GSM and UMTS (P9)

Chapter 9: The Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP)
Section 1: The Creation of 3GPP
Karl Heinz Rosenbrock
1
Having read the title, it should not surprise you that this section deals with the creation of the
Partnership Project for the standardisation of a Third Generation Mobile Communications
System (3GPP).
Why, you may ask, in a history book about the GSM and UMTS development, do I want to
talk about the establishment of a partnership project? Isn’t it the most natural thing to do?
This is, of course, a stance an insider can take today – after nearly 30 months of 3GPP’s
creation and the smooth and successful running of this project.
As this section will eventually show, it took quite some time, filled with tough and even
passionate discussions, before the goal was achieved. Approaching this idea from a rather
philosophical point of view, one should not be too surprised about the big efforts needed,
because already the old Greek ancestors knew that ‘‘prior to being successful the Gods will
demand some sweat’’…
2
This section starts with some general considerations leading the European Telecommuni-
cations Standards Institute (ETSI) membership towards a global approach in standardisation
and then deals with the establishment of an ad hoc group of the ETSI Board (UGG ¼ UMTS
Globalisation Group) to address the matter of global standardisation in this context and the
related meetings and discussions. Afterwards, the 3GPP will be described in a rather general
manner, highlighting how it works, who the stakeholders are and dealing with the results
achieved so far. The section is rounded up with the relationship towards the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other initiatives as well as a few concluding remarks.
9.1.1 First Approaches to Globalisation
The re-engineering process ETSI, the ‘‘Excellent’’ Telecommunications Standards Institute
in Europe, undertook in the years 1995/1996 – only 7 years after its creation – resulted in
among others a kind of mission statement for the Institute: ‘‘Making international standards
happen first in Europe’’.

1
The views expressed in this section are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of his affiliation
entity.
2
One of my cruel translations of a German idiom ‘‘Vor den Erfolg haben die Go
¨
tter den Schweiß gesetzt’’…
Classical examples of ETSI success stories that witness this slogan are among others: the
Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM); Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommu-
nications (DECT); Digital Audio Broadcasting (DAB); Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB);
Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), just to name a few of them.
In positioning ETSI in the standardisation landscape, it became clear that the trends and
changes towards globalisation, convergence and new value chains would lead to the creation
of a huge volume of standards making space. Furthermore, it was not tenable for ETSI to try
to fill the entire space. Choices had to be made. In addition, the investigations revealed that
collaboration by means of appropriate partnerships could be a promising formula.
ETSI consciously withstood the temptation to become a global standards body. But it has
always undertaken great efforts to ensure that all of its products, i.e. deliverables, such as
European Norms (ENs), ETSI Standards (ESs), ETSI Technical Specifications (TSs), etc.
satisfy real market needs and have the potential to become global standards. The ITU remains
ETSI’s global partner of choice. But the fast moving markets were expected to require ETSI
to supplement this with various international partnerships on a case-by-case basis.
The high level task force that undertook the ETSI review in 1995/1996 advised the Institute
that it had to sustain its core competence of making high quality standards for large and
complex telecommunications systems. But, if neat demarcation lines are going to cease to
exist, then ETSI must inevitably move more into the IT, audio-visual and other fields. It
should do this in good partnerships, where other Standards Developing Organisations (SDOs)
or appropriate fora and consortia are willing to co-operate with ETSI. Retrenchment by ETSI
was not considered to be in Europe’s interest.
Other results of interest here, of ETSI’s re-engineering process after 7 years of existence

were:
†
to reduce the hierarchical structure in the Technical Organisation to a minimum;
†
to delegate power (of approval, etc.) to the Technical Bodies where the main work is being
done;
†
to focus on semi-autonomous projects;
†
to aim at proper project management;
†
to allow the creation of ETSI Partnerships Projects (EPPs);
†
to streamline and rationalise the ETSI Working Procedures;
†
to improve the use of electronic tools for further rationalisation and innovation;
†
to use audio and video conferencing;
†
to broadcast inter-active meetings;
†
to increase standards promotion activities;
†
to facilitate and to promote direct electronic access to ETSI documents and deliverables,
free of charge.
Regarding ETSI’s external relations the advice given was: that ETSI should add to its
strength through partnerships in complementing areas, ceding some sovereignty on a case-by-
case basis to achieve common purposes.
ETSI should continue its dialogue (in GSC/RAST) with its major regional/national coun-
terparts, with the objective of strengthening arrangements for effective co-operation and be

