HELSINKI, Finland—Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), the Italian mobile operator, has met its May deadline for the launch of multimedia messaging services (MMS) over its General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network in Italy. Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia are the main infrastructure suppliers for TIM’s MMS system.
Critical to the launch, and in a bid to whip up consumer interest in MMS, TIM is offering a free picture-messaging service until 30 September. TIM confirmed the company will monitor user behavior to determine how much it should charge for the service.
The Rome-based Italian telecom company’s MMS rollout happens in a backdrop of recent national launches in Europe (see related “Europe” news brief). Among these were Westel’s rollout in Hungary, Telenor in Norway, and Vodafone D2 in Germany. Telenor and Westel have each launched a full commercial service, while Vodafone is offering a free service until the end of July.
However, TIM’s rollout is the first MMS service by a major national operator. Italy is Europe’s fourth-largest telecom market.
The Sony Ericsson T68i is currently the only color MMS-enabled handset on the market. This gives mobile subscribers using MMS-based services reduced choice when buying handsets. This will improve when the Nokia 7650 launches in Italy in July. Siemens is planning to launch its handset by year-end.
