In time, packet networks will almost entirely replace more expensive and less capable circuit-switched networks.

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But what starts out as government or military technology often ends up in commercial applications, as packet-switched networks and the global-positioning system demonstrate.

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The smart phone market will only take off when technologies such as GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) are implemented in mobile networks, enabling faster transfer rates of data via mobile phone, she said.

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Another beneficiary of the migration to IP networks is Acme Packet ( APKT, 41) in Burlington, Mass.

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