Next generation General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) technology,
dubbed 2.5G, will enable the logistics giant Fedex to save money on
telecoms bills if early testing is satisfactory.
The wireless network technology, which became available in the UK
earlier this year, will also allow Fedex to use common applications
worldwide, and provide a richer range of functions to
end-users.
Fedex is testing GPRS mobile technology for its European workforce
of couriers as part of a global adoption of the next generation in
mobile technology.
GPRS offers Internet protocol-based packet transmission at a much
higher bandwidth than the currently predominant GSM (global system
for mobile communications) transmission technology.
Such networks are only now beginning to be widely available and the
Fedex implementation is among the first to be carried out on a
large scale for a mission-critical application in the UK.
Walter Abercrombie, vice-president of information technology for
Fedex's Europe, Middle East and Africa arm, said, "Having a
standard like GPRS is key to our ability to have a common wireless
system worldwide, where before we had to customise our solutions to
fit the availability and type of network."
The company will put its new Powerpad wireless courier device
through limited tests in Europe, where it will use GPRS to
communicate with Fedex's core Cosmos system, which holds tracking,
tracing, dispatching, and quotation information and is also
accessible to key customers.
Fedex's mobile workforce uses its Supertracker short message
service (SMS) device at present to communicate locations for parcel
status tracking and for receiving dispatch instructions from
customers.
It is replacing it with a new courier device - the Powerpad - which
is a multi-function personal digital assistant which can receive
pick-up instructions, scan packets at pick-up, send delivery
information, store proof of delivery and transmit via infrared,
Bluetooth or GPRS.
Abercrombie said, "GPRS technology and its inherent price
structure, is significantly better than the first generation
wireless wide area technology currently being used in the
industry.
"We see a real opportunity to extend capabilities using GPRS, not
only from a cost standpoint but to provide the mobile worker with
more value-added functions than were previously [possible] using
SMS and Wap [wireless application protocol]."
Being packet-based, the user pays only for information downloaded
rather than the time the circuit is open - as with GSM - giving a
potential for savings. Increased bandwidth allows for richer
screens to be served more easily than with Wap.
David Birch, director of mobile technology specialists Consult
Hyperion, said, "Because GPRS is always-on you pay less because you
are only charged for the packets you receive.
"This will also give businesses the chance to build applications
and learn about new ways of working which will give them useful
experience as we move towards 3G," he added.
Fedex has plans to roll out the technology to 2,000 employees in
Europe. The move follows Fedex's deal with AT&T earlier this
year to provide its 40,000 US couriers with the technology.