GSMA Drives MMS Interop

LONDON -- The GSM Association (GSMA), the global trade association for GSM mobile operators, today issued a rallying call to the wireless industry to speed the arrival of enhanced, fully interoperable Multi-media Messaging Services (MMS) and compatible terminals through compliance with newly agreed industry standards.

Working closely with the vendor community through the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), and with the 3G Partnership Project (3GPP), the GSMA has taken leadership in driving operator consensus and commitment to new standards.

Now, the Association - the body representing mobile operators globally - is calling upon the supplier community to work with operators to implement the standards as quickly as possible and enhance the seamless global delivery of MMS to consumers while driving operators' data revenues.

The call is to drive acceleration of MMS roaming, national MMS network interworking, and terminal interoperability. An objective of the GSMA's Board is that 3GPP's Release 4 specifications concerning network functionality are implemented by December 2003, and that all new MMS terminals are based on the OMA standards.

"Our MMS Task Force has helped to agree operator needs and ensure they are incorporated in the industry standards," said GSMA CEO Rob Conway. "Now our Board wants the industry to connect by driving through their implementation and adoption so that more customers can enjoy the benefits of interoperable MMS services across networks, handsets and international boundaries."

"This is about putting in place standards that move us to a global platform of interoperability. We are now asking vendors to ensure full and rapid implementation in the best interests of their businesses, the industry, the operators and our consumers," added Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA Board.

The GSM Association's Board -- which comprises boardroom level representatives of 21 mobile operators including the world's largest by subscriber count -- has set a strategic and commercial priority to shorten time to market of new globally interoperable MMS services.

"The availability of international and national cross network MMS services - not just between all terminals, but between all terminals and all networks - is seen by the Board as essential to the global success of MMS," said Ehrlich.

The GSMA is also focused on the evolution of MMS services to provide greater consumer choice and enhanced capabilities such as improved image resolution and video clips.

"This is about delivering more handsets and more services on more networks to increase data usage and enhance the value of our members' investments and the customer's experience" said Conway. "We place utmost importance on enhanced interoperability - the cornerstone of GSM's success - and improved service capability and our board is asking vendors to do all they can to accelerate compatibility on a global basis. "

"Let's speed up MMS together is the message," he concluded.

GSM Association