11 February 2004
Enjoying the slopes in Faraya and want to sharing the experience or tease your friends stuck in the office or classroom? The best way is to send them an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), a combination of images, sounds and text, to their mobile or e-mail.
“The MMS service will be available to every Cellis and Clic user starting Monday, Feb. 16,” said Cima Hafez, FTML-Cellis marketing manager, during a news conference at the Metropolitan Hotel in Beirut Tuesday. “The service does not have any subscription fees but requires an MMS compatible mobile.”
Japan’s Vodafone began the MMS phenomenon with its “sha-mail” in June 2001. Currently 10 million Vodafone users, two-thirds of its subscribers, use “sha-mail.” In France, Orange subscribers have sent 2 million MMS messages since the service began in 2002. LibanCell already has around 6,000 MMS subscribers.
MMS allows longer texts, 3,000 characters as compared with the 160 permitted in SMS (Short Message Service), in addition to color pictures and eventually videos. It is seen as a logical evolution for the industry toward more interactive and complete communication.
According to Hafez, the service will be limited to Cellis and Clic users until such time as interconnection agreements are signed with other local and foreign operators.
“Each MMS has a flat rate of $0.60 for Cellis and three units for Clic, independent of the time it takes to deliver the message,” explained Hafez. “For any failed MMS, the sender will be notified but not charged. There are no fees for receiving MMS.”
Three types of MMS-compatible phones are available on the Lebanese market. MMS enabled phones, like Nokia 6610 or 7210, are not camera enabled. There are the Ericsson T68, for which the camera is an extra option, and camera integrated phones like the Samsung V200, Ericsson T610 and Nokia 6600.
“With Lebanese subscribers changing their phones every 18 months on average, most will have an MMS-enabled phone sometime next year,” said Hafez.
Enjoying the slopes in Faraya and want to sharing the experience or tease your friends stuck in the office or classroom? The best way is to send them an MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), a combination of images, sounds and text, to their mobile or e-mail.
“The MMS service will be available to every Cellis and Clic user starting Monday, Feb. 16,” said Cima Hafez, FTML-Cellis marketing manager, during a news conference at the Metropolitan Hotel in Beirut Tuesday. “The service does not have any subscription fees but requires an MMS compatible mobile.”
Japan’s Vodafone began the MMS phenomenon with its “sha-mail” in June 2001. Currently 10 million Vodafone users, two-thirds of its subscribers, use “sha-mail.” In France, Orange subscribers have sent 2 million MMS messages since the service began in 2002. LibanCell already has around 6,000 MMS subscribers.
MMS allows longer texts, 3,000 characters as compared with the 160 permitted in SMS (Short Message Service), in addition to color pictures and eventually videos. It is seen as a logical evolution for the industry toward more interactive and complete communication.
According to Hafez, the service will be limited to Cellis and Clic users until such time as interconnection agreements are signed with other local and foreign operators.
“Each MMS has a flat rate of $0.60 for Cellis and three units for Clic, independent of the time it takes to deliver the message,” explained Hafez. “For any failed MMS, the sender will be notified but not charged. There are no fees for receiving MMS.”
Three types of MMS-compatible phones are available on the Lebanese market. MMS enabled phones, like Nokia 6610 or 7210, are not camera enabled. There are the Ericsson T68, for which the camera is an extra option, and camera integrated phones like the Samsung V200, Ericsson T610 and Nokia 6600.
“With Lebanese subscribers changing their phones every 18 months on average, most will have an MMS-enabled phone sometime next year,” said Hafez.
Ara Alain Arzoumanian
© The Daily Star 2004
