3G UMTS WCDMA Frequency Bands & UARFCN

3G UMTS used a number of standard frequencies and bands and channels were given a UARFCN which can easily be calculated

3G UMTS includes:
What is UMTS Network architecture Radio access Radio interface Frequency bands UMTS CDMA Modulation Data channels UMTS TDD TD-SDCDMA Handover

Although there are many bands and frequencies available now for mobile telecommunications, 3G UMTS had a number of recognised bands that were widely used for carrying these services.

One of the advantages of the use of 3G UMTS was that spectrum around the globe was coordinated well and this meant that mobile handsets could have a relatively limited number of bands if they were to operate anywhere.

Although with the advent of 4G, 5G, etc and a much greater number of users, spectrum allocations have proliferated and been allocated according to local availability, the 3G bands and allocations were much more coordinated.

UMTS bands basics

As the use of 3G UMTS has grown, so too has the requirement for frequency allocations. Initially frequency bands in the region of 1885 - 2025 and 2110 - 2200 MHz were set aside.

These frequency bands were originally set aside at the World Administrative radio Conference in 1992, to enable use on a worldwide basis by administrations wishing to implement International Mobile Telecommunications-2000, IMT-2000.

As the requirement for additional frequency spectrum grew with the increased use of 3G UMTS, more allocations were set aside.

Although not all bands are available in all countries, all bands are managed on an international basis. In this way roaming is possible without the need for a huge number of frequency bands needing to be incorporated within each mobile device.

3G UMTS bandwidth

UMTS uses wideband CDMA as the radio transport mechanism and the UMTS frequency channels are spaced by 5 MHz.

The UMTS signal bandwidth is normally considered to be 5 MHz but this figure includes the 0.58 MHz guard bands either side.

Therefore when the two guard bands, one either side, are excluded this leaves and effective signal bandwidth of 3.84 MHz within the flat response area of the signal for the transmission itself.

It is also necessary to consider the roll-off factor for the signal of 0.22. This roll-off factor is determined by the Root Raised Cosine filter specified by 3GPP. This means that the total signal bandwidth increasing the skirts is 4.68 MHz.

It is also worth noting that the frequency bandwidth used for the TD-SCDMA variant of 3G UMTS used in China is 1.6 MHz.

UARFCN channel numbers

UMTS carrier frequencies are designated by a UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number, UARFCN. The UARFCN is used to define channel numbers in an easy and unambiguous fashion.

The UARFCN can be easily calculated from the following equation or formula:

UARFCN = 5 frequency in MHz

The UARFCN is only able to represent channels that are centred on a multiple of 200 kHz and these do not always align with licensing in North America. Accordingly 3GPP added several special values for the common North American channels.

3G UMTS frequency bands - FDD

As FDD, frequency division duplex requires bands for uplink and downlink, the bands for FDD are different to those required for TDD time division duplex.

The main UMTS / WCDMA frequency bands for FDD operation are summarised below:

3G UMTS Frequency Bands - FDD
Band Number	Band	Common Name	UL Frequencies	DL Frequencues
1	2100	IMT	1920 - 1980	2120 - 2170
2	1900	PCS A-F	1850 - 1910	1930 - 1990
3	1800	DCS	1710 - 1785	1805 - 1880
4	1700	AWS A-F	1710 - 1755	2110 - 2155
5	850	CLR	824 - 849	869 - 894
6	800		830 - 840	875 - 885
7	2600	IMT-E	2500 - 2570	2620 - 2690
8	900	E-GSM	880 - 915	925 - 960
9	1700		1749.9 - 1784.9	1844.9 - 1879.9
10	1700	EAWS A-G	1710 - 1770	2110 - 2170
11	1500	LPDC	1427.9 - 1447.9	1475.9 - 1495.9
12	700	LSMH	699 - 716	729 - 746
13	700	USMH C	777 - 787	746 - 756
14	700	USMH D	788 - 798	758 - 768
19	800		832.4 - 842.6	877.4 - 887.6
20	800	EUDD	832 - 862	791 - 821
21	1500	UPDC	1447.9 - 1462.9	1495 - 1510.9
22	3500		3410 - 3490	3510 - 3590
25	1900	EPCS A-G	1850 - 1915	1930 - 1995
26	850	ECLR	814 - 849	859 - 894

Frequency bands 15, 16, 17, 18, 23 and 24 are now reserved frequency bands.

3G UMTS frequency bands - TDD

The main UMTS frequency bands for TDD, time division duplex, operation are summarised below.

3G UMTS Frequency Bands - TDD
Band Reference	Band Name	Frequencies
A Lower	IMT	1900 - 1920
A Upper	IMT	2010 - 2025
B Lower	PCS	1850 - 1910
B Upper	PCS	1930 - 1990
C	PCS duplex gap	1910 - 1930
D	IMT-E	2570 - 2620
E		2300 - 2400
F		1880 - 1920

It is also noted that several of the UMTS frequency bands overlap or share similar frequencies. This is because the frequency allocations are for different areas, and each frequency band definition is given a new band number for that particular band.

One of the advantages of the way in which 3G UMTS frequency bands were allocated was that there was a large amount of commonality around the globe. With the increase in usage for 4G and then 5G, it was not possible to gain the same degree of global commonality.