Recommendations on MMS Wireless

US : 3G Americas, a trade organization focused on the mobile industry in the Americas, has recommended a set of common elements for operators and vendors supporting MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) inter-carrier interoperability. The MMS implementation reference document, published today defines GSM operator recommendations for interoperability between different network core elements and key interfaces as well as different vendor solutions.

Operators and vendors from the organization's Board of Governors companies jointly composed the reference document entitled 3G Americas MMS Inter-carrier Implementation Recommendations, to provide guidance on MMS to the wireless industry in the Americas for deployments throughout the western hemisphere.

Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President of 3G Americas, stated, "Various industry analysts predict that MMS will have an annual compound growth rate in excess of 100 percent for the foreseeable future. This will be a tremendous opportunity for the wireless industry to support inter-carrier interoperability similar to the successful path of SMS interoperability." He added, "The 3G Americas' MMS recommendations offer clear requirements to vendors and operators in the area of core interfaces being prioritized and tested, information being available earlier in the vendor selection process, and in minimizing delays resulting from interoperability problems, leading to savings in terms of operator resource time and costs inherent in the launch of 3G services."

In its MMS implementation document, the 3G Americas' technical project team defined operator requirements by identifying, and then prioritizing, existing specifications as they relate to key interfaces between Core Networks and RAN as well as differentiating the MMS requirements that are truly specific to the Americas.

To view the3G Americas MMS Inter-carrier Implementation Recommendations reference document visit www.3gamericas.org.

About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
The mission of 3G Americas is to promote and facilitate the seamless deployment of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS throughout the Americas for the benefit of consumers. The organization fully supports the Third Generation (3G) technology migration strategy GSM/GPRS/EDGE and UMTS adopted by many operators in the Americas that will globally account for up to 85% of the world's next-generation subscribers. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue, WA.

3G Americas' Board of Governor members include AT&T Wireless (USA), Cable & Wireless (West Indies), Cingular Wireless (USA), Ericsson, HP, Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nokia, Nortel Networks, Openwave Systems, Research In Motion, Rogers Wireless (Canada), Siemens, T-Mobile USA, Telcel (Mexico), and Telecom Personal (Argentina).