Communication · 2001

3G mobile data

NTT Docomo's FOMA brings broadband-class data to a phone.

The first commercial 3G network, NTT Docomo's FOMA, launched in Japan in October 2001 using W-CDMA. Speeds of hundreds of kilobits to megabits per second made mobile web, email and video calling practical, preparing the ground for the smartphone.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 2

GSM (2G digital cellular) 1991
World Wide Web 1991

What it led to 1

4G LTE 2009

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people Latest: 112 per 100 people (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Share of people online Latest: 73.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data