prepared to enter into bilateral co-operation on a case-by-case basis.
With this short excerpt of some basic results stemming from the ETSI re-engineering
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication222
process undertaken in the middle of the 1990s, we have the fertile soil, i.e. the driving forces,
motivations, basic elements needed in order to establish a partnership project.
The tremendous success story of GSM may have even led some ETSI members to believe
that it would have been the most natural choice to repeat this with the third generation mobile
communication system within ETSI, too. But for insiders it became clear that such a success
could not be guaranteed another time.
After having dealt with the ETSI internal change in orientation from Europe-centric to
international and global, let’s have a short look at the first attempts at getting into closer
contact with our partners. Let’s start with our American friends.
In Sections 5.3 and 5.4 the standardisation work on PCS 1900 in ANSI T1P1 as well as the
new co-operation between ANSI T1P1 and ETSI Technical Committee SMG are described.
The relationship between ANSI T1P1 and ETSI TC SMG started in 1996/1997. Both
Technical Committees were working on independent sets of Technical Specifications, i.e.
GSM 1900 in the US and GSM 900/1800 in Europe, etc. Parallel working with different
speeds includes the risk of differences that may result in incompatibilities. In order to avoid
these difficulties both SDOs agreed to merge the two independent sets of specifications into a
common one and to further develop it commonly using a co-ordinated approach, i.e. each
work item and the results were approved in both committees and incorporated into the
common specifications.
Despite the fact that the co-operation between T1P1 and SMG was excellent, it suffered a
little from the fact that the double approval process and the difficult co-ordination process at
several levels, e.g. first in T1P1 and then within SMG, were not very efficient and too time
consuming. One of the lessons learnt from this exercise was: Why don’t we really co-operate,
i.e. work together, from the very beginning – then avoiding any type of ‘‘ approval ping-
pong’’ ? This was another good reason to consider what and how to improve the standardisa-
tion work for the third generation…
Now let’s have a look at the relationships with our friends from Asia.

In the People’s Republic of China, network operators had implemented large GSM
networks based on existing ETSI standards. In order to avoid divergence, Chinese authorities
(RITT) joined ETSI as an associate member and participated fully in the work of ETSI TC
SMG since 1997. Thus, it was possible to fully integrate the Chinese requirements into the
standardisation process within TC SMG in order to secure the integrity of GSM between
China and the ‘‘ rest of the world’’ .
In the meantime – with the Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) decision in January
1998 – contacts with Japanese ARIB/TTC colleagues had been established within ETSI TC
SMG. These contacts had started in spring 1997, 1 year earlier
Discussions on the Technical Committee working level at the end of 1997 and the begin-
ning of 1998 between ETSI, ARIB/TTC, and T1P1
3
led to the hope that the creation of a
common UMTS concept applicable in all territories – and thus de facto globally – was
possible. Such a concept could be based on UMTS service innovation, UTRA and the
GSM core network evolution.
In other words, there was from the beginning a lot of goodwill available from all sides to
do/undertake something in common. But how to do it? It became clear that to perform the
UMTS standardisation within the three (or more) existing organisations would have been
nearly unmanageable. Three committees in different continents could have developed the
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 223
3
More information is in Chapter 8, Section 8.2.6.2.3
UMTS radio specifications whilst several other committees would have worked on network
aspects. The situation in other key areas, such as services, Subscriber Identification Module
(SIM), and Operation and Maintenance would have been equally difficult. Furthermore, there
would have been no overall decision-making body for the resolution of possible conflicts. All
these difficulties sketched out here simply called for a new and much more effective global
organisational solution.
As the friends from ARIB were quite interested in developing a common radio interface

whose key parameters had been agreed in Japan and in the UTRA radio interface decision in
January 1997, a delegation from the ETSI TC SMG undertook an exploratory mission to
Japan on 5 and 6 February 1998 in order to find out whether or not a kind of co-operation with
them would be possible. Further information is given in Chapter 8, Section 8.2.6.2.3.
These informal contacts on the working level revealed that there was a good resonance on
the Japanese side. In an association like ETSI, there is not only the working level, there are
other levels as well, e.g. the General Assembly (GA), the highest ETSI authority, and the
Board, a body with some 25 clearly identified powers delegated by the GA. In 1997/1998 the
first ETSI Board could have looked back at about 18 months of existence and had, of course,
to play its role… Without acting like a ‘‘ donkey who eats up the grass that has grown over
(above) an old and nasty story,
4
one has to admit that the communication/co-operation
between the ETSI Board and the ETSI TC SMG suffered a little bit from irritations, mis-
understandings, mal-perceptions, etc. In other words, it was far from optimum at that time…
Nevertheless, there was a role to play from a more political strategic point of view. And now
the question was what to do in order to make something useful happen?
What do you do, when you do not exactly know how to proceed? You create a committee.
At least the politicians are supposed to do so. Well, within ETSI it was the Board that – after
an interesting extraordinary meeting at the Frankfurt Airport on 27 February 1998 – decided
to create an ETSI UMTS Globalisation Group (UGG), i.e. not a committee but an ad-hoc
group, but what is the difference? The next section will tell you more.
Coming back to the extraordinary ETSI Board meeting on 27 February 1998, to simply
mention ‘‘ it was an interesting one’’ is, of course, correct, but an understatement. We had
already quite an emotional ETSI Board#11 meeting dealing, with among other items, the
question of how to standardise UMTS in the most useful manner. As no consensus could be
achieved, a specially convened Board meeting was required.
At the beginning, a recall of the ETSI Board#11 results concerning the third generation
mobile standardisation was made. In addition, reports from ETSI TC SMG were given,
especially about their exploratory contacts with potential partners.

