Question

what do the letters 'E' and 'G' mean above the reception bars on my phone? (3g econet line)

Answer 1

G means its connected on GPRS singlal - and E means its connected to an  EGPRS ( also knowns as EDGE) signal. GPRS stands for General Packet Radio Services i think.  And the E is for ENHANCED GPRS, also referred to as EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution).  Those are just data connection signals standards with GPRS being the slowest one and EPRS/EDGE being the higher speed one. If you have a smartphone you will also sometimes see 3G (faster than E) and H (even faster than 3G) or if you have one of the very latest modes, LTE (ridiculously fast).

Answer 2

- E means you are getting Edge standard internet (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enhanced_Data_Rates_for_GSM_Evolution )
- G means you are getting GPRS ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPRS )

3G would show as '3G', and 4G as '4G'

if those 2 are all you get it basically means you are notting getting any 3G and its probably a phone issue.

Answer 3

E stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) (also known as EGPRS. Its a digital mobile phone technology that allows improvement of data transmission rate of GSM frequencies.  
G stands for General Pocket Radio Service GPRS. Of the two EDGE is faster than GPRS.