Ericsson wins GPRS network deal

Etisalat has selected Swedish telecom major Ericsson as its technology partner for the multi-million dirham GPRS (general packet radio services) network, which will be launched shortly, official sources said.

It has also secured 160,000 subscribers for its WAP service to date since it was launched in April this year, a clear sign of the growing interest in mobile data services.

"The GPRS will be launched shortly. The system has been put in place by Ericsson," a senior Etisalat official said.

The exact value of the contract was not disclosed.

As the first key step towards making available third generation (3G) mobile services, the system put in place for GPRS can cater to 200,000 users, said the official, adding that provision has been made for expansion.

The other vendors in the race were Alcatel, Motorola, Lucent and Siemens.

The GPRS network will thus pave the way for Edge (enhanced data for global evolution), which will be launched by end-2002.

Edge will provide swifter transmission of data up to 384 kilobits per second (kbps). Etisalat has its GSM services on a 2.5G network since the trials for GPRS got under way. Data transmission under GPRS is 115kbps.

Investment in the overall Internet protocol (IP) network for the next three to four years is Dh4 billion, including those for 3G mobile services.

Etisalat's 3G mobile service is based on the European standard, the Universal Mobile Telecomm-unication System.

Significantly, the corporation's WAP services have been witnessing "phenomenal growth" since their launch earlier this year.

Currently, there are around 160,000 WAP users, and by the end of the year the number is expected to touch 170,000 to 180,000, he said. As more applications are available via WAP, the number of subscribers will rise further, he added.

As of June 2001, the UAE had 1.7 million mobile phone, 1.1 million fixed, and 250,000 Internet subscribers.