Vodafone yesterday said it would begin a full commercial service in the summer using GPRS, the technology expected to be the catalyst for a step change in the use of wireless internet.

The technology is expected to make wireless internet far more user friendly than existing services. GPRS - or general packet radio service - will bring data speeds equivalent to desktop computers and an "always on" internet connection. It has been dubbed generation 2.5, ahead of the introduction of UMTS, the third generation of mobile technology, in 2003.

Vodafone chief executive Chris Gent, above, also disclosed that Vizzavi, its internet portal venture with Vivendi Universal, is recording 4,000 registrations per day and daily page views on mobiles of up to 200,000 in Britain. It aims to to have 2m registered users in Europe by the end of the second quar ter. Investment in Vizzavi will reach euro 1.6bn (£1bn) by the end of 2002, the company said, with break-even forecast at earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation level by the end of 2003.

Revenues from data are being driven by short messaging services. In a presentation to investors, Vodafone said 47% of its customers in Europe were active SMS users. The service is just being introduced in the US.