The
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (
UMTS) is a
third generation mobile cellular system for networks based on the
GSM standard. Developed and maintained by the
3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), UMTS is a component of the
International Telecommunications Union IMT-2000 standard set and compares with the
CDMA2000 standard set for networks based on the competing
cdmaOne technology. UMTS uses wideband
code division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficiency and bandwidth to mobile network operators.