Regarding the ETSI strategy and policy for the standardisation of a third generation mobile
communications system, there were quite differing opinions and fears expressed. The two
extreme positions were something like:
†
create a new and independent 3G forum; and
†
keep all 3G standardisation within ETSI.
With all shades of compromise in between – among others why not use an ETSI Partner-
ship Project (EPP)? By the way, at that time it was not very clear what an EPP was. There
existed a general description in the ETSI Rules of Procedure, but it dated from 1995/1996 and
covered some basic characteristics only, allowing for a great variety of different implementa-
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication224
4
Wenn endlich Gras u
¨
ber eine (traurige) Angelegenheit gewachsen ist, kommt ein Esel, der das Gras auffrißt.
tions… Thus, asking three people about their interpretations, one could well be confronted
with four descriptions…
The result of this heated discussion was the idea to create a kind of starter group, UGG.
And the Board agreed that the group should consider the requirements for the globalisation of
GSM-based UMTS and make recommendations as to how this may be achieved.
9.1.2 The ETSI UMTS Globalisation Group
The UMTS Globalisation Group (UGG) was an ad-hoc group established by the ETSI Board
from where it got its first draft Terms of Reference. They have been refined since based on the
experience gained in the meantime.
9.1.2.1 Terms of Reference of UGG
In the following you will find the UGG Terms of Reference as revised during the first UGG
meeting and approved by correspondence by the ETSI Board.
9.1.2.1.1 Objectives of the Group
The objective of this Group was to consider the actions, which are required to enable UTRA

and ‘‘ GSM-based’’ UMTS specifications to be prepared and promoted in a manner, which
makes them attractive to global partners such that they will be implemented world-wide.
To achieve this objective the Group should:
†
provide strategic management of those activities which fall within the scope of this Group;
†
investigate the development of relationships with external partners and identify their
expectations for UMTS;
†
propose an organisational structure which meets the expectations of the Institute and
external partners, taking into account the recommendations of the ETSI GA ad-hoc
Group on fixed/mobile convergence (after their approval by the ETSI GA);
†
consider what transition arrangements are necessary to move towards a new organisational
structure;
†
propose a mechanism, which enables all active partners to take part in the approval of
related specifications.
In their work the Group may need to take into account the following factors:
1. Management characteristics (How do stakeholders define and approve strategic direction?
How is the ‘‘work-programme’’ defined and approved to carry out the strategic objec-
tives?)
2. Business model (How are ‘‘regional’’ priorities, based on their business model, defined
such that the standards are truly global?)
3. Financial model (How are ‘‘overhead’’ costs assigned?)
4. Operating principles (How is actual standardisation work carried out? How are the
standards approved in different regions/countries?)
5. Maintenance work (How are improvements, maintenance of standards performed?)
6. European fall-back (What is the fall-back solution for Europe if there are disagreements at
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 225

strategic/operational level? How can European interests be safeguarded if other regions
do not want ‘‘ European solutions’’ and if they retain the right to develop their own solution
since they have a ‘‘ multi-standards’’ market?)
7. IPR policy (Is the ETSI IPR policy the one to use?)
8. Relationship with other ETSI activities
9. Relationship with ITU (How to maximise the effectiveness of ETSI’s input into the IMT-
2000 activities of the ITU?)
9.1.2.1.2 Composition of the Group
The Group will have the following composition:
5
Chairman ETSI director-general
Vice-chairmen Two to be elected by, and from, the group.
Eight board members Mr Davidson, Mr Etesse, Dr Haas, Mr Kaiser, Mr Lang, Mr
Lathia, Mr Lindstro
¨
m, Mr Salles
SMG Two representatives (Mr Hillebrand and one to be advised)
GSM MoU Association One representative (Dr Nugter)
6
UMTS Forum One representative (Mr Beijer)
FMC Group FMC Group chairman (Mr Hearnden)
7
9.1.2.1.3 Reporting Arrangements
The Group will report to the ETSI Board.
9.1.2.1.4 Duration of the Group
Since the detailed GSM-based UMTS phase 1 specifications will be completed by the end of
1999, the Group should aim to complete its work in the fastest timeframe, with the objective
of producing their final recommendations no later than the September 1998 Board meeting.
This should enable relationships with external partners to be established, and organisational
changes to be implemented by autumn 1998.

Commenting a little on these Terms of Reference, the following needs to be said.
The additional text in italics and brackets is explanatory and had been added by the UGG
secretary in order to facilitate understanding.
Regarding the duration, to finish the work by September 1998 was extremely ambitious.
This time pressure came from the fact that the Japanese partners were seeking to have an
operational 3G system by the year 2001!
Despite an awkward UGG meeting schedule (see paragraph 9.1.2.3), that prevented the key
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication226
5
The chairman may co-opt additional representatives as required to assist in the completion of the tasks of the
group.
6
The representatives of the GSM MoU Association and the UMTS Forum are guests, invited to assist the Group,
but which are not bound by the governing rules of ETSI.
7
The FMC Group chairman will participate for as long as the FMC Group exists. It is expected that the FMC
Group will be closed during ETSI GA#30.
people from taking any summer vacation, it was not possible to fully meet that ambitious
goal. Nevertheless, as you will read in the following, 3GPP was able to have their first
meetings at the beginning of December 1998 at Sophia Antipolis.
9.1.2.2 Composition of UGG
The UGG ad-hoc group met very often (13 times) in the period between March and Novem-
ber 1998! This was the reason that the UGG members had some difficulties in attending all the
meetings. This situation again led to repetitive discussions owing to the fact that some results
of meeting X were challenged by members in meeting X 1 1 who were unable to participate
in the previous one.
The UGG meetings were chaired by myself, the ETSI director-general.
The Vice-chairmen were Mr. Phil Davidson and Mr. Kirit Lathia. Mr. Adrian Scrase acted
as secretary.
The eight ETSI Board members were already mentioned in paragraph 9.1.2.1. It happened

