Technology used by GPRS
The main objectives to be reached by implementing GPRS are the following: 
- give support for bursty traffic 
- use efficiently network and radio resources 
- provide flexible services at relatively low costs 
- possibility for connectivity to the Internet 
- provide fast access time 
- to have and support flexible co-existence with GSM voice 

In order to meet these objectives the following technologies are applied. GPRS uses a packet-mode technique to transfer data and signaling in a cost-efficient manner over GSM radio networks and also optimizes the use of radio and network resources. Still a strict separation between the radio and network subsystems is maintained in order to allow the network subsystem to be reused with other radio access technologies. 

New GPRS radio channels are also defined. The allocation of these timeslots is flexible, ranging from one to eight timeslots per TDMA frame, and they can be shared by active users. This allows GPRS to handle bitrates from 9 to even up to 150 kbit/s per user. With these bit rates all types of transmissions can be handled: from slow-speed short messages to the higher speeds needed e.g. when browsing Web pages. GPRS will also permit the user to receive voice calls simultaneously when sending or receiving data calls. 

GPRS will provide a seamless connection to the existing standard data services by using interfaces to TCP/IP and X.25. GPRS will also provide fast reservation to begin transmission of packets, typically from 0,5 to 1 second. This means that the data users will not have to wait for the phone to dial, but instead they will get through immediately. For example the messages will be delivered direct to the user's phone, without the need for a full end-to-end connection. When the user switches on their phone, the message will be downloaded automatically.