Hard cells: GPRS users will fall foul of coverage holes

Telecoms experts are warning that the GPRS network could run out of service coverage or suffer bottlenecks, which will force handsets to switch automatically to the Circuit Switched Data network (CSD) - an enhancement of the current GSM network. It means that users may be billed at voice rates for data calls, which, as the phone is always on, can become very costly.

Graham Fisher, telecoms analyst at Bloor Research, said that operators are not solely to blame for the inflated bills. "The problem with the current GPRS handsets is that they are not configured to alert the user that the network has changed. The operator bills for both data and voice calls. It does not automatically recognise the service that the user wants," he said.

Dr Virtyt Koshi, analyst at Ovum, said operators are keen to convince us they have full GPRS network coverage: "They claim that they've got complete coverage throughout the country, but it is only theoretical, as it is with the current GSM network."

Pundits say the network coverage problems are similar to those experienced in the early days of the GSM rollout at the beginning of the 1990s. Fisher added: "Just because they don't have many GPRS users at the moment, it does not mean the billing will be right. In the early days of the GSM network there were many problems, including coverage and blocked service."

Experts urge operators to make the customer their first priority, not just rush to market with the technology. Ben Wood, business development director, Mobile Lifestreams, a mobile content provider, said: "The operators have to go beyond the technical implementations of GPRS. Customer service and support are going to be a crucial element in the delivery of 3G."

Currently BT Cellnet, the only operator offering GPRS services in the UK, charges £199 for a handset and a flat fee of £45 per month for data calls, with voice calls costing extra. It currently has 100 businesses signed up for the service. BT Cellnet's spokesman told silicon.com: "We have not experienced any problems with the billing so far."

Motorola is the only handset manufacturer which currently sells GPRS-enabled handsets in the UK. Motorola was unavailable for a comment.

CSD is an enhancement to the GSM mobile communications system that enables up to four 14.4Kbps channels to be combined to provide 57.6Kbps data transfer.