that at some UGG meetings additional Board members participated.
The ETSI TC SMG was basically represented by Messrs. Friedhelm Hillebrand, the SMG
chairman, by the SMG vice-chairmen, Messrs. Alan Cox and Gunnar Sandegren and by
Franc¸ois Grassot, the chairman of a manufacturers’ co-ordination group for the SMG work.
When the constitution of the Group was discussed for the first time, it was immediately
agreed that the GSM MoU Association and the UMTS Forum were to be invited to participate
in the ETSI Board ad-hoc group UGG. Under this arrangement, the benefit of the GSM MoU
Association and UMTS Forum expertise could be fully realised without them being bound by
the governing rules of ETSI. The GSM MoU Association was represented by Ms Adriana
Nugter and the UMTS Forum by Mr. Thomas Beijer, its chairman.
Mr. Chris Roberts acted on behalf of the European Commission as ETSI counsellor.
As the Fixed Mobile Convergence Group (FMC) was closed by the ETSI GA #30 in Spring
1998, there was no FMC delegate participating in UGG. But in the later meetings there was
some representation from the ETSI TC NA (Network Aspects), e.g. Messrs. Franc¸ois Lucas
and Hans van der Veer.
In general, there were between 10 and 17 delegates present, except for UGG meeting #12
where we reached 29 delegates including the SMG STC chairmen and vice-chairmen.
9.1.2.3 UGG Meeting Schedule
UGG met 13 times in 1998 as regular UGG meetings as follows:
UGG#1 On 13 March in Brussels, hosted by Airtouch
UGG#2 On 24 March in Sophia Antipolis, hosted by ETSI
UGG#3 On 08 April in Brussels, hosted by Airtouch
UGG#4 On 20 April in Sophia Antipolis, hosted by ETSI
UGG#5 On 12 May in Brussels, hosted by Airtouch
UGG#6 On 08 June in Sophia Antipolis, hosted by ETSI
UGG#7 On 29 June in Frankfurt, hosted by ETSI
UGG#8 On 28 July in London, hosted by DTI
UGG#9 On 19 and 20 August in Brussels, hosted by Ericsson
UGG#10 On 14 September in Munich, hosted by Siemens
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 227

UGG#11 On 30 September to 02 October in Sophia Antipolis, hosted
by ETSI
UGG#12 On 28–29 October in Amsterdam, hosted by Lucent
UGG#13 On 23 November in Frankfurt, hosted by Nokia
In addition, it was basically UGG that conducted exploratory and negotiation meetings
with potential partners as described in the following.
9.1.2.3.1 GSC/RAST
GSC stands for Global Standards Collaboration and RAST for Global Radio Standardisation.
These are loose co-operations between recognised Standards Developing Organisations
(SDOs) from different regions in the world: ACIF (Australia), ARIB (Japan), ETSI (Europe),
ITU (global, with its two sectors radiocommunications & telecommunications), TIA (US),
TSACC (Canada), TTA (Korea), and TTC (Japan). The GSC/RAST activities date back to
February 1990 to a meeting of the former ITSC (Interregional Telecommunications Stan-
dards Conference) at Fredericksburg, VA, where ITU-T, T1, TTC and ETSI delegates met for
the first time.
In the meantime the activities within GSC/RAST have resulted in a number of bilateral and
multilateral actions/collaborations and a considerable creation of trust between the partici-
pating organisations.
One can even state that without the mutual exchange of information and co-operation
within ITSC/GSC/RAST and the creation of trust between the bodies from different regions,
the establishment of the third generation partnership project would have been more difficult
and complicated if not impossible…
During the GSC/RAST meetings that took place from 30 March to 1 April 1998 at the ETSI
premises in Sophia Antipolis, a lot of discussion focussed on the question about how best to
standardise the next generation of mobile communication. That meeting offered additional
occasions for exploratory discussions with potential partners.
9.1.2.3.2 Meeting the Japanese Partners
In Japan standardisation in the area of telecommunications is undertaken by two SDOs:
†
ARIB (Association of Radio Industry and Businesses) for radio matters, and

