...S phones are sending on average just one or to pictures a months. Hoever, a T-Mobile spokesoman says the number of MMS messages sent on its netorks doubled from November to December and the company is confident usage ill continue to gro. But some analysts no believe it could be as late as 2007 before the service becomes a mass-market phenomena. One stumbling block is that operators have been slo to set up agreements ith other operators that allo messages to be sent from one netork to another. More important, MMS handsets and services appear to be priced too high for a key group of users-teenagers, ho are typically avid users of text messaging. T-Mobiles MMS charges vary by country, but in the U.K., customers have to pay 35 pence 51 European cents to send a picture message or they can buy bundles up front, such as 10messages for 2.50. Handsets ith built in cameras and high-definition color screens typically retail for 200 E in Europe as part of a service contract. Thorsten Dirks, chief innovation officer at the German unit of Dutch operator KPN Mobile NV, speaking at the technology conference in Hannover, says MMS ill take off later than many in the industry had hoped because it is no the service depends on lo phones ith built-in cameras. It ill take some time, he says. But Rudolf Groger, chief executive of the German unit of British operator mmO2 PLC, says his company has had some success selling cheaper MMS phones ithout built-in cameras. He says mmO2s customers ith MMS phones in Germany are sending an average of five to six picture messages a month. For no , industry revenue from MMS is very modest. Research firm Shosteck Group based in heaton, Maryland, says that the multimedia messaging market in 2002 totaled just 100 million E90.5 million in Europe and nothing in the U.S. In Asia, here Japanese operators launched phones ith built-in cameras as early as 2000, picture messaging accounted for 1.8 billion in revenue last year, the research firm said. But even there the service hasnt proven to be a surefire money-spinner. Jane Zeig, Shostecks CEO, says South Korean operators have enjoyed a lift in revenue from MMS, but in Japan their counterparts have had to cut the price of the service to maintain interest. In Japan, the novelty has orn off and ARPU iaverage revenue per users has gone don, Ms. Zeig says. Although European operators have so far kept MMS tariffs high, T-Mobile France Telecom SAs Orange unit and others have slashed the price of Internet brosing, e-mail and other mobile data services to try to persuade consumers to use them. Nikesh Arora, chief operating officer of T-Mobile, says that only one in five of the customers ho have tried T-Mobiles mobile data services are using them regularly. e have to get people to try it for the second on third time, he says. Eventually, operators may have to slash MMS charges, too. Analysts believe operators have plenty of scope to cut MMS prices, as it costs them just a fe cents to send a picture message. The cost of adding a camera to a handset is falling, and even lo-end phones ill probably include one as standard eventually. T-Mobile says customers ith phones built-in cameras send tice as many pictures as those ith ordinary MMS handsets. Some analysts believe operators can kickstart the market by setting up services in hich consumers receive MMS messages containing media content, such as an extract from a ne pop song and some pictures of the artist. Telecom Italia Mobile, a unit of Telecom Italia SpA, has already launched a service allos football fans to receive pictures of their team scoring a goal just moments after the ball hits the back of the net. But employers, hich tend to pay higher ranking employees mobile-phone .. fron on some of the ne services. In London restaurant, Sue Jackson, a marketing executive ith a U.S. Internet firm a London, shos off her shiny ne Nokia color-screen phone. But she says doesnt send any MMS messages her employer has disabled the MMS functions her phone and those of her colleagues keep a lid corporate phone bills. Lupta mesajelor multimedia in EuropaOperatorii Telecom spera ca noul serviciu sa ia avant Hannover, Germany La ziua lui de nastere, augustul trecut, sotia lui Andre Finkelsteins i-a cumparat o camera atasabila noului sau mobil cu ecran color. La inceput, comerciantul financiar de 34 ani din orasul Londra gasea amuzant sa trimita prietenilor fotografii prin posta electronica dar nu a mai folosit camera in ultimele cateva luni. Este ca o jucarie, apoi te indrepti catre noi jucarii. Nu are aplicatii practice Asta nu e ceva ce operatorii de telefonie mobila din Europa si US vor sa auda. Operatorii sunt angajati sa convinga clientii sa-si foloseasca telefoanele pentru a trimite unii-altora fotografii si mesaje audio. Mesageria Multimedia sau MMS, cum sunt cunoscute aceste servicii, considerate cea mai mare speranta a operatorilor, de dezvoltare majora a noilor surse de venit adaugandu-se la cele din mesajele text. Dar la aproape 1 an dupa lansarea in Europa a MMS, serviciul lupta inca sa castige teren.In U.S. operatorii abia au inceput sa ofere MMS T-Mobile, o unitate a Deutche Telecom AG si promotor al MMS a spus saptamana trecuta ca s-au vandut 500.000 accesorii MMS in Europa si in US pana la sfarsitul lui Ianuarie si in decursul lui Ianuarie au fost trimise de catre clienti 500.000 de mesaje cu imagine. Asta indica faptul ca cei care au telefoane cu MMS trimit in medie doar 1 sau 2 fotografii pe luna. Totusi, o telefonista de la T-Mobile spune ca numarul mesajelor trimise in reteaua lor a fost dublata in decembrie fata de noiembrie si increderea companiei in folosire acestora continua sa creasca. Cativa analisti cred ca cel tarziu inainte de 2007 serviciul va devenii un fenomen de piata.O piedica este faptul ca operatorii au incetinit aranjarea unor intelegeri cu alti operatori pentru a permite trimiterea mesajelor de la retea la alta. Mai important, accesoriile MMS si serviciile sunt la un pret prea mare pentru un grup de utilizatori adolescenti, care sunt utilizatori infocati de mesaje text. T-Mobile taxeaza MMS diferit de la tara la tara, dar in U.K clientii platesc 35 pence 51 centi in Europa pentru a trimite mesaje fotografii sau le pot cumpara inainte ca de exemplu 10 mesaje pentru 2.50. Aparatele cu camera incorporata cu rezolutie buna a ecranelor color se vand normal cu 200 Euro in Europa si face parte din contractul de service. Thorsten Dirks, ofiter sef al departamentului Inovatie la reprezentanta germana a operatorului olandez KPN Mobile NV, vorbind la o conferinta pe teme tehnologice in Hannover, spune ca MMS va avea priza mai tarziu decat multe altele in domeniu, deoarece acum serviciul depinde de putinele telefoane cu camera digitala incorporata. Va dura ceva timp spuse el. Dar Rudolf Groger, director executiv la reprezentanta germana a operatorului britanic mmO2 PLC spune ca, com...
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