Glossary

2.5G is a stepping stone between 2G and 3G cellular wireless technologies. The term "second and a half generation" is used to describe 2G-systems that have implemented a packet switched domain in addition to the circuit switched domain. It does not necessarily provide faster services because bundling of timeslots is used for circuit switched data services (HSCSD) as well.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is a collaboration agreement that was established in December 1998. The scope of 3GPP was to make a globally applicable third generation (3G) mobile phone system specification within the scope of the ITU's IMT-2000 project.

Computer-assisted dispatch (also called CAD) is a method of dispatching taxicabs, couriers, field service technicians, or emergency services by computer. It can either be used to send messages to the dispatchee via a mobile data terminal (also called an MDT) and/or used to store and retrieve data (i.e. Radio Logs, Field Interviews, Client Information, Schedules, etc.)

Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (EDGE) is a digital mobile phone technology which acts as a bolt-on enhancement to 2G and 2.5G (a.k.a.GPRS) networks. This technology is working in TDMA and GSM networks. EDGE (also known as EGPRS) is a superset to GPRS and can function on any network with GPRS deployed on it (provided the carrier implements the necessary upgrades).

Enhanced 911 service or E911 service is a North American telephone network feature that automatically associates the physical address with the calling party's telephone number. This is generally done by a form of reverse telephone directory that is supplied by the telephone company. This provides emergency responders with the location of the emergency without the person calling for help having to provide it. Enhanced 911 has been deployed in most metropolitan areas in the United States. In some places (e.g., Minneapolis/St. Paul) it has been used since the early 1980s, though as of the end of 2002 it was not available in every area.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent United States government agency, created, directed, and empowered by Congressional statute.

The Global Positioning System, usually called GPS (the US military refers to it as NAVSTAR GPS), is a satellite navigation system used for determining one's precise location and providing a highly accurate time reference almost anywhere on Earth or in Earth orbit. It uses an intermediate circular orbit (ICO) satellite constellation of at least 24 satellites.

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a mobile data service available to users of GSM mobile phones. It is often described as "2.5G", that is, a technology between the second (2G) and third (3G) generations of mobile telephony. It provides moderate speed data transfer, by using unused TDMA channels in the GSM network.

A location-based service (or LBS) in a cellular telephone network is a service provided to the subscriber based on her current geographic location. This position can be known by user entry or a GPS receiver that she carries with her, but most often the term implies the use of a function built into the cell network that uses triangulation between the known geographic coordinates of the base stations through which the communication takes place