 As the name implies, High Speed Circuit Switched Data is a circuit switched technique that allows a single mobile subscriber to use consecutive user time slots in the GSM standard.

 That is, instead of limiting each user to only one specific time slot in the GSM TDMA standard, HSCSD allows individual data users to commandeer (officially take possession or control) consecutive time slots in order to offer higher speed data access to the GSM network.

 HSCSD relaxes the error control coding algorithms originally specified in the GSM standard for data transmissions, and increases the available application data rate to 14,400 bps, as compared to the original 9,600 bps in the GSM specification.

 By using up to 4 consecutive time slots, HSCSD is able to provide a raw transmission rate of up to 57.6 kbps to individual users, and this enhanced data offering can be billed as a premium service by the carrier.

 HSCSD is ideal for dedicated streaming internet access or real-time interactive web sessions, and simply requires the service provider to implement a software change at existing GSM base stations.