Does EDGE mean nothing to you, other than its traditional dictionary meaning? Do you look at people blankly when they ask you whether your cellphone has or is, EDGE enabled or not? If you are answering in the affirmative for all the above questions, then the official verdict is out. You are living in a box, dear reader. You have fallen far behind the times and this is the time to do some serious catching up.
EDGE is yet another giant leap in the line of progress in the fields of science and technology. Science is ever changing and ever dynamic. There are constant changes and constant improvements that are taking place and newer and newer improvements are revealing themselves. EDGE is yet another of these improvements. The full form of EDGE is Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution. It is also known by yet another name and that is, Enhanced GPRS or EGPRS. It is also called IMT Single Carrier, or IMT-SC for short. It is a communications technology.
EDGE is what is known as a “backward compatible” technology. Basically this means that it is compatible with older devices as well. EDGE supports older formats as well. This is a mobile phone technology which enhances the speed and the quality of the transmission of data. This technology is obviously an extension of the GSM technology which is an earlier development in this field of digital mobile phone technology. EDGE is 3G or 3rd Generation technology. It falls within the range of standards as set down by ITU and it's definition of 3rd Generation or 3G.
EDGE was released on the GSM networks in 2003. It was first started by a company called Cingular in the United States of America. It is definitely a part of the GSM range. And not only that, EDGE is a definite improvement on the previous standards. It is said to be capable of delivering at least three times the earlier performance of the older services like GSM and GPRS. EDGE is three times better not only in terms of data transmission speeds, but also quality and other parameters of performance. It has better ways of coding and sharing data, which means a higher quality of data transmission and performance.
EDGE is used in packet switched connections like GPRS and in Internet connections in general. The internet connectivity that EDGE provides is almost as good as the broadband Internet experience. Thus the user who is accessing the Internet on his cellphone using EDGE will get the quality and performance of a broadband connection. There is a very high bandwidth level along with video facilities and other advanced applications as well. This is because EDGE has a higher data storage capacity as well.