InphoMatch Sees SMS Triple
CHANTILLY, Va. - InphoMatch said its first-quarter 2004 statistics indicate enormous growth in short message service (SMS) usage in the United States within the past year. The number of SMS messages relayed by the company between January 1 and March 31 was triple last year's volume for the same period and equalled half the total SMS messages sent during all of 2003.
According to figures released this week by InphoMatch, the company delivered nearly two billion SMS messages during the first quarter of 2004, up from 650 million during the same period in 2003. The numbers represent a 36.5 percent increase over fourth quarter 2003 volume.
During calendar year 2003, InphoMatch delivered more than four billion inter-carrier SMS messages. To date, March 18, 2004, was the highest-traffic day, with 24.5 million messages transmitted.
InphoMatch, a mobile messaging services and global messaging interoperability company, delivers 75 percent of inter-carrier SMS messages in the U.S. Mobile text messages sent from a user on one system to a user on another typically account for 40-45 percent of a carrier's SMS volume.
Broadband Satellite Wireless to Debut at NAB 2004
BEDMINSTER, N.J. - Satellite communications pioneer Loral Skynet's new SkyReach two-way broadband wireless service will debut at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show April 17-22 in Las Vegas.
"SkyReach allows large organizations to create an instant infrastructure for a network that can connect users within a city or around the globe and extend the wireless access network to 100 percent coverage in areas underserved by broadband terrestrial communications," said Terry Hart, president of Loral Skynet.
During 2003 and early 2004, Loral Skynet partnered with numerous users, including large corporations and government agencies, to prove applications such as:
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- Multicasting of large media files, effectively delivered at rates of 2 Mbps on the forward link and 128 Kbps on the return channel.
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- Security and surveillance: remotely monitored video signals using forward link rates of up to 2 Mbps with 64 Kbps return link.
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- Remote office connectivity: corporate communications over the Internet using Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Voice over IP (VoIP).
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- Distance learning: satellite-based multicast and unicast features over the Internet to enable troop communications between military bases using high-bandwidth rates.
The rollout of SkyReach's two-way services is scheduled for the second quarter of 2004. The service will offer forward speeds up to 2 Mbps and return speeds of up to 512 Kbps throughout the Americas on Telstar 12 and IA-7 (formerly Telstar 7). Higher return speed options will be available in later versions. Skynet will roll out SkyReach services in Europe and Asia later in 2004.
Verizon, Nextel Ready National Broadband Wireless
CYBERSPACE - Cellular telecom giants and head-to-head competitors Nextel Communications and Verizon Communications have completed upgrades to their systems, and customers should reap the benefits soon.
Nextel began selling wireless broadband this week, focusing on areas in the U.S. overlooked or underserved by digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable companies. Verizon plans to begin offering higher-speed data and voice services later this month.
Among the services Verizon is promoting most fiercely is voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, long touted as the death knell of long-distance telephone providers. The company also will offer virtual private network (VPN) services. Unlimited use of the system will cost $80 per month; the company expects its broadband wireless offerings to add more than $100 billion to its reveue during the next few years. New York-based Verizon bills itself as the third largest carrier in the cellular space.
Nextel offers four different packages that range in cost from $35 to $75 a month, depending upon dowload usage and speed.
Nokia Revamps Mobile Gaming Platform
HELSINKI - Cellular handset maker Nokia this week launched a revamped version of its N-Gage phone, dubbed N-Gage QD. The company hopes the move will keep it in play in the lucrative and rapidly growing mobile gaming market currently being encroached upon by Nintendo and Microsoft.
The new phone will have a manufacturer's suggested retail price of about 200 euros and will debut in Europe and Asia in May and in the Americas in June. N-Gage QD will feature longer battery life, improved controls, and a slot for plugging in gaming consoles.
The phone's original incarnation debuted in October 2003 among much fanfare, but failed to live up to expectations due to high price (about 300 euros) and inelegant or frustrating design elements.
The company hopes the new version will woo back lost customers and enable it to snag a larger portion of the mobile sector of the games industry, estimated by research firm Informa to be worth $3.8 billion by 2007.
BT Offers Wireless-to-Fixed-Line SMS
LONDON - Tuesday was a red-letter day for British Telecom: That's the day it turned on SMS messaging between cellular phones and wire-line systems.
Beginning Wednesday, T-mobile and 3 subscribers with compatible phones could receive text messages from wired-line BT customers. Vodafone mobile customers will join the fold about May 6, after Vodafone completes a software upgrade to its system. Although the service is live to Orange users, that company is not expected to complete the upgrades necessary for its customers to take full advantage of the capabilities until January 2005.
In addition to sending messages between fixed-line and cellular users, the new BT system also allows fixed-line users to text each other.
Telecom Italia Mobile Launches General Two-Way eSMS Service
STOCKHOLM - Telecom Italia Mobile's (TIM) subscribers can now send, receive, forward and reply to SMS messages from their MS-Outlook thanks to an agreement signed by TIM with Italian KelyanLab and Swedish General Wireless. The deal, based on General Wireless' eSMS Executive, is a breakthrough order for General Wireless and its eSMS technology.
TIM is one of the largest mobile operators in the world with 26 million subscribers. As a leading mobile operator with a strong corporate customer base, TIM is constantly seeking new ways to improve the service it offers. Its new service, named 'TIM Turbo-Mail', is an important step in this direction.
Downloadable from www.tim.it, TIM Turbo Mail lets TIM subscribers send, receive, forward and reply to SMS directly from their MS-Outlook using already established contact lists for both individuals and groups. Customers pay for the SMS messages sent via their monthly phone bill.
"TIM Turbo Mail fits very well in TIM's service offering to the corporate market since we have seen a great uptake of SMS from the corporate segment and a request from the market for this kind of service", says Leopoldo Tranquilly, VAS Manager at TIM. "To be able to send, receive, forward and reply to SMS messages from MS-Outlook is a natural extension of e-mail."
eSMS Executive opens up new ways for today's 1 billion mobile subscribers and 500 million PC users to communicate by converging the technologies of email programs and SMS into two-way eSMS. This groundbreaking solution enables mobile operators worldwide to provide a user-friendly service to mobile subscribers, driving SMS traffic.
