%20on%201%20April%202017.aspx |title=Joint Media Release by IMDA, M1, Singtel & StarHub: 2G services to cease on 1 April 2017 |publisher=M1 |date=2017-03-27 |accessdate=2017-10-22}}</ref>