Orange and Mannesmann send mixed messages on GPRS

Orange has claimed other European mobile network operators - including Mannesmann, its new parent and operator of the D2 network in Germany - will keep end-users waiting until the end of next year for mobile data services based on GPRS (General Packet Radio Service).

Orange last week showed off a laptop and phone connected to the Internet using high-speed circuit switched data (HSCSD). A commercial deployment will be available imminently.

HSCSD, like GPRS, is widely seen as a stopgap technology before operators bid for and then build-out high-speed third-generation (3G) universal mobile telephony service (UMTS) networks.

However, many equipment providers and network operators have dismissed HSCSD. They say it offers a poor migration path to UMTS, it uses valuable timeslots inefficiently, and it is limited in several ways because it is not packet-based.

Orange will also eventually use GPRS, but maintains various trials cannot hide problems with GPRS terminals and billing technology.

Stuart Scott, Orange manager, Internet Products, told Silicon.com: "There is no way there'll be commercially available GPRS solutions by the first half of next year."

Mannesmann declined to comment on Orange's position.

A spokesman for BT Cellnet said GPRS handsets will arrive from suppliers before the end of this month, and that trial speeds of 28.8Kbps have been achieved. The company expects speeds of over 50Kbps by Q3 of next year, matching Orange's HSCSD evolution.

Orange's Scott denied its development of HSCSD and GPRS has put it behind other vendors' launch times for GPRS.

Robert Pratten, managing consultant at telecoms consultancy, Schema, said: "There could be quite a few roll-outs of GPRS before April next year. But the issue is not really speed - it's operators getting the applications right and gaining experience of mobile data in the run up to UMTS."