> using this, J-Phone is able to bill on data volume without PDC-P
> ... why Europeans had to wait for GRPS to provide data services?
They didn't, data services have been there for God knows how many years.
GPRS was supposed to make data-life easier and push mobile data applications
forward a great deal. GSM Data (9.6 kbit/s) and HSCSD (typically from 14.4
kbit/s to 43.2 kbit/s (3x14.4)) are popular but typially used from a laptop
(cable, IR, BT) instead directly from the handset. Just like in the old
days people used analog modems from homes, pretty much at the same rates too
(latency was better, though).
GSM Data and HSCSD are typically charged per minute and work for batch
transfers, like transferring your e-mail to your PDA or laptop. For surfing
the web or "mobile internet", packet data like GPRS is more bandwidth
efficient and if the service is properly charged, also cost effective. Many
carriers have such a pricing policy that make bulk transfers cheaper over
GSM data/HSCSD and other data usage cheaper over GPRS.
Petri
Received on Wed Jul 10 16:33:09 2002