GPRS
General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) is a packet-based wireless communication service
that promises data rates from 56 up to 114 Kbps and continuous connection to the Internet for mobile phone and
computer users. The higher data rates will allow users to take part in video conferences and interact with multimedia
Web sites and similar applications using mobile handheld devices as well as notebook computers. GPRS is based on
Global System for Mobile (GSM) communication and will complement existing services such circuit-switched cellular
phone connections and the Short Message Service (SMS).
In theory, GPRS packet-based service should cost users less than circuit-switched services since communication
channels are being used on a shared-use, as-packets-are-needed basis rather than dedicated only to one user at
a time. It should also be easier to make applications available to mobile users because the faster data rate means
that middleware currently needed to adapt applications to the slower speed of wireless systems will no longer be
needed. As GPRS becomes available, mobile users of a virtual private network (VPN) will be able to access the private
network continuously rather than through a dial-up connection.
GPRS will also complement Bluetooth, a standard for replacing wired connections between devices with wireless radio
connections. In addition to the Internet Protocol (IP), GPRS supports X.25, a packet-based protocol that is used
mainly in Europe. GPRS is an evolutionary step toward Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE) and Universal Mobile
Telephone Service (UMTS).