†
TTC (Telecommunication Technology Committee) for the fixed network part.
After the ETSI TC SMG delegation that visited Japan on 5 and 6 February 1998, UGG met
as follows with the Japanese partners:
†
on 2 and 3 April 1998 in connection with the GSC/RAST meeting at Sophia Antipolis
†
on 28 and 29 May 1998 in Tokyo
†
on 29–31 July 1998 in London
†
on 7-9 October 1998 in Tokyo together with T1, TTA and
†
on 2–4 December 1998 in Copenhagen together with T1, TTA and CWTS.
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication228
9.1.2.3.3 Meeting the American Partners
In the US, there is the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), responsible for stan-
dardisation. The actual standardisation work is performed by more than 300 SDOs that got the
ANSI accreditation.
In the telecommunications area, the SDOs with which ETSI has the closest links are:
†
The T1 Committee; and
†
The Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA).
On 19 March 1998, in conjunction with an ETSI TC SMG Plenary that took place at Sophia
Antipolis, a discussion on the working level with representatives of T1P1 and TC SMG took
place in order to explore how to standardise UMTS in the future. The GSC/RAST meeting in
1998 at Sophia Antipolis allowed for further exchange of information with both T1 and TIA
representatives. At the end of May/beginning of June, Mr. Franc¸ois Grassot was authorised by
UGG to represent ETSI at a meeting with T1P1 and inform them about the UGG work as well

as the negotiations that took place on 28 and 29 May with the Japanese partners.
Afterwards, UGG undertook the following negotiations with the Americans:
†
25 and 26 June 1998 in Seattle. The T1 Committee was officially informed about the UGG
work and was invited to join the UMTS standardisation initiative.
†
10 July 1998 in London. An ANSI delegation met UGG and welcomed the UMTS initia-
tive.
†
25 September 1998 in Washington. UGG met the ANSI delegation again, which was
enriched by a few T1 and TIA representatives. The idea of the UMTS initiative to be
treated by means of a common partnership project was addressed as ‘‘ paradigm shift’’ by
the Americans.
†
26 and 27 August in Paris. This meeting between UGG and T1 (P1) Committee repre-
sentatives resulted in a breakthrough regarding the engagement of T1 delegates in the
further preparation of the 3GPP. The T1 delegates then took part in the meetings with all
other potential 3GPP partners, i.e.
†
7–9 October 1998 in Tokyo; and
†
2–4 December 1998 in Copenhagen.
9.1.2.3.4 Meeting the Korean Partners
In Korea the SDO responsible for standardisation in the fields of telecommunications is the
Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA).
After the ARIB/ETSI/TTC meeting on 28/29 May 1998 in Tokyo, Mr Kirit Lathia was
authorised by UGG to inform the Korean colleagues about the 3GPP preparations. Further
contacts were maintained by the ARIB/TTC colleagues that resulted in inviting TTA to the
next common meetings:
†

7–9 October in Tokyo; and
†
2–4 December in Copenhagen.
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 229
9.1.2.3.5 Meeting the Chinese Partners
The Research Institute of Telecommunications Technology (RITT) of China via the Chinese
Academy of Telecommunications Research (CATR) joined ETSI as an associate member and
represented the de facto SDO of the People’s Republic of China.
In the meantime, since 1999, standardisation in the UMTS related area is being performed
by the China Wireless Telecommunication Standard (CWTS) group.
The Chinese authorities are currently considering the creation of a Chinese Telecommu-
nications Standards Institute (CTSI)) and have consulted ETSI for support…
In addition to the contacts mentioned already in paragraph 9.1.1, the following was done in
order to involve the Chinese partners:
26 May 1998 in Beijing. In conjunction with a UMTS seminar organised by the UMTS
Forum, some unofficial meetings took place with RITT and CATR representatives in order to
inform them about the UMTS standardisation initiative and the plans to create a 3GPP.
Afterwards, some contacts were established between the Japanese and the Chinese part-
ners. With assistance from ARIB/TTC the Chinese partners were invited to the next common
meetings:
†
7–9 October in Tokyo; and
†
2–4 December in Copenhagen.
9.1.2.4 Discussions within UGG
9.1.2.4.1 General
The discussions within UGG have been tough and passionate. None of the UGG members
held the monopoly to be nice or nasty. In cases where it was impossible to achieve consensus
within UGG, the ETSI Board and even the ETSI GA had to play their decisive role, and that
has been necessary a few times...

The ETSI internal discussions within UGG and the negotiations with the different partners
– as described in paragraph 9.1.2.3 – as well as the feedback/decisions stemming from the
ETSI Board and GA meetings resulted in the establishment of the documents that were
approved during the final preparatory 3GPP meeting in Copenhagen on 2–4 December 1998:
†
The 3GPP Description;
†
The 3GPP Agreement; and
†
The 3GPP Working Procedures.
The exact wording of these basic papers for the creation of the 3GPP can be found on the
3GPP website at .
In paragraph 9.1.3 and its sub-paragraphs a rather general description of 3GPP will be
given without going in to too much detail.
It is not the intention to record here all discussions that took place because what counts at
the end of the day are the results aren’t they? Furthermore, as history very often proves the
heated discussions of yesterday may even be regarded as ‘‘ water under the bridge’’ , especially
when the development of events have proven that fears that may have existed at the begin-
ning, either have not materialised of are of no more relevance today…
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication230
9.1.2.4.2 The Start of UGG Discussions
During the second UGG meeting Mr Dieter Kaiser prepared schematic diagrams to show a
possible structure for the proposed project as viewed from the ETSI side, and from the side of
potential partners. These diagrams were discussed in depth and the following points were
noted:
†
The potential partners would need to be willing to adjust their own internal organisational
structures in order to contribute to the new project (to avoid duplication of effort within the
partner organisations).
†

