Telenor Mobile and Ericsson in December 2002 signed a global framework agreement for Multimedia Messaging Services solutions, the technology that offers enhanced messaging capabilities such as color pictures, photographs, sounds, animations and audio clips.
The agreement involves all Telenor Mobile operations in Europe and Asia. Ericsson will provide the MMS platform and related systems as well as network integration services.
A number of the Telenor Mobile companies have already launched MMS, however, this global framework agreement will enable MMS services to be distributed more easily across the Telenor Mobile group. The solutions open up opportunities for a series of new services and will increase traffic.
“We chose Ericsson as our vendor because of its strong position on the MMS market, both technically and commercially. By choosing one MMS platform, we will be able to develop the MMS market in a cost efficient manner by distributing products and services to our customers worldwide and with limited development cost,” said Arve Johansen, President and CEO of Telenor Mobile.
A business segment of Telenor ASA, Telenor Mobile has ownership in 15 mobile operations in Europe and Asia. The total number of subscribers as of Q3 2002 is 11.6 million, based on proportionate Telenor Mobile ownership share in the companies.
With this deal, Ericsson further strengthens its position as the global leader in MMS.
“This agreement further confirms Ericsson’s ability to drive MMS technology and the trust shown by the operators in our end-to-end MMS solutions. We are pleased to be in a position where we can contribute to Telenor Mobiles’ success of MMS and mobile Internet,” says Steinar Tveit, Head of Market Unit Nordic & Baltics within Ericsson.
Ericsson is the leader in MMS with more than 35 commercial MMS agreements and more than 90 trials at customer sites and through Mobility World. The company has been awarded MMS contracts in all major markets, which account for 40% of all MMS contracts serving over 50% of subscribers worldwide.
