Twenty years ago today 15 European operators signed a Memorandum of Understanding which led to the development of the GSM standard for mobile networks.

The GSM, or Global System for Mobile Communications is today used by over 2.5 billion people in 218 countries worldwide. The first text message was sent 15 years ago and today over 7 billion are sent daily.

More than 700 mobile operators offer GSM services, and in the past years they've spent a mind boggling $234 billion on rebuilding and expanding their GSM and 3G networks.

The European Commission is planning to repeal the 20 year old GSM Directive and allow new technologies to use GSM frequencies. This would allow 3G devices to use the 900 and 1800MHz spectrum alongside the GSM services.

According to a recent industry study this move would reduce operating costs by 40 per cent.

More here.