Definition: 3GPP

(3rd Generation Partnership Project) A cooperation of international standards bodies for the development of cellular services. Established in 1998, 3GPP governs all the cellular standards including 3G, 4G and 5G. See cellular generations, 3G, LTE and 5G.

3GPP - GSM (UMTS Umbrella)
For GSM carriers, the first 3G specification was WCDMA, which was based on the CDMA air interface and a departure from GSM's TDMA. WCDMA was followed by HSPA. See WCDMA, HSPA, GSM, CDMA and TDMA.

3GPP2 - CDMA (IMT-2000 Umbrella)
For CDMA2000 carriers, the first 3G specification was 1X, followed by EV-DO. 3GPP2 supports QCELP speech in addition to 3GPP formats. See CDMA, CDMA2000, QCELP and IMT-2000.

Convergence into LTE
With support from 3GPP and 3GPP2, GSM and CDMA carriers worldwide converged their networks into 4G/LTE (Long Term Evolution). See LTE and LTE Advanced.

   3GPP LTE CATEGORIES
   USER EQUIPMENT (UE)

  UE       Down  Up    MIMO
  Category  (Mbps)   Antennas

  3GPP Release 8 (2008)
    1       10    5     1
    2       51   26     2
    3      102   51     2
    4      151   51     2
    5      300   75     4


  LTE ADVANCED CATEGORIES

  3GPP Release 10 (2011)
    6      301   51     2/4
    7      301  102     2/4
    8     2999 1498     8

  3GPP Release 11 (2012)
    9      452   51     2/4
   10      452  102     2/4

  3GPP Release 12 (2015)
   11      603   51     2/4
   12      603  102     2/4
   13      392   51     2/4
   14      392  102     2/4
   15     3917 1498     8
   M1        1    1     1

  3GPP Release 13 (2016)
   NB-IoT   .2   .2     1
   See LTE for iOT.