China Unicom, Motorola launch commercial GPRS Network in Asia

GSM operator China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom), has launched General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) high-speed mobile data on its network in Shenzhen, one of China's four special economic zones. The network, enabled by the core GPRS network solution supplied by Motorola, Inc. (Schaumburg, IL) and strategic alliance partner Cisco Systems Inc. (San Jose, CA) is the first commercial GPRS system in Asia.

The commercial launch by China Unicom Shenzhen Branch (Shenzhen Unicom) comes just two and a half months after the completion of technology trials and the first live GPRS call in Shenzhen. The Shenzhen GPRS launch is the fourth for Motorola and Cisco in just two months. The two companies' GPRS networks and Motorola handsets have been put into commercial use for three other operators worldwide: BT Cellnet in the United Kingdom, T-Mobil in Germany, and Telsim in Turkey. In addition, Motorola and Cisco are conducting GPRS trials with more than 20 operators worldwide.

Shenzhen Unicom's GPRS network launches with Motorola's L2000g (European Model: Timeport p7389i) GPRS phone—a GSM tri-band GPRS handset.

A number of GPRS-enabled demonstration applications were showcased to the invited media at Shenzhen Unicom's launch announcement event, highlighting the capabilities of the packet data technology and the immediate availability of services. Applications include e-mail access, Internet browsing, videoconference, and mobile e-commerce.

Liu Jian, general manager of Shenzhen Unicom, said, "GPRS deployment is a new milestone for Shenzhen Unicom, and by working closely with Motorola, we were able to bring the new service to market on schedule. GPRS can enable subscribers to fully enjoy WAP applications. Once you turn on your cellular phone, you are on line and are always on line, but will only be charged for conducting data transmission. This means that subscribers will be able to take pleasure in wireless Internet services more conveniently, efficiently and economically."

"We are implementing GPRS now as the key investment and migration tool for the future third generation network, which can enable an even greater range of services," Liu added. "An established GPRS network can provide a solid platform for the evolution to third generation communications."

GPRS is the first step of Motorola's new Aspira communication architecture platform. The Aspira communication architecture combines voice, data, and multimedia into one broadband IP-based network. This architecture for total end-to-end solutions is intended to encompass transport networks, applications, services, and endpoint devices.

Edited by Ellen Jensen
Managing Editor, Wireless Networks Online