Dataonsm.Pdf
“Data on SMS”
Issue 1: 20th September 1998
Revision 1
Copyright Ó 1998 Simon David Buckingham
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.
Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this publication, its author Simon Buckingham is unable to accept any legal liability for any consequential loss or damage, however caused, arising as a result of any actions taken on the basis of the information contained in this publication.
Page ii www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Contents
“Data on SMS” is divided into the following sections:
1. Introduction
PREFACE- THE SUCCESS STORY OF SMS IN FINLAND AIMS AUTHOR AUDIENCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
PART 1- What is SMS?
2. Key Features of SMS
160 CHARACTERS STORE AND FORWARD SERVICE SEND AND RECEIVE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH VOICE, DATA AND FAX CONFIRMATION OF MESSAGE DELIVERY WAYS OF SENDING MULTIPLE SHORT MESSAGES ARE AVAILABLE TO USE SMS, USERS NEED RELEVANT SUBSCRIPTIONS AND HARDWARE
3. Comparison between SMS and Paging
SERVICE DESIGN MESSAGE LENGTH CONCURRENT SERVICES INTERACTIVITY RADIO FREQUENCY DELIVERY CONFIRMATION CHARGING TERMINALS ROAMING STANDARDS SUMMARY
4. Comparison between SMS and GSM Data
LIMITATIONS INFORMATION TYPES CONCURRENT SERVICES SERVICE DESIGN SERVICE TYPES TERMINALS
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page iii 5. Future Mobile Data Standards
INTRODUCTION HIGH SPEED CIRCUIT SWITCHED DATA (HSCSD) GENERAL PACKET RADIO SERVICE (GPRS) BLUETOOTH ENHANCED DATA-RATES FOR GSM EVOLUTION (EDGE) UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (UMTS) NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION OF HIGH SPEED DATA APPLICATIONS USING HIGH SPEED DATA PRICING OF HIGH SPEED DATA
6. Applications
SIMPLE PERSON TO PERSON MESSAGING VOICE AND FAX MAIL NOTIFICATIONS UNIFIED MESSAGING INTERNET EMAIL ALERTS CORPORATE EMAIL VEHICLE POSITIONING JOB DISPATCH REMOTE POINT OF SALE (POS) REMOTE MONITORING PREPAYMENT OVER-THE-AIR SIMCARD INFORMATION SERVICES TYPES OF INFORMATION SERVICES SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INFORMATION SERVICES SIMPLICITY TIMELINESS CUSTOMIZATION LOCALIZATION INFORMATION SERVICES MARKET STRUCTURE AFFINITY PROGRAMS SUCH AS MOBILE BANKING ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
PART 2- How does SMS work?
7. Overview of SMS mobile network implementation
INFRASTRUCTURE MESSAGE TRANSFER MESSAGE DELIVERY ATTEMPTS MESSAGE DELIVERY RETRY SCHEDULES MESSAGE DELIVERY SUCCESS BILLING
Page iv www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham 8. The ETSI standards for SMS
ETSI COMPETITION AND COOPERATION THE STANDARDS
9. General SMS Features
CONCATENATION COMPRESSION ENCRYPTION AND SECURITY PRIORITY MESSAGES SUPPORT FOR DIFFERENT ALPHABETS GSM SMS INTER-NETWORK ROAMING NATIONAL SMS ROAMING INTERNATIONAL SMS ROAMING
10. SMS Hardware
INTRODUCTION SMS RECEIVE SUPPORT SMS SEND SUPPORT PHONE MAN-MACHINE INTERFACES MESSAGE ORIGINATION MESSAGE ARRIVAL SIMCARDS AND MESSAGE STORAGE SERIAL CABLES INDUSTRIAL TERMINALS DUAL SLOT PHONES SMART PHONES HANDHELD COMPUTERS SYMBIAN SUMMARY
11. Interfacing Terminal Equipment with Mobile Phones
BLOCK MODE TEXT MODE PDU MODE
12. Short Message Data Structure
SMSC ADDRESS DESTINATION ADDRESS ORIGINATING ADDRESS STATUS REPORT REQUEST
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page v SERVICE CENTRE TIMESTAMP VALIDITY PERIOD DATA CODING SCHEME PROTOCOL IDENTIFIER REPLY PATH MESSAGE REFERENCE MESSAGE LENGTH REJECT DUPLICATES USER DATA HEADER INDICATOR SMS COMMANDS MESSAGE TYPE INDICATOR
13. Emerging SMS-based Standards
SIM APPLICATION TOOLKIT NOKIA SMART MESSAGING WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL (WAP) MOBILE STATION APPLICATION EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT (MExE) DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE PROTOCOLS IMPORTANCE OF THESE PROTOCOLS
PART 3- SMS Hardware and Software Suppliers
14. SMS Center Selection Criteria
DESIGN SCALABILITY PERFORMANCE AVAILABILITY AND RESILIENCE CONNECTIVITY PRICING
15. SMS Center Suppliers
The following information is detailed for each of the following SMS Center Suppliers:
