Eircell today announced the completion of its nationwide GPRS network, the so-called 2.5G technology that will offer higher speed internet access as a stepping stone to 3 G networks.
But despite the network completion, Eircell says that services will not be available until the summer, initially only to corporate customers, with consumer applications by the end of the year.
Another problem is that Eircell says that GPRS will only be four times faster than current GSM networks. In the past the telecoms industry has said that 2.5G promised speeds many multiples of current levels. However, Eircell says that speeds will improve after initial trials.
At the moment only Motorola has produced a 2.5G enabled handset, and there have been industry concerns that other manufacturers will not have handsets available by the summer. No indication of what a handset might cost is available from Eircell.
The completition of the network will allow customers 'always on' internet connectivity, which will require a new type of billing structure.
Eircell intends to charge on the basis of the volume of information a user transmits/receives, rather than the traditional length of a call used at present.
Eircell CEO Stephen Brewer says GPRS technology can deliver 80% of the services that will be offered by 3G, and added that he does not expect 3G to become commercially available until 2003/4.
An industry source estimated the revenues from data will account for between 30 and 50% of mobile operators revenues by 2005.
