Telecommunications in the United Kingdom have evolved from the early days of the telegraph to modern broadband and mobile phone networks with Internet services.
3G is the third generation of cellular network technology, representing a significant advancement over 2G, particularly in terms of data transfer speeds and mobile internet capabilities. While 2G networks, including technologies such as GPRS and EDGE, supported limited data services, 3G introduced significantly higher-speed mobile internet, improved voice quality, and enhanced multimedia capabilities. Although 3G enabled faster data speeds compared to 2G, it provided moderate internet speeds suitable for general browsing and multimedia content, but not for high-definition or data-intensive applications. Based on the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) specifications established by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), 3G supports a range of services, including voice telephony, mobile internet access, video calls, video streaming, and mobile TV.
Vodafone Group Plc is a British multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates services in Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania.
Swisscom is a major telecommunications provider in Switzerland. Its headquarters are located in Worblaufen near Bern. The Swiss government owns 51% of Swisscom. According to its own published data, Swisscom holds a market share of 56% for mobile, 50% for broadband and 37% for TV telecommunication in Switzerland. Its Italian subsidiary, Fastweb, is attributed 16% of private clients and 29% of the corporate clients share of Italian broadband and is also active in the mobile market.
Vodafone Limited,, trading as Vodafone UK, is a British telecommunications company, owned by Vodafone Group, the world's eighth-largest telecommunications company. Vodafone is the third-largest mobile network operator in the United Kingdom, with 18.4 million subscribers as of November 2024, after O2 and EE, followed by Three. The country's first cellular phone call was made on the Vodafone network in 1985.
Tele2 AB is a provider of mobile and fixed connectivity, telephony, data network services, TV, streaming and global Internet of things services, amongst others, to consumers and enterprises. It is headquartered in Kista Science City, Stockholm, Sweden. It is a major mobile network operator in Sweden, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The company initially founded Tele2 Russia, but later sold all its operations, later rebranding and changing the name to "t2".
Fastweb is an Italian telecommunications company that provides fixed and mobile telephony, broadband Internet and IPTV services. It is also one of the prominent companies in Italy providing FTTH connections, and is a subsidiary of Fastweb + Vodafone and part of the Swiss telecommunications group Swisscom.
Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A., more commonly known as Wind, was an Italian telecommunications company of the VimpelCom Ltd. group, which offered mobile telephony services and, through Infostrada, also fixed-line telephony services, Internet and IPTV.
Telenor Sverige, is a mobile phone, IPTV and Internet service provider in Sweden, owned by Telenor. Telenor Sverige's network covers 99 percent of the country's population, with telecom infrastructure sharing on 2G, 4G LTE and 5G NR under the Net4Mobility joint venture with Tele2, and on 3G UMTS with 3 Sverige outside Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö, Lund and Karlskrona, where it has its own 3G masts. Today, Telenor Sweden has over 2.5 million mobile subscribers, approximately 645,000 broadband customers and half a million TV customers. Telenor Sweden has a turnover of approximately SEK 13.1 billion (2015) and has approximately 1,900 employees.
The XT Network was a brand name for a UMTS and LTE mobile network run by Spark New Zealand. On 27 April 2009, Telecom announced that the new XT network would launch on 13 May 2009 at 6:30pm. After lengthy internal and corporate trials, a Vodafone New Zealand and Telecom dispute about network interference pushed the date to 29 May. The XT Network was launched to the public on 29 May 2009, at 7:30 am. The network was the successor to Telecom NZ's CDMA mobile network. With the shutdown of CDMA in 2012, XT is currently the company's sole mobile network.
Ho Mobile, variously stylized as ho., ho.Mobile, or ho-mobile, is an Italian sub-brand of Fastweb + Vodafone operating as a Mobile Virtual Network Operator.
Monaco Telecom is the primary telecommunications provider in the Principality of Monaco. Established in 1997, the company was formed following the government of Monaco's decision to privatize the previously state-owned Office Monégasque des Téléphones. Monaco Telecom provides various services including internet access and mobile phone services. It is a key entity in facilitating communication within Monaco and connecting the principality to global telecommunications networks. Additionally, the company operates a retail store which functions as a point of service and customer interaction.
3G mobile telephony was relatively slow to be adopted globally. In some instances, 3G networks do not use the same radio frequencies as 2G so mobile operators must build entirely new networks and license entirely new frequencies, especially so to achieve high data transmission rates. Other delays were due to the expenses of upgrading transmission hardware, especially for UMTS, whose deployment required the replacement of most broadcast towers. Due to these issues and difficulties with deployment, many carriers delayed acquisition of these updated capabilities.
SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings Limited (0315.HK), listed in Hong Kong since 1996 and a subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited, is a leading telecommunications provider with operating subsidiaries in Hong Kong, offering voice, multimedia and mobile broadband services, as well as fixed fibre broadband services for both consumer and corporate markets. SmarTone spearheaded 5G development in Hong Kong since May 2020, with the launch of its territory-wide 5G services. SmarTone is also the first in Hong Kong to launch Home 5G Broadband service.
Three Ireland (Hutchison) Limited, commonly known as 3 Ireland or Three Ireland, is a telecommunications and Internet service provider operating in Ireland as a subsidiary of CK Hutchison Holdings, operating under the global Three brand. The company launched in July 2005 and provides 2G GSM, 3G UMTS, 4G LTE and 5G NR mobile phone services. Three's former holding company, Hutchison Whampoa, acquired O2 Ireland in June 2013, and the company was fully merged into the operations of Three Ireland in March 2015.
Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers. Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and 4G+ services all over India. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles.
Fastweb + Vodafone is an Italian telecommunications company belonging to the Swisscom group.
