Taking another step in the direction of wireless Internet services,
Ericsson Wednesday announced plans to trial its GPRS system in more than 45 operators in the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.
GPRS — General Packet Radio Services — introduces packet data to mobile
networks, and is considered part of the migration to third generation (3G)
mobile networks.
The field tests will allow operators to conduct extensive evaluations and preparations for their
first commercial launch of packet-switched applications. GPRS is designed to enable operators to offer Mobile Internet and other IP-based applications at speeds 10 times as fast as current mobile networks that are optimized for voice applications, the company said.
“We’re seeing a tremendously strong market demand for our GPRS systems and
the applications they enable,” said Per Nordlof, general manager, Packet Switching Systems at
Ericsson Network Operators.
“GPRS is key to providing cost-effective and efficient wireless
datacom applications, such as Web-browsing and other IP-based applications, all of which can be
integrated with Ericsson’s data
backbone solutions.”