Dell is making it easier for road warriors to obtain high speed Internet access by outfitting its notebooks with a GPRS connectivity package.

The Dell TrueMobile GPRS package offers 'anytime, anywhere' wireless mobility to business users through a pre-configured, built-to-order notebook that includes the Dell TrueMobile 5000 GPRS PC card, all software and drivers, and a pre-installed SIM card from BT Cellnet.

The corporate package comes with a hefty price tag. Apart from setting up a leased line from corporate LANs to GPRS networks, the system involves installing optimisation software from Broadcloud Communications in order to maximise the efficiency of always-on GPRS connections.

Together these might cost around £8,000 for a typical installation. On the client side, the GPRS PC cards will each cost £249.

Pricing for GPRS services is based on MB of data transferred, with Dell and BT Cellnet offering two plans at launch: 20 MB/month for £30.00 and 50MB/month for £50.00. Data usage exceeding these monthly limits will incur additional charges of £1.50 and £1.00 per MB respectively. An additional supplement of £3.50 per month for GPRS services, and a one-time connection charge of £29.79 will also apply.

For smaller businesses, Dell is partnering with One2One rather than BT Cellnet in creating a package which omits the requirement to establish a leased line or install server-side optimisation software. The performance and security of this package would be lower, but set-up costs are much reduced for firms that pick this option. ®