HOW DOES GPRS WORK ?

GPRS is packet based, wherein GPRS data is handled as a series of "packets" that can be routed over several paths through the network, rather than as a continuous bit-stream over a dedicated dial-up connection. With GPRS, the information is split into separate but related "packets" before being transmitted and reassembled at the receiving end. The Internet itself is an example of a packet data network, the most famous of many such network types.

In second-generation mobile networks, calls are handled using traditional circuit-switching technology. A dedicated "circuit", or "timeslot", is allocated between two points for the duration of a call. No other phone can use this circuit during the call, regardless of whether any data is being transmitted or not.

GPRS standard is delivered in a very elegant manner- with network operators needing only to add a couple of new infrastructure nodes and making a software upgrade to some existing GSM network elements.