BT Cellnet is about to launch Europe’s first consumer GPRS service.
GPRS, a 2.5G technology, is considered to be the stepping stone to high speed 3G mobile Internet services in Europe. In contrast to WAP-over-GSM, with GPRS the customer will always be online and can make phone calls without logging off the Internet. GPRS also offers enhanced bandwidth: 20-30Kbit/s, compared with GSM’s 9.6Kbit/s.
Unfortunately, technical problems have forced most companies to delay their launches. Only BT Cellnet is set to start consumer GPRS services on May 18 – despite the fact that in a recent demonstration most handsets were unable to connect to the Internet.
Mobile operators’ financial problems, thanks to the billions spent on 3G licenses and network infrastructure, mean that they need to get revenues coming in from GPRS and 3G services as soon as possible. But the poor reception given to WAP phones, combined with these GPRS delays, has increased uncertainty over whether there will be a strong demand.
Operators need to find a killer application that will attract a large number of customers. It may be more entertainment services, as in Japan – but information services, location based services and mPayment are also possible candidates. In the early days, email will certainly be the most attractive option. According to BT Cellnet, with GPRS, email will prove cheaper than SMS. The added advantage is that emails will not be limited to 160 characters, making this service attractive for many users.
i-Mode’s Japanese success demonstrates there is potential for wireless services. However, it seems that as long as customers are discouraged by news of coverage holes, less speed than promised and expensive handsets, GPRS uptake will be limited to high-value early adopters such as business users.
There are still a lot of teething problems to be ironed out – and GPRS so far is unlikely to enthuse consumers over 3G. It is absolutely vital that operators make a success of GPRS. WAP has clearly been a failure. Another poorly managed new service launch could damage the industry even more.
