Smart taps Nokia for MMS, mobile location services

Mobile operator Smart Communications Inc. and Nokia have signed an agreement for the supply of multimedia messaging (MMS) and mobile location services solutions.

After extensive field trials, both services are now available to Smart subscribers.

Under the agreement, Nokia provided its MMS Center, the Nokia Multimedia Terminal Gateway, for non-MMS phones, and a dedicated Nokia WAP Gateway. It also supplied the complete Nokia m-Position solution for mobile location services.

Smart’s Multimedia Messaging Service allows subscribers with MMS-capable phones to send animated e-cards, polyphonic ring tons, cartoons and movies, as well as various kinds of photo messaging.

Smart recently launched these services under such brand names as Fun Pix, Traffic Shots, Poly Tones, Card Toons and Real Pix.

Smart’s location-based services include Smart zed Establishment Finder (for locating business establishments), Person Finder (for locating friends and relatives), and Safe Taxi (a location-based security service for taxi users).

"After developing perhaps the world’s most robust market for SMS-based services, we are very pleased to offer the most advanced multimedia and location services in the Philippines," said Napoleon Nazareno, president and CEO of Smart.

"This is the first step toward providing even more exciting services in the future, including the development of Java-based services," he added.

"For Nokia, this is a clear confirmation of our long-term cooperation with Smart in its efforts to bring new and creative services to the Philippine market," said Markku Nieminen, account director for Smart of Nokia Networks.

"Nokia has been the network provider for Smart’s GSM/GPRS network since November 1998. This deal further strengthens our cooperation with a valued client like Smart," he said.

Nokia has among the wireless industry’s most extensive track record in MMS with close to 40 customers to date and an ever-growing number of launch systems, making multimedia messaging a reality for today’s mobile consumers.

In addition, the Nokia m-Position has been commercially deployed by 12 operators in seven countries.

A market leader in the cellular industry in the Asia-Pacific, Nokia provides innovative, industry-leading and market-relevant technology and products to around 20 diverse markets in the region.