Ericsson [NASDAQ:ERICY] has secured its first general packet radio service (GPRS) contract in Latin America with Entel Movil, the Bolivian wireless carrier. 

The deal is significant as this will be Latin America's first-ever GPRS mobile network, allowing mobile users in Bolivia access to the mobile Internet at speeds similar to those enjoyed by 56K wire-line modem users. 

The deal is only relative pocket change for Ericsson at $36 million, but will serve as a flagship in the region for the Swedish telecommunications systems vendor. 

Under the three-year contract, Entel Movil, a partially-owned subsidiary of Telecom Italia, will install the GPRS high-speed data service on its 1900 megahertz (MHz) cellular network 

Ericsson says that phase one of the project will see standard GSM services going live in the La Paz, Santa Cruz and Cochabamba regions by the end of this year, with the GPRS overlay being rolled out in the second quarter of 2001. 

Phase two of the project will see the expansion of GSM and GPRS services to other major cities of Bolivia throughout 2001.