MANILA, Phillipines—Short message service (SMS) technology remains a dominant force in the growth of data services in Asia, despite the availability of more advanced technologies, such as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a recent report by London-based analyst and consulting company Ovum said.
According to Ovum analyst Eden Zoller, mobile users and operators in Asia Pacific are keener on using existing and readily available technologies such as SMS than waiting for future technology breakthroughs. The report noted that the continued increase of SMS traffic in the region shows that it is also the preferred medium for delivering wireless Internet content.
Ovum said operators in Asia deliver more content via SMS than WAP, and operators favor sharing airtime revenues from SMS traffic rather than WAP traffic.
Ramon Isberto, spokesman for Smart Communications, one of the Philippines’ largest mobile-phone operators, said the main reasons for the slow uptake of WAP and GPRS services in the region are the cost of their phones, the connection rates, and the currently slow rates of data transfer.