Some parts of the existing ETSI TC SMG would need to be moved into the new project.
†
The remaining work would be undertaken within ETSI TC SMG as normal.
†
The ETSI TC SMG structure would remain largely unchanged, since the output of the new
project would be passed to SMG for further regional treatment, particularly for regulatory
deliverables.
†
The membership of the existing ETSI TC SMG could be widened to include external
partners, rather than creating a new project. This option was not supported by the UGG,
particularly since there would be no fallback position.
†
Participation in ETSI TC SMG, from potential partners for the new project, could be
increased on an interim basis pending the creation of the project.
†
The participation within the new project should be on an individual members basis, and the
creation of regional views should be avoided (i.e. there should not be regional blocking).
†
The new project could be structured in a similar manner to the EP TIPHON.
†
The new project must be made attractive to potential partners.
From the points listed above, the diagrams were updated and served as a basis for the
development of the 3GPP structure.
In addition, Mr Friedhelm Hillebrand prepared a document, whose principles had been
endorsed by TC SMG, giving the proposed responsibilities of the new project. The text was
edited during the meeting and a revised draft agreed as follows:
The UMTS Project elaborates, approves and maintains the necessary set of common specifica-
tions for:
†
UMTS terrestrial radio access (UTRA): W-CDMA in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD)

mode and TD-CDMA in Time Division Duplex (TDD) mode.
†
GSM platform evolution towards UMTS (including mobility management and global
roaming).
The common specifications will be developed in view of global roaming and global circula-
tion of terminals.The common specifications aim at forming the technical basis of an IMT-
2000 family member. The UMTS project elaborates contributions to the ITU on relevant
aspects of the IMT-2000 family.In the framework of agreed relationships the UMTS project
elaborates common specifications for approval and publication as standards, or parts of
standards, by ETSI and/or other standards bodies (such as ANSI, ARIB/TTC and RITT).
This can be considered a starting point for the 3GPP scope and project description.
Furthermore, Mr Hillebrand also prepared a document giving the proposed responsibilities
of SMG following the creation of the new project. It was agreed that this document should be
further discussed during the next meetings of the Group.
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 231
Mr Tom Lindstro
¨
m and Mr Gunnar Sandegren prepared a draft Project Requirements
Definition for the new project. Some preliminary work was undertaken to edit the draft but
this was not completed due to time constraints. Members were requested to study the draft
and to make proposals for amendments.
UGG noted that in accordance with an action requested during its first meeting, a press
release had been made immediately prior to ETSI GA meeting #30 in Spring 1998 announ-
cing ETSI’s plans to globalise its work on UMTS.
9.1.2.4.3 First Contacts with the Partners
The recent GSC and RAST meetings in March/April 1998 at Sophia Antipolis made good
progress and experienced a good collaborative atmosphere that ran through both meetings.
The meetings had been well attended (approximately 80 participants) from Europe, Canada,
US, Australia, Korea, and Japan.
The informal meetings that had taken place with T1 representatives during the SMG

plenary (19 March) and with T1 and TIA representatives on 31 March had been positive,
with the US representatives expressing an interest in participating in the proposed ETSI
Partnership Project. There had also been good support for the offer made by ETSI to provide
the administrative umbrella under which the new activity could be launched.
A more extensive discussion had taken place with delegates from ARIB and TTC on 2/3
April, immediately after the GSC/RAST meeting. Views had been exchanged on how such an
ETSI Partnership Project could be structured and operated. The concerns of most importance
to the Japanese delegates appeared to be the following:
1. The name of the ETSI Partnership Project. ‘‘ UMTS’’ was seen as a European term, which
would be inappropriate in a global environment.
2. ETSI dominance. The Japanese wished to participate as equal partners, with equal rights,
and equal responsibilities.
3. Use existing structures. The benefits of using existing ETSI structures (rather than creating
a new forum for example) were supported by the Japanese representatives.
4. IPR issues.
9.1.2.4.4 Continuation of UGG discussions
Mr Tom Lindstro
¨
m and Mr Gunnar Sandegren had prepared a revised Project Requirements
Definition which took into account the comments made during the last meeting and those
received subsequently.
The Group focused on the matter of partnerships and memberships of the proposed ETSI
Partnership Project. There were differing views expressed concerning the relationship
between partners and members and whether each member should be required to be associated
with a partner. After some discussion a clear view emerged that the ETSI Partnership Project
should be established with one or more partners who must be a recognised standards body to
be eligible. It was understood that the term ‘‘ recognised’’ meant different things in different
regions but the intention was clear. Members could be any entity that wished to contribute to
the work of the ETSI Partnership Project but must be members of a partner organisation, with
the fall back position that they would in any case be eligible for ETSI associate membership

GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication232
and could through that route obtain membership of the new activity. It was agreed that the
principles of the two terms ‘‘ member’’ and ‘‘ partner’’ should be included within the Project
Requirements Definition. It was understood that the formation of an ETSI Partnership Project
would not require the creation of a new legal entity since the existing ETSI structure provided
a suitable framework to operate within.
It was understood that a literal reading of the terms ‘‘member’’ and ‘‘ partner’’ could exclude
bodies such as the GSM MoU Association and the UMTS Forum. Dr Adriana Nugter and Mr
Thomas Beijer agreed to consider how best their organisations could be included within the
proposed organisational scenario.
A brief discussion took place on how voting could be conducted within the new activity
and a clear preference for one member one vote was expressed. It was agreed that consensus
should be the normal method of decision-making.
At UGG meeting #4, Mr Tom Lindstro
¨
m presented a revised Project Requirements Defini-
tion for the ETSI Partnership Project which took into account the comments received from
UGG members. Mr Kari Lang proposed a complementary pictorial representation of the
proposed ETSI Partnership Project which was noted.
Also proposed were methods for funding the ETSI Partnership Project. A long discussion
followed during which the advantages of member or partner funding were considered. At this
stage it was not clear what the funding was required for, nor what magnitude of funding was
required, but some difficulties were envisaged with the concept of individual member fund-
ing. It was believed that the funding requirements were low and were probably restricted to
additional secretariat assistance and a small STF. After full discussion it was agreed that the
starting point should be that ETSI is prepared to absorb the cost of running this Partnership
Project for a duration of say 2 years. This starting point could be re-discussed on the basis of
unexpectedly high costs, or the wish of potential partners to take part in funding the activity.
It is interesting in this context to note – looking back with hindsight and without anger –
that the costs for the Mobile Competence Centre within ETSI reached the order of magnitude

of 5 million EUR already in the year 2000 and will exceed 6 million EUR in the year 2001…
A short discussion took place on the voting principles to be applied within the ETSI
Partnership Project. It was basically agreed that one member one vote should be applied,
but some precaution should be included to stop decisions being taken which were unlikely to
be acceptable to specific regions. It was not proposed that regional voting should be applied,
but some care be taken to ensure that decisions were generally acceptable to all participating
regions.
By the way, the topic of voting has been discussed with changing focus during nearly all
UGG meetings as well as during the meetings with the 3GPP partners.
9.1.2.4.5 Further Discussions with the Japanese Partners
During the meeting with ARIB and TTC on 28 and 29 May 1998, the talks had centred around
two proposals; one prepared by ARIB/TTC and the other prepared by ETSI based on the
results of UGG#5. After a long discussion, all three parties agreed to base their further
discussions on the ETSI proposal which had been modified during the meeting to take
account of concerns raised by the ARIB/TTC. The proposal was endorsed in principle by
the three parties subject to final approval.
UGG discussed whether a task force should be created to accelerate the technical work
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 233
pending the creation of the partnership project. However, it was felt that the existing SMG
structure provided a good basis for the technical work to proceed until overtaken by the
partnership project.
UGG noted that whilst the ETSI proposal had been endorsed by all three parties there
remained a significant amount of work to be done in defining clearly the work to be under-
taken and the working rules under which that would be done.
Nevertheless, this meeting with the Japanese partners was a kind of first breakthrough in
the direction of 3GPP and led to unofficial and official contacts with the SDOs of the US,
Korea and China.
9.1.2.4.6 Back to UGG discussions
Within UGG meeting #6 it was agreed that a collective letter should be sent to the member-
ship informing them of the progress made so far and the expectations for the future. This

should include a request for support from the membership and an invitation to provide
constructive comments.
Furthermore, it was concluded that the SMG representatives to the UGG would keep ETSI
TC SMG fully informed of the progress being made, i.e. something self-evident.
The UGG chairman agreed that the ETSI secretariat would prepare a draft 3GPP partner-
ship agreement, but sought guidance on the format that should be used. It was thought that
either a common agreement signed by all partners could be used or a declaration could be
established which each joining partner could sign. Finally, the chairman volunteered to
prepare a draft based on ideas presented by UGG members. Well, whether we talk here
about the ETSI secretariat or later about the chairman preparing some drafts, in plane English
it basically meant that the UGG secretary, Mr Adrian Scrase, did an excellent job in perform-
ing all these and other tasks!
Furthermore, it was agreed that Mr Adrian Scrase would undertake to prepare draft work-
ing procedures based on the ETSI Directives. In addition, it was concluded that voting
procedures would be contained within the draft working procedures and that options
would be provided, where necessary, for decision at a later stage.
9.1.2.4.7 Discussions with ARIB and TTC in London
During the meeting with the Japanese partners in London on 29 and 30 July, the draft 3GPP
project description and the remainder of the draft 3GPP documentation was discussed,
reviewed and further refined.
Regarding the meetings of ETSI’s UMTS Globalisation Group representatives with the
future 3GPP partners, one has to state with great satisfaction and relief that they have always
been – in quite some difference to the tough ETSI internal discussions within UGG – guided
by great openness, a lot of trust and a very good spirit of co-operation!
A big compliment and expression of gratitude is extended to all who participated in these
fruitful discussions!
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication234
9.1.2.4.8 Looking Back at UGG Discussions – Without Anger
Back to reality, in UGG meeting #9, four contributions were presented proposing different
3GPP scopes and different work areas to be included in 3GPP.

