Little fanfare

The reputation of GPRS technology in Europe has suffered as carriers face lower-than-anticipated data speeds, interoperability problems and a shortage of handsets.

As a result, North American GSM and TDMA operators appear to be cautious as they prepare for their general packet radio service (GPRS) rollouts later this year, being careful not to hype the service and revealing few details.

“We are still on track for the second quarter, and our handset vendors are in line,” said a spokesman for Cingular Wireless. This is all the information Cingular would reveal.

GPRS gives GSM systems always-on, packet-based wireless Internet services. But the reality of the technology has fallen short of its promises in Europe. GPRS was once touted as delivering high-speed data solutions at speeds of more than 100 kb/s, but most operators will only offer data speeds in the 28 kb/s to 56 kb/s range. That's because carriers must trade off data and voice capacity in the network, and they are not about to compromise their primary voice business.

European carriers also are frustrated that equipment from various suppliers won't interoperate. Many have delayed commercial launches.

Europe's operators have grappled with a shortage of GPRS devices to roll out a meaningful service. Motorola is the only handset vendor delivering volumes of GPRS phones, while Ericsson and Sagem have begun shipping phones. Nokia, the world's largest handset vendor, says it won't roll out volumes of handsets until the third quarter.

It's a heavy load for North American GPRS operators to carry. “We will probably see the same problems here and probably more because U.S. operators are a stepchild to Europe,” said David Berndt, director of wireless mobile technologies for The Yankee Group. “People are building for the European market because of its size. Are we going to be second-class citizens for GPRS?”

Many analysts indicate North American carriers will run short of GPRS devices, but operators counter the notion.

“There are handsets out in the market right now in quantities to launch service, but we're waiting for the strongest possible mix we can put out in the marketplace,” Bob Stapleton, president and CEO of VoiceStream Wireless, told analysts during a conference call. “We want to go past simple handsets and get devices with larger screens and better browsing experiences in the marketplace.”

Stapleton said he is optimistic that devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), two-way pagers and wireless data cards will come in the fourth quarter.

Mark Hugh Sam, technology analyst with Dundee Securities in Toronto, believes many GPRS device manufacturers are in danger of missing the Christmas selling season.

“The more I talk to the PDA manufacturers, the more I believe they will miss the market in the fourth quarter,” Sam said. “They only have four months to get this right. They have to be in production by September to roll out product in the fourth quarter.”

Andy Fortes, vice president of communications technology at Allied Business Intelligence, says industry checks of GPRS components indicate devices will become available in the fourth quarter, although they will be simple devices.

“The more complicated the devices become, potentially there are greater problems with battery life,” he said.

Cingular, which has already launched GPRS service in California, plans to be the first operator to introduce commercial GPRS services in California, Nevada and Washington during the second quarter. AT&T Wireless is likely to follow in Seattle and other top markets, while VoiceStream Wireless, which is calling its service i-Stream, said it will launch service in the second and third quarter. The company didn't return calls to specify which markets, although it has been testing services throughout its footprint, sources close to the company say.

Not with a bang

Publicly announced GPRS rollout schedules

Company	Where	When
Cingular Wireless	California, Nevada, Washington	Second quarter
AT&T Wireless	Seattle	Third quarter
VoiceStream Wireless	N/A	Second quarter
Source: Company reports