Internet address Postal address Contact people Email addresses Telephone numbers Fax numbers Worldwide Locations Products and services Customers Advantages Disadvantages
Page vi www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham CMG LOGICA ALDISCON NOKIA SEMA ADC NEWNET ERICSSON MOTOROLA
OTHER SMS CENTER SUPPLIERS (Unisys, Comverse, Glenayre, Centigram, Alcatel/ DSC Communications Corporation)
16. Comparison of SMS Center Suppliers by Selection Criteria
CONNECTIVITY COST DEPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY FUTURE-PROOF GLOBAL RELIABILITY HARDWARE
17. Comparison of SMS Centers by Specific Features
X.25 TCP/IP UCS2 GSM 03.39 SMPP CONFIRMATION OF MESSAGE DELIVERY DISTRIBUTION LISTS
18. SMS Center Market Shares
EUROPEAN UNION NORTH AMERICA ASIA GLOBAL
19. Overall Ranking of SMS Center Suppliers
20. Comparison of Value-Added Service Modules from SMS Center Suppliers
INTERNET EMAIL SMART MESSAGING
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page vii WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL OVER-THE-AIR INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE FAX INFORMATION SERVICES CELL BROADCAST CUSTOMER DEPLOYMENTS
21. SMS Software Suppliers
The following information is detailed for each of the following SMS Software Suppliers:
Internet address Postal address Contact people Email addresses Telephone numbers Fax numbers Worldwide Locations Products and services Customers Advantages Disadvantages
The email software providers profiled are: DIALOGUE COMMUNICATIONS (BASED IN THE UK), ISOCOR (GERMANY), SENDIT (SWEDEN), SCANDINAVIAN SOFTLINE TECHNOLOGY (FINLAND) AND TWS (USA).
The suppliers of information services featured are: AIRMEDIA (BASED IN THE USA), INTELLIGENT INFORMATION INC. (III) (USA) AND GSM INFORMATION NETWORK (GIN) (NETHERLANDS), WIRELESS INFORMATION NETWORK (WIN) (UK).
The vehicle positioning suppliers are: CROSLAND (UK) AND GLOBAL TELEMATICS (UK)
22. Comparison of SMS Software Suppliers by Selection Criteria
CONNECTIVITY COST DEPLOYMENT FLEXIBILITY
Page viii www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham FUTURE-PROOF GLOBAL
23. Comparison of Wireless Email Suppliers
DATA TWO-WAY IVR INTERNET PAGE FAX MULTIPLE SMS CENTERS
24. Comparison of Information Services Suppliers
INTERNET INTERFACE RANGE OF CONTENT GLOBAL DEPLOYMENTS MULTIPLE LANGUAGES INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE FUTURE-PROOF FILTERING PUSH-BASED
25. Comparison of Vehicle Positioning Suppliers
ACCURACY DEPLOYMENT MODULAR SERVICES
Part 4- SMS Market Developments
26. SMS volume market forecasts
TOTAL EUROPEAN MARKET FORECAST FOR SMS SMS REVENUE IN THE USA AND CANADA
27. SMS Availability on different Network Types
GSM NMT PERSONAL HANDYPHONE SYSTEM (PHS) PERSONAL DIGITAL CELLULAR (PDC) NORTH AMERICA NAMPS TDMA/ D-AMPS CDMA IDEN/NEXTEL
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page ix TETRA/ DOLPHIN IRIDIUM GLOBALSTAR
28. Regional Guide to SMS network support and market development
EUROPEAN UNION EUROPE, OTHER EASTERN EUROPE MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA NORTH AMERICA SOUTH AMERICA AFRICA ASIA
29. Network Case Study: Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland) in Finland
INTRODUCTION SONERA TEXTUS BRANDED SERVICES PREMIUM RATE INFORMATION SERVICES UNIQUE FINNISH CHARACTERISTICS DEBT-FREE PULL COMPLICATED LOW USE OF MOBILE EMAIL SERVICES. SONERA SMS SUCCESS FACTORS YOUTH INTER-NETWORK NATIONAL SMS ROAMING PENETRATION EXPERIMENTATION CONCLUSION
30. Network Case Study: Vodafone in the UK
MOBILE ACCESS MOBILE ACCESS- PC/ PDA RECALL TRAVELFAX RESPOND RESPOND PLUS MINUTE MANAGER DIAL UP MESSAGING ENHANCED X.25 RADIO ACCESS FONEMAIL vodafone:m@il FAX MESSAGING BUSINESS PARTNERS PROGRAM
Page x www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PREMIUM RATE INFORMATION SERVICES DATA-ONLY AND HIGH VOLUME TARIFFS
31. Country Case Study: Value-Added Services in Hungary
PANNON GSM WESTEL 900
32. Network Case Study: Mutiara Telecom (DiGi 1800) Malaysia
33. Country Case Study: SMS in Japan
TOKYO DIGITAL PHONE (J-PHONE) IDO
34. Case Study Central
Details of SMS services, applications, partnerships and promotions around the world.
