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Tuesday, 01 June 2004 |
01 June, 2004: The UEFA 2004 Championships in Lisbon and the Olympic Games in Athens could be the trigger for the breakthrough of MMS into the mobile mainstream.
Something certainly needs to happen for MMS to start generating the revenues operators are looking for. According to a survey commissioned by Sicap, 83% of all adult mobile phone users have never sent an MMS. The main reasons given were; 45% said they did not have an MMS-compatible phone, and 17% said they did not know how to send an MMS. The survey also revealed widespread ignorance concerning the cost of sending an MMS with, at one end, 27% believing it cost 25 pence and, at the other end, 6% convinced that it cost UKŁ1 a message.
One of the issues has been that operators have focused on person-to-person (P2P) MMS messaging, largely because their MMS switching centres were designed specifically for this purpose. It is hoped that the big sporting events of 2004 will tempt sports fans to subscribe to the application-to-person (A2P) MMS services increasingly being offered by operators. With 408mn 'entertainment' and 376mn 'information' MMS messages forecast to be sent in 2004, operators are keen to build up their A2P traffic.
Sicap has announced a solution for A2P traffic which bypasses the traditional MMSC. The 'MMS Bulk' solution prioritises multi-recipient A2P messages and helps operators provide a value-added service to their MMS subscribers. MMS Bulk ensures that time-critical MMS messages - such as results and video clips of live action - are delivered as they happen. In addition to sporting video clips, MMS Bulk can also be used to send any video and photo messages that subscription-based services supply such as weather satellite photos, film clips, news headlines and direct marketing information.
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