Japan launches 3G phones
Japan's leading mobile telecoms operator, NTT DoCoMo, launches the world's first third generation mobile phone service. Users will be able to surf the internet and see pictures of the people they are talking to, and eventually they will be able to watch movies and listen to music on their handsets.
Click here for Juliet Hindell's report
On the trail of 3G
Japan is set to become the first nation to launch 3G technology with the advent of telecoms company NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service. The launch date is set for 1 October and the BBC's Evan Davis went to Japan to see how the technology will work.
Click here for Evan Davis' report
3G delays and shortcomings
UK Telecoms companies developing 3G technology have run into a string of technical difficulties. Launches have been delayed. And the new products are unlikely to perform at anything like promised levels for years to come. Vodafone says its service will run at a minimum of just 64kb per second, ten times slower than early expectations.
Huge costs of 3G development
Saddled with huge debts from the cost of 3G licences and facing a global slowdown in the mobile market, telephone companies are keen to reduce the huge costs of developing 3G. BT and Deutsche Telekom have struck a deal to share facilities which they say will help make 3G available earlier.
2.5G phone launch
The newly launched GPRS phones are seen as a stepping stone from conventional mobile phones and 3G technology. They have nothing like the speed of connection promised by 3G but they do have a continuous internet connection. It's not 3G but as the sales pitch goes, it works and it's here.
The BBC's Brian Milligan reports
Billions paid for 3G licences
Determined not to miss out on the new 3G market, telecoms companies have been prepared to bid billions of dollars to secure licences for a share of the air waves. European governments couldn't believe their luck as they were promised over $70bn in licence fees.
UK auction
The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones reports
German auction
The BBC's Patrick Bartlett reports
