Interactive Timeline
2G
legacyGSM / GPRS / EDGE — 1991
The network that gave the world SMS.
Peak Speedtheoretical
384 Kbps
Real-World Speedtypical
100 Kbps
Latencyend-to-end
600 ms
Device Density
1K / km²
Spectrum Range
850 MHz – 2 GHz
Core Architecture
GSM Network Architecture
Circuit-switched voice core with a separate GPRS packet-switched overlay. The Base Station Subsystem (BSS) connects handsets to the core via BTS and BSC.
What Changed in 2G
This is where it all began — the foundation for everything that followed.
Summary
2G replaced analogue 1G with digital transmission, making calls clearer and enabling SMS — the first global text messaging system. Later extensions (GPRS, EDGE) added rudimentary packet data, but speeds were measured in kilobits, not megabits.
Rel-4 (EDGE) / GSM pre-3GPP — IMT — not formally classified