Evolution of the GSM platform

Massive enhancements have been introduced in the GSM platform, in the area of both data and supplementary services and for the support of operator specific services, in order to fulfil the increasing customer demand. On one hand, the introduction of the new services sometimes imply a considerable modification to the network architecture and consequently major investments for the operator. On the other hand the phased approach used by the GSM specification to introduce its full range of services and features can already be seen as an example of service evolution towards UMTS. This paper analyses the main enhancements standardised for the GSM platform, assessing their impact on the current infrastructure and considering the possible evolution paths towards the provision of UMTS services