GSM stands for Global System for Mobiles.
GSM is suppose to be standard for cellphone (the way they transfer the data. slightly different from CDMA, which would be explained in a moment
HOW GSM WORKS
GSM widely used in Europe.
The US has its own standard , namely CDMA
CDMA stands for Code Division Multiple Access. The CDMA was invented by Qualcomm
(an unknown San Diego company few years back).
Before CDMA, the US use TDMA (time Division Multiple access) , which is less efficient. The way they share the data were they to develop the cell systems (hence the term cell-phone). The cell system still widely used until now (the explanation is a little complicated that I'll leave it to the expert).
But since the explosive growth in the cell-phone market recently, the GSM standard compete aggressively with CDMA. (if u use CDMA, they usually have the sticker saying "CDMA" at the back of your cellphone)
2G stands for "second generation" of cellphone,likewise, 3G is Third Generation. ALthough these terminologies are really confusing, it really refer to how fast you can download/upload pictures, browsing internet and so on, it's kinda like when you have dial-up and cable to connect to the Internet, or
you have 302.11b and 302.11g wireless internet access.
3G needs huge investments. In Europe, I heard a few months ago that it's implementation was a fiasco. The reason is that the market isn't there yet. Maybe because lack of apps written on cellphone...or lack of better alternative to boost the demand, or simply that it's hard to make money out of really small apps/competing apps.
Right now, there are lot of companies still optimistic about 3G.
One of the is Qualcomm itself. Read this for background :
. SOme companies like Ericsson also invested in Malaysia for this very reason. 3G got some problems because of its recent failure in the Europe market.
There are many investors are still wait-and-see out there...
see whether it's the next big thing after the personal computer revolution.