35. A guide for network operators to maximize returns from SMS
FOCUS ON REVENUE PER SUBSCRIBER AS WELL AS MARKET SHARE FOCUS ON SERVICES NOT TECHNOLOGY CHOOSE THE RIGHT SMS CENTER CHOOSE POPULAR APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES REMEMBER SIMPLICITY CHOOSE THE RIGHT SMS SOFTWARE SUPPLIER PRICE THEM CORRECTLY ENABLE ALL POTENTIAL USERS EDUCATE CUSTOMERS EDUCATE THE MOBILE WORKERS SET UP A BUSINESS PARTNERS PROGRAM
36. The Mobile Value Chain
TERMINALS PROTOCOLS TECHNOLOGIES SERVICES APPLICATIONS
37. Summary
38. Index of Contents
39. Links to Related Internet sites
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page xi Introduction
The Short Message Service (SMS) is the ability to send and receive text messages to and from mobile telephones. The text can comprise of words or numbers or an alphanumeric combination. SMS was created when it was incorporated into the Global System for Mobiles (GSM) digital mobile phone standard. The first short message is believed to have been sent in December 1992 from a Personal Computer (PC) to a mobile phone on the Vodafone GSM network in the UK.
PREFACE- THE SUCCESS STORY OF SMS IN FINLAND
In August 1998, the author of the “Data on SMS” book, Simon Buckingham, traveled to Finland and learned first hand about the success of mobile phones in general and SMS in particular in that market. Meetings were held with:
· Nokia, a leading mobile phone designer and manufacturer,
· Scandinavian Softline Technology, a supplier of SMS-based services platforms to half a dozen mobile network operators around the world, and
· Sonera, formerly Telecom Finland, a mobile network operator whose 1.2 million customers send and receive about 20 million short messages every month.
These success stories show the rest of the mobile communications industry just how successful a Data and SMS-oriented business model can be.
AIMS
The intention of this book “Data on SMS” is to show how to maximize the use of, and therefore the revenue from, the Short Message Service. Education is the principle means of achieving this objective- by providing the first and only single source for accurate and comprehensive information about the development and deployment of SMS around the world.
Frankly, SMS has thus far failed to live up to its potential and is still very much under-utilized. Its usage globally, even in markets where it is relatively high, is still under-developed. Too few people are using SMS for too few purposes on too few occasions. There are several reasons for this under-development, including:
· lack of awareness
· difficulty in using
· unrealistic expectations for a low bandwidth service offering 160 characters of information
· fragmented and localized development of SMS-based services
· non-standardized technology and protocols
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 1 However, success stories using SMS such as that in Finland have started to emerge. In addition, a fundamental transformation in the market environment for non-voice mobile services such as SMS is now underway. Powerful and flexible new standards, protocols, services and terminals are under development which make extensive use of SMS. “Data on SMS” explains and interprets both the existing and future aspects of SMS. It provides both an explanation of these developments, and analysis to help to interpret them. The idea is to identify the critical success factors for the Short Message Service- now and in the future- what has hindered SMS from being a success in the past and what will be important to its success in the future.
AUTHOR
The author of the book, Simon Buckingham, has spent his entire career working directly with SMS. He firstly built a deep knowledge of SMS deployment whilst running the Business Partners Programme at the Vodafone GSM network in the UK (http://www.vodafone.co.uk). He subsequently broadened this knowledge as Development Manager- Enabling Technologies for Brightpoint (http://www.brightpoint.com), the world’s largest distributor of mobile phones, during which he traveled throughout Europe and beyond consulting with mobile network operators about SMS. After completing this book, he joined TWS (http://www.tws- inc.com), the US-based SMS-based value-added services platform supplier as Director of Marketing. As such, he has had direct operating knowledge of most of SMS applications and issues discussed in this book.
