3rd Generation Partnership Project

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is an inititiative bringing together several telecommunications standards development organisations with the aim to collaborate on the development of technical specifications covering cellular telecommunications network technologies (including radio access, the core transport network, and service capabilities). The specifications, which address issues such as security and quality of service, are then aimed to be transposed by the member organisations into appropriate deliverables (e.g., standards). In general terms, 3GPP specifications cover GSM (including GPRS and EDGE), W-CDMA (including HSPA) and LTE (including LTE-Advanced) technologies. The 3GPP works through technical specifications groups, currently focused on: radio access networks; service and systems aspects; core network and terminals; and GSM EDGE radio access networks. The specifications produced within these groups are published, free of charge, up to four times a year, following quarterly plenary meetings.