General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented Mobile Data Service which is available to users of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). It provides data rates from 56 up to 114 kbit/s.

GPRS can be used for services such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) access, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), and for Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access. GPRS data transfer is typically charged per megabyte of traffic transferred, while data communication via traditional circuit switching is billed per minute of connection time, independent of whether the user actually is utilizing the capacity or is in an idle state.

GPRS is a best-effort packet switched service, as opposed to circuit switching, where a certain Quality of Service (QoS) is guaranteed during the connection for non-mobile users.