Cellphones will be able to have faster internet speeds than current computer connections in Bermuda in the future, according to the Computer Society of Bermuda (CSB).

In its latest bulletin the CSB claims that the Island's cellphone providers are set to upgrade their handsets and services in a bid to truly bring telecommunications in Bermuda into the 21st century.

M3 Wireless will be moving up to a full 3G network, delivering speeds of 3 Mbps and faster, while CellularOne is looking at UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), but Digicel has not made any recent public statements about network upgrades.

This means that the phone the customer buys will do far more than they currently do, with text messages being able to be used as full video messages, and live GPS services, streaming music, on-demand video programming and the ability to download and play 3D games also available, said the CSB.

In terms of new services, users may see broadband services being made available by the cellphone company, in addition to telephone, cable, Internet Service Provider arrangement and voice minutes, being folded into data traffic over the phone, while hotspots Island-wide could be rolled out, it claimed.

The CSB went to on say that Bermuda's GSM (Global System for Mobile) providers will fall into line with Europe and North America for cellphone services, with CellularOne already having a 3G CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) network, and plans to roll out the BlackBerry 8830 (CDMA/GSM) complete with Internet speeds up to 2.4 megs and the ability to roam where GSM is in the US, the UK and Ireland, as well as voice and data being available to roaming customers.

The new technology would see existing local providers competing in a relatively similar space on broadband over phones instead of GSM versus CDMA, while cellphones data speed would have the ability to go faster than current computer internet connections.

Lloyd Fray, who has just been appointed CEO of Logic Communications in addition to his role as CEO of M3 Wireless, agreed that cellphones have the potential to be faster than computer internet connections, but that it could also work vice-versa. Vicki Coelho, general manager of North Rock Communications, said that the reality in Bermuda was that cell phone connections do not run as fast as broadband connections at the moment and that it was hard to draw a direct comparison between the two.

"You can run a speed test of a phone that supports a browser to compare a cell phone to broadband speeds which typically run from 256K to 2MB," she said.

"The reality is that cellphone connections do not offer speeds as fast as broadband connections today.

"Doing comparisons on what a technology is theoretically capable of and what can be actually delivered by a carrier are two entirely different matters. The former is governed by physics the latter by business and regulatory parameters."

She said that the business metrics of Bermuda are not the same as those of larger markets such as the US and Europe and the cost of new technology is generally higher on the Island.

But Ms Coelho added there was no doubt that speeds will improve with the use of wireless facilities, with North Rock leading the way being one of the first to launch a full voice and data network using WiMAX technology, which is designed to support high data rates.

She said the next release of WiMAX would support mobile service and the company expects to be a mobile carrier of latest facility when it becomes available.

"North Rock believes that the technology outlook in Bermuda is very bright," she said.

"At this time the consumer has a lot of choice in the market; with the protected off-island submarine cable duopoly coming to an end with the landing of the Challenger Cable System; consumers can expect to see much greater access to higher bandwidths; and there are many new technologies on the horizon which will provide higher local access speeds."