Following its success in Japan, the mobile communication technology
GPRS is coming to the UK. But does it work? Can users believe the
hype? It needs to be more than just fast and reliable if it is to
achieve widespread consumer buy-in on this side of the pond.
Considering the damp squib that became wireless application
protocol (Wap) technology, prospective GPRS users are adopting a
more cagey attitude to this latest development in mobile
technology. One can't imagine hoards of users scuttling off to
their local mobile phone store with the express intention of
purchasing a GPRS handset before the technology and the various
applications on offer have had a chance to prove themselves. The
marketeers, therefore, are saddled with the task of trying to
promote a service to the same users who relatively recently felt
jilted by Wap's flagrantly ambitious claims, smoke-and-mirrors
marketing hype and performance that's decidedly below-par. Surf the
Web indeed! What twaddle!
But if the industry analysts are to be believed - with assertions
that 3G is the holy grail of mobile communications - then GPRS,
general packet radio switch, or 2.5G as it is known in some
circles, ought be taken seriously.
The technology
GPRS has three significant advantages
over Wap: it provides always-on connectivity, mobile users get
modem-speed data rates and the option of making voice calls while
logged on to the Internet. These benefits are realised by the user
through convenience, improved mobile Internet performance and
cost.
Whereas Wap uses circuit-switched technology where a circuit
connection is set up between the caller and the called party, GPRS
connection is always on, thus negating the need to 'dial-up' to
communicate. Significantly, the circuit switch connection is held
open for the duration of the call in much the same way as a dial-up
modem connection is, so the caller is billed for the use of air
time during the call or connection. GPRS uses a packet switched
transmission technique where information is split into 'packets' of
data that are routed independently through the network over
different paths to the final destination. Similar to Japan's hugely
successful i-Mode service, the cost to the user is determined by
the amount of information or packets 'consumed' or sent during up
and download. With a free connection, you only pay for what you
use.
As for the speed or power of the connection, which is the single
most important factor when rating the quality of Internet
availability, there is still uncertainty and disagreement.
"Theoretically, the GPRS network should be able to deliver as much
as 170kbps, but data rates of between 115 and 120kbps is a more
realistic figure. In practice, however, speeds of between 40 or
50kbps are attainable," says Ovum's director of wireless research,
Jeremy Green.
Regardless of the bandwidth delivered by the network, first
generation GPRS handsets have proven to be the weakness in the
communication link with only a capacity to handle data rates in the
region of 20kbps. This is expected to roughly double by the end of
2001 with handsets such as Ericsson's T39 already boasting
performance figures of 42.3kbps.
Recent 'live' tests indicate that even 40kbps is a little
optimistic. Speeds comparable to the more modest home-based modem
dial-ups over a standard BT line are more realistic. That said, the
20-30kbps that GPRS will be able to offer its users from the outset
is still appreciably better than what Wap was offering at a similar
time in its development.
The players
To make use of GPRS, one needs a
GPRS-compatible handset. At the time of going to press only two
handset manufacturers, Motorola and Ericsson, could oblige. The
dire shortage of available handsets at the start of 2001 seems to
be a thing of the past with the CarPhone Warehouse reporting that
supply is more than meeting demand. A greater variety of makes and
models is expected to flood the market by the fourth quarter of
this year, as the usual players - Alcatel, Samsung, Mitsubishi,
NEC, Panasonic, Phillips, Sendo and Siemens - enter the GPRS fray.
Nokia, which currently claims the lion's share of the 2G-handset
market, is conspicuous by its absence.
Bluetooth technology, which has enjoyed a lot of press attention
during the course of the past 12 months, is sure to benefit on the
back of mainstream GPRS rollout. Bluetooth provides cable-free
connectivity between mobile phones, mobile PCs, handheld computers
and other devices, effectively making cable and infrared
connections redundant. Anticipating Bluetooth's potential in terms
of practicality and user friendliness, the latest Ericsson handsets
feature a built-in Bluetooth port, which negates the need to add on
unsightly contraptions to ensure the delivery of high-speed mobile
Internet services over short distances.