“Data on SMS” has a related Internet site at http://www.mobilesms.com to keep readers up-to-date with the very latest developments in the world of mobile communications in general and SMS in particular. The site is intended to supplement the detailed information in this book with updates and any corrections. Regular updates and reports are also published on the site. All comments, clarifications and discussions regarding the contents of this book in particular or SMS in general are welcomed by the author Simon Buckingham, who can be contacted via any of the methods listed below:
Simon Buckingham
Internet sites: http://www.mobilesms.com http://www.dataonsms.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +44 7000 366366
Fax: +44 7000 366367
Postal Address: 6 Goldwell Drive Newbury Berkshire RG14 1HZ ENGLAND
Page 2 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham AUDIENCE
The book does not assume that the reader has any prior knowledge of SMS, but due to the specialist nature of the topic, assumes an interest in a detailed explanation of all technical and commercial aspects of SMS. Within mobile telephone network operators, the book has been written to appeal to both marketing Product Managers and Network Engineering staff with an interest in value-added services in general and SMS in particular. It is also aimed at mobile infrastructure and phone suppliers, SMS software and application developers, corporate customers such as telecommunications managers looking to use non-voice services more widely, industry consultants and commentators and so on.
This book will discuss SMS primarily in terms of its deployment on GSM networks of any frequency. There is, however, for example, a section on the availability of SMS on non-GSM standards, as SMS has been incorporated into CDMA, Japan’s Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and analog NMT, amongst others. The applications described can run across any type of mobile network supporting SMS.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my former colleagues at Vodafone Value Added Services for introducing me to the wonders of SMS, and explaining the commercial and technical issues related to it. In particular, my former manager at Vodafone, Alan Bennett- Brown assisted in the preparation of this book, especially with the sections on future mobile data standards. His colleague at Vodafone, Ian Harris, was instrumental in providing me with help and assistance on the technical accuracy and completeness of the text, related to the SMS standards, infrastructure and SMS roaming aspects. My colleagues at Brightpoint supported my endeavors in producing this book- in particular John Stokes, Jim Doak and Hannu Ruoppa.
Ben Wood of the GSM Data Team at Lucent helped on the new protocols such as WAP and MExE. Ilkka Raiskinen of Nokia assisted in the whole area of future mobile services and protocols. Timo Ahomäki and Kari Rantanen at Sonera in Finland shared their successful case study with me. Thank you to Naoaki Nii at NTT InfoCom Research in Japan for organizing my meetings with J-Phone and IDO. Thank you to all those people I met at PCS98 in Florida in September 1998 for their insight into the US market for mobile data.
Other contributors include those people listed in the SMS Center and SMS Software Suppliers profiles. Thank you also to everyone who responded to my email surveys on everything from national SMS roaming to SMS Center suppliers. To all the other people who provided valuable insight and comments, many of them anonymously, thank you. Thank you to all those people who assisted in providing information for the case studies.
Prior to publication, all of the profiles of SMS Center vendors, SMS software suppliers and case studies were shared first with some of their customers and then with the companies themselves. The overwhelming majority provided feedback and clarification. Most of the other sections of this book have also been checked by
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 3 experts in these areas. My aim has been to provide accurate, comprehensive and fair insight into the SMS market. I am personally satisfied that I have achieved my objective with the help of a large number of people. However, all errors, omissions and opinions are solely those of the author. Because of the fast changing nature of this area of the mobile communications world, readers would be advised to visit the company’s Internet site or speak to its personnel to garner the most up-to-date developments and information.
PART 1- What is SMS?
Key Features of SMS
The Short Message Service (SMS), as defined within the GSM digital mobile phone standard, has several unique features. These features will be discussed in detail in this book, but can be summarized as:
· A single short message can be up to 160 characters of text in length. Those 160 characters can comprise of words or numbers or an alphanumeric combination. Non-text based short messages (for example, in binary format) are also supported.
· The Short Message Service is a store and forward service, in other words, short messages are not sent directly from sender to recipient, but always via an SMS Center instead. Each mobile telephone network that supports SMS has one or more messaging centers to handle and manage the short messages. A messaging center is known within the GSM standard as a Service Centre (SC) or Short Message Service Centre (SMSC) and referred to in this book as an SMS Center.
· The Short Message Service features confirmation of message delivery. This means that unlike paging, you do not simply send a short message and trust and hope that it gets delivered. Instead the sender of the short message can receive a return message back notifying them whether the short message has been delivered or not.
· Short messages can be sent and received simultaneously with GSM voice, Data and Fax calls. This is possible because whereas voice, Data and Fax calls take over a dedicated radio channel for the duration of the call, short messages travel over and above the radio channel using the signaling path. As such, users of SMS rarely if ever get a busy or engaged signal as they can do during peak network usage times.
· Ways of sending multiple short messages are available. SMS concatenation (stringing several short messages together) and compression (getting more than 160 characters of data within a single short message) have been defined and incorporated in the GSM SMS specifications.
· To use SMS, users need the relevant subscriptions and hardware, specifically:
· a subscription to a mobile telephone network that supports SMS
Page 4 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · use of SMS must be enabled for that user (automatic access to the SMS is allowed by some mobile network operators, others charge a monthly subscription and require a specific opt-in to use the service)
· a mobile phone that supports SMS
· knowledge of how to send or read a short message using their specific model of mobile phone
· a destination to send a short message to, or receive a message from. This is