NIEUWEGEIN, The Netherlands—CMG Wireless Data Solutions announced it sold its multimedia messaging service product to Telecomunicacoes Moveis Nacionais, the mobile wing of Portugal Telecom.CMG has worked with TMN since 1996, and the carrier uses CMG's short message service center.
TORONTO—Canadians are not getting too excited about the possibilities for short message service (SMS), according to a report released by the Yankee Group in Canada. Its research claims only 5 percent of Canadian cellular users are very interested in SMS, while 42 percent have...
BEDMINSTER, New Jersey, United States—Through a deal with message interoperability company InphoMatch, Verizon Wireless is now the last of the nationwide, consumer-focused carriers to allow its users to send short message service (SMS) messages to subscribers of rival carriers using only a phone number.Verizon...
TORONTO—Canada's four national wireless carriers launched commercial availability of inter-carrier mobile text messaging. The four operators, Bell Mobility, Microcell PCS, Rogers AT&T Wireless and Telus Mobility, are all using technology from CMG Wireless Data Solutions.Each carrier will route out-of-network short message service messages to...
MANILA, The Philippines—Mobile-phone operators need lots of creativity to be a step ahead of the competition, according to Napoleon Nazareno, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Smart Communications, one of the Philippines' leading cellular operators.He said that Smart, for example, has launched 130...
ATLANTA, United States—Numerex announced it will provide United Telecommunication Services (UTS), official telecommunications company of the Netherlands Antilles, with its patent-pending wireless short message service (SMS) throughout its Caribbean coverage areas in Curacao, St. Marten, Bonaire, Saba and Statia.Numerex will use its Data1Source centralized...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Zimbabwe is a country on the threshold of total anarchy and economic collapse. With the recent elections, the world is collectively holding its breath to see if the beleaguered country will ever recover from the decades of abuse. Yet within this political,...
LONDON—724 Solutions Inc. gained a major vote of confidence from Radiolinja Eesti, an Estonian carrier with 146,600 subscribers. The carrier purchased 724 Solutions' extensive data services platform and will use it for its GPRS launch."This is an exciting announcement for 724 Solutions since it...
DUBLIN, Ireland—Messaging company Logica continued to expand its range of messaging products with the release of its Mobile Community Messaging services, which the company said will allow users to form mobile chat sessions, instant message family and friends, and conduct polling and voting.The company...
ATLANTA—Numerex Corp. announced it will provide United Telecommunication Services (UTS), official telecommunications company of the Netherlands Antilles, with its patent-pending wireless short message service throughout its coverage areas in Curacao, St. Marten, Bonaire, Saba and Statia.Numerex will use its Data1Source centralized service bureau to...
JOHANNNESBURG, South Africa—South African mobile network operator MTN reported that it suspended its free PC-to-mobile short message service (SMS) on Mtnsms.com following an unsustainable third-party cost increase. A company spokesman said the site would be redesigned and relaunched as a fee-based service in the...
LONDON—Currently representing 10 percent of total carrier revenues, short message service (SMS) is the dominant data contributor to carrier average revenue per user (ARPU), and its value is expected to continue to grow, according to a recent Frost & Sullivan study.Frost & Sullivan credits...
MAISONS-LAFFITTE, France—Webraska said it will supply Chinese and English location-based services to Shell Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) service in Hong Kong targeted at motorists. Motorists will be able to purchase subscriptions to a range of location-enabled Subscriber Identity Module-Toolkit services from...
HONG KONG—The Hong Kong mobile market is set for a transformation, with four third-generation (3G) mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) established, based on the requirements of Hong Kong’s four 3G license holders. The first 3G MVNO services are set to begin at the end...
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Heru Prasetyo, Indonesia's Accenture country manager, suggested cellular operators should increase their average revenue per user (ARPU) from its current less than US$20 to at least US$25 for financing future network expansions."The great portion of prepaid subscribers should not be considered a limiting...
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Along with her screen debut, Britney is also entering the wireless industry.Wireless entertainment company nGame Inc. said it scored an agreement with Viacom Consumer Products to publish games, ring tones and graphics based on the new Britney Spears film "Crossroads."The company said...
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Southeast Asian operators are predicted to face unprecedented growth in data traffic during the coming years. Operators in the region have witnessed a surge in data traffic through short message service (SMS) traffic, followed by General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) offerings in recent...
LONDON—Orange has partnered with BBC Multimedia and Digital Bridges to bring the television show "The Weakest Link" to mobile-phone users in Europe.The mobile version of the game show will be available for Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and short message service (SMS) phones. The WAP...
MANILA, The Philippines—According to Merrill Lynch in a recent research study, SMS revenues in Asia, excluding the Philippines, only consist of a minor percentage—between 1 percent and 5 percent—of operators' revenues due to diverse markets, regulations and immense competition. In Europe, SMS revenue is...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Mobile operator MTN Uganda has launched a short message service (SMS) content and information service, enabling subscribers to download information and trivia to their handsets.On the first day of operation, the network claims to have had more than 26,000 inquires.Erik van Veen,...
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa—Third mobile network operator Cell C announced it enhanced its directory inquiry service by allowing subscribers to receive numbers via short message service (SMS) at no extra cost.The service is a departure from the alternative, where a caller must write down a...
JAKARTA, Indonesia—Singapore's two leading cellular operators recently launched new price plans to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Both SingTel and MobileOne (M1) are offering more free talktime and free short message service (SMS) in the plans.Lucas Chow, chief executive officer (CEO) of...
CANNES, France—Among the slew of announcements made here at the 3GSM World Congress last week, location services seemed to move farther up on the radar screens of both operators and vendors, with predictions for commercial availability of substantial offerings later this year.From the large...
