The Full Form of GSM is Global System for Mobile.

Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) is the most widely used digital mobile telephony system. GSM technology was first launched in Finland in 1991. It was developed by European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to describe the protocols for 2G mobile communications.Presently, GSM comprises of approximately 90% of mobile connections worldwide.

Features

• Original 2G standard was a digital, circuit-switched, full duplex network.

• GSM is part of the evolution of wireless mobile telecommunications including High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data (HSCSD), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), and Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS).

• GSM operates at either 900 MHz or 1800 MHz frequency bands of the electromagnetic spectrum.It provides improved spectrum efficiency.

• It uses a variation of time division multiple access (TDMA) for placing multiple calls simultaneously over the same channel.

• It gives support for a number of new services like

  • International roaming
  • Compatibility with integrated services digital network (ISDN)
  • Short message service (SMS)
  • SIM phonebook management
  • Fixed dialing number (FDN)

• Digital technology assures high-quality voice communications and advanced encryption of voice and data signals that prevents eavesdropping.

GSM stands for Global System for Mobile Communication. It is a digital cellular technology used for transmitting mobile voice and data services. Important facts about the GSM are given below −

• The concept of GSM emerged from a cell-based mobile radio system at Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s.

• GSM is the name of a standardization group established in 1982 to create a common European mobile telephone standard.

• GSM is the most widely accepted standard in telecommunications and it is implemented globally.

• GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 kHz channel into eight 25 kHz time-slots. GSM operates on the mobile communication bands 900 MHz and 1800 MHz in most parts of the world. In the US, GSM operates in the bands 850 MHz and 1900 MHz.

• GSM owns a market share of more than 70 percent of the world’s digital cellular subscribers.

• GSM makes use of narrowband Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technique for transmitting signals.

• GSM was developed using digital technology. It has an ability to carry 64 kbps to 120 Mbps of data rates.

• Presently GSM supports more than one billion mobile subscribers in more than 210 countries throughout the world.

• GSM provides basic to advanced voice and data services including roaming service. Roaming is the ability to use your GSM phone number in another GSM network.

GSM digitizes and compresses data, then sends it down through a channel with two other streams of user data, each in its own timeslot.