During the presentation of these documents, UGG considered whether the 3GPP scope
should include all of the work currently within ETSI TC SMG. The inclusion or exclusion of
VHE was also considered. This led to the development of two different basic opinions:
1. that 3GPP should contain only those work items falling within the ‘‘ three bullet points’’ as
per document ETSI/BOARD-Global#9(98)08:
–
UTRA – wideband CDMA in FDD mode and TD-CDMA in TDD mode
–
GSM core network evolution
–
Terminals for the above, and
2. that 3GPP should include the majority of the work currently being performed in SMG but
excluding those items of a European regulatory nature.
It was not possible to reach consensus on either of these views. UGG also considered
keeping ETSI TC SMG in its current form but opening up the membership to include other
players by means of associate memberships and co-operation agreements.
UGG was unable to reach consensus on any of the views expressed but agreed to raise the
issue to the Board for resolution.
Commenting on this today with hindsight and the knowledge of the further evolution
within 3GPP, we can only smile… But at that time, i.e. August/September 1998, the matter
was discussed like the question within Macbeth: ‘‘ … to be or not to be?’’
9.1.2.4.9 An Extraordinary ETSI GA was Needed
Not only UGG, but the ETSI Board, too were unable to solve these problems. This situation
necessitated calling for an extraordinary meeting of the ETSI GA to decide on the structure
and scope of the Partnership Project. That meeting took place at the ETSI headquarters on 29
September 1998.
After explanations of the current situation on third generation mobile systems by the ETSI
Board chairmen, Mr David Hendon, and a number of documents related to the proposed
3GPP by the ETSI director-general, an intensive discussion on the proposed Partnership
Project followed.

Afterwards, the ETSI GA chairman, Dr Antonio Castillo, put the following three questions
to a vote:
Vote #1: Are you in favour of the principle of the creation of an ETSI Partnership Project
for a Third Generation Mobile System (3GPP)?
Result: 92.62% of the votes cast were in favour.
Vote #2: Do you agree with the creation of an ETSI Partnership Project (3GPP) that
includes: GSM core network evolution towards a third generation mobile system?
Whilst 63.4% of the votes cast were in favour, vote #2 failed to reach the required 71%.
Vote #3: Do you agree with the creation of an ETSI Partnership Project (3GPP) that
includes UTRA (W-CDMA in FDD mode and TD-CDMA in TDD mode)?
Result: 95.9% of the votes cast were in favour.
Chapter 9: The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) 235
The GA chairman then stated that in view of the fact that Vote #2 had failed to reach the
necessary 71%, the Assembly had to return to that question for re-discussion and to try and
reach an agreement on that point.
An interesting discussion ensued and the GA chairman then asked the ETSI TC SMG
chairman, Mr Friedhelm Hillebrand, to convene an ad-hoc group with those ETSI members
concerned to reach a compromise proposal, which might achieve a successful vote result.
Mr Hillebrand reported back that the ad-hoc group had reached an agreement by consen-
sus, based on BT and Ericsson contributions and combining the ideas of those who looked for
a short-term solution with those who looked towards the longer term. He stated that they had
achieved a strategy statement and that the final (detailed) decisions were to be taken at future
normal General Assemblies with the full 3GPP documentation available.
The GA chairman then put the following question for a vote:
Vote #4: Do you agree that the GA endorses the following principles for the forthcoming
negotiations:
1. to recommend ETSI to initiate an ETSI Partnership Project (EPP) to be known as ‘‘ 3GPP’’
for third generation mobile system specification work.
–
The 3GPP will be a partnership between ETSI and recognised Standards Developing

Organisations and other partners; industrial entities are members of 3GPP and provide
the technical input.
–
The 3GPP will develop specifications for the initial phase of a complete third genera-
tion mobile system based on UTRAN and evolved GSM core network (a ‘‘ G-UMTS’’
system).
2. To initiate the setting up of an ETSI Project (EP) for UMTS:
–
the new ETSI Project UMTS will collect current and future ETSI activities relevant to
UMTS outside those G-UMTS areas to be handled in the 3GPP.
3. Furthermore it is agreed that:
–
Work on GSM standardisation needs to continue, for example, for those network
operators who do not get a UMTS licence. It is proposed that this work should remain
in ETSI itself for the time being at least. For this and other reasons, it is proposed that
ETSI SMG should continue to exist.
–
No duplication of work between 3GPP and ETSI EP UMTS, new SMG.
Result: 94.5% of the votes were cast in favour. Thus, a solution for the scope and further
pursuit of 3GPP was, eventually, found… What a heavy birth!
9.1.2.4.10 Back to UGG
Despite these ETSI GA decisions, the next UGG meeting #12, immediately following was not
very effective – owing to some personal polarisation…
9.1.2.4.11 Discussions with Nearly all the Partners in Tokyo
For the period from 7 to 9 October 1998 all six 3GPP Organisational Partners (OPs), ARIB,
GSM and UMTS: The Creation of Global Mobile Communication236