Short for wide-band CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access), a 3G technology that increases data transmission rates in GSM systems by using the CDMA air interface instead of TDMA. WCDMA is based on CDMA and is the technology used in UMTS. WCDMA was adopted as a standard by the ITU under the name "IMT-2000 direct spread".

W-CDMA was developed by NTT DoCoMo and transmits on a pair of 5 MHz-wide radio channels. W-CDMA uses a direct sequence CDMA transmission technique and promises to achieve a benefit of reduced cost for video phone handsets. W-CDMA has been developed into a complete set of specifications, a detailed protocol that defines how a mobile phone communicates with the tower, how signals are modulated, how datagrams are structured, and system interfaces are specified allowing free competition on technology elements

Japan cell phone gossary
What is Unlocked Cell Phone?
What is Dual-band/Tri-band/Quad-band
What is GSM?
What is CDMA?
What is 3G?
What is a SIM Card?
What is Pre-Paid Phone Cards?
What is SMS?
What is EMS?
What is MMS?
What is PHS?