PLUG'ers

I have been successfully synchronizing Ximian Evolution with my Palm
IIIx and my cell phone for well over a year now via infrared. It works
perfectly.  

I recently bought a GPRS-capable phone and I would like to use it as a
modem for my Linux laptop.  The new phone also supports infrared and I
have verified that I can synch it with Evolution.  I use MultiSync for
this task (fantastic product!).  Ideally, I want to place the phone next
to the laptop and make an outgoing call to an ISP via infrared.

I am clueless about GPRS.  Can anyone point me in the right direction to
do this?  Actually, I think I am tripping over something even more
basic.  IRDA modems?!?!

I cannot initialize the modem (on /dev/ircomm0) via minicom or wvdial. 
The modem simply does not respond.  With infrared activated on the
phone, shouldn't it respond to normal AT commands?


Phone: Sony Ericsson T610 + Tmobile
Laptop: IBM Thinkpad + built-in IR + Custom Linux kernel (2.4.20)


Thanks in advance,
...Kevin