LONDON -- True mass-market SMS campaigns came a step closer this week with the launch of the first European operator-independent SMS Centre. The stress placed on operator-owned SMSCs, a critical delivery point for SMS, by the explosion in application traffic has led to huge problems with SMS reliability. Mblox has launched the first SMSC dedicated to applications not P2P messaging, bringing a promise of greater reliability and capacity for SMS campaigns. Network congestion has led to messages being dumped by networks and hobbled the adoption of SMS by prime-time broadcasters. "This is the most significant development to hit SMS for four years," said Mblox CEO Andrew Bud. "It's the first time a critical piece of the SMS chain has been taken on by a service provider focused on supporting the applications community." The entry of Europe's first operator-independent SMSC, supplied by Comverse, could signal a big shift in the market and mirrors developments in the fixed telecoms world that helped open up the market. "This is a great development as we'll start to see some proper price competition," said Flytxt CEO Lars Becker. "Choice is limited at the moment. I wondered when this was going to happen." mBlox Ltd.