GPRS makes use of the existing cellular telephony networks and
terrestrial-based antennae and base stations meaning that the same
four telcos will provide the backbone through which GPRS services
are offered. This is good news to consumers because the relatively
modest infrastructure cost laid out by the telcos should ensure
that tariffs for use of the network are likely to stay
correspondingly low. At present, only Vodaphone and BT Cellnet
offer the GPRS service, but Orange and One-2-One are expected to
confirm that they will be launching their services by Q4 this year.
What's in it for the users?
One of the most difficult
GPRS questions to answer at the moment concerns private and
corporate use and which group of users is likely to be at the front
of the early adoption queue. History suggests that the corporate
environment is most likely to be targeted by the service providers,
but there is nothing to indicate that there will be anything but a
parallel development where the boundaries between the two
user-groups becomes blurred and, to a greater degree, irrelevant.
In terms of meaningful applications that can be offered via the GSM
networks, much has still to be developed by the service providers.
Recent surveys conducted by Ericsson indicate that the demand for
mobile email access is considered to be the most desirable service,
with approximately a third of respondents citing this as the most
coveted application, followed by sports news (26%), news and
weather (25%) and banking services (23%). From a corporate
perspective the ability to access the corporate intranet and make
real-time adjustments to daily schedules from remote locations is
at present the most advantageous use of the technology.
Paul Salusbury, Ericsson's UK business development director,
believes that "GPRS is all about improving the effectiveness and
efficiency of employees who are out of the office by allowing them
to access work-related information quickly and easily. It allows
them to update and synchronise diary appointments in real time with
office-bound colleagues."
Speculation about transactional applications representing the real
value to the corporate market has been considerable. Online
banking, mobile procurement and commerce and online share dealing
are certain to become commonplace as communication continues to
develop. The time scale, however, is less clear.
The cost factor
As with all forms of communication,
once the hardware has been acquired, (in this case handsets, which
currently retail for between £30 and £100), the real costs are
incurred by the use of the various services on offer.
At present the telcos are remaining fairly tight-lipped about the
types of costs likely to be incurred by the user. What is certain
though is the fact that pricing structures are in their infancy
with scope for development and tailoring of packages to suit
specific user groups.
"The operators will soon decide what their billing methodology is,"
says Salusbury. "You and I as end-users aren't necessarily
interested in how many kilobytes of information we're sending -
we're more interested in the content and the usefulness of the
applications that we use. I think that the billing structures will
evolve over time where your service provider will, for example,
offer you access to your corporate email as a medium or high user,
which means that you will have access to Outlook and your various
attachments. You will pay for this service, and you will be billed
for it in a lump sum at the end of every month."
It is likely, therefore, that the billing structures offered by the
individual GPRS service providers will follow along the same lines
as their television counterparts where the subscriber opts for any
number of services from the suite on offer by the service provider.
GPRS is here and it's here to stay - for the time being at least,
until it is superseded by 3G. But in terms of that evolutionary
process, where exactly are we? "Messaging is a good example to use
to illustrate our current position," says Salusbury. "At the moment
we have SMS [short messaging service] and even EMS [enhanced
messaging service] where I can send small icons or music samples.
Text messages were essentially a one-to-one communication where
now, if I send a number of cartoon characters, they can be
forwarded to friends and colleagues. In the foreseeable future MMS
[multimedia messaging service] will allow us to convey still
pictures while 3G is all about video streaming. Instead of just
getting the latest sports updates, with 3G you could view footage
of the latest action."
As is so often the case with new technologies, it is the early
adopters who get the jump on the competition. In the case of GPRS
and eventually 3G, the technology is not going to go away. On the
contrary, the acceleration of the development of new products,
applications and services is likely to continue indefinitely.
Familiarity of use and devising ways in which the technology can
assist your organisation in the daily transaction of its core
business is not only an option; it's a necessity.
Visit 3G at
www.3g.co.uk/