Making International MMS Easier for Ringtone Providers

Comfone has announced the extension of its MMS eXchange (MMSX) service to content providers and content aggregators, offering them the possibility to access international mobile operators via a single link to the Comfone MMSX platform. Also, mobile operators are no longer required to set up additional links to each provider as their existing MMSX connection can be used.

Roland Burri, Comfone Executive Vice President, Product Management, commented, "Opening up the MMSX service to contracted content provider partners of mobile operators is a natural extension of Comfone's MMSX service. Content provision to mobile subscribers has fantastic potential for sustained growth. From an economic and operating perspective, an MMSX service is the best way to support this growth."

When launched, the MMSX service initially focused on facilitating the bilateral interchange of MMS between mobile operators, including access, relay, bulk file production, online reporting and financial clearing. This latest MMSX development, addressing content providers and aggregators, is an important breakthrough in streamlining the whole roaming process and complexities for the wireless community as a whole.

John Moroney, Director of Research and Analysis at the consultancy firm Octegra, commented, "Marketing and revenue generation, rather than the management of technology, are now the critical areas of concern for mobile operators. Our research at Octegra shows that financial institutions expect mobile operators to focus on core commercial activities and customer development. We believe that outsourcing services, such as MMSX, will provide operators with competitive advantage by unburdening management from the need to manage peripheral technologies. This will allow them to focus on core commercial activities, such as, service development, revenue generation and marketing. Outsourcing services, to companies like Comfone and MATERNA, will remove some of the exhaustive resource requirements associated with supporting and maintaining roaming agreements."

"The extension of the MMSX service opens up the platform to content providers and content aggregators. It seamlessly integrates MATERNA's entire sales product portfolio, which offers customers a one-stop shopping opportunity for value added services", said Thomas Meisterernst, MATERNA Vice President of Sales and Marketing. The partnership between Comfone and MATERNA was announced in November last year at the same time as their first collaborative efforts were made public with the launch of Comfone MMSX. MATERNA's VAS software portfolio combined with its experience in implementing MMSCs worldwide has played a fundamental part in this latest development."

Posted to the site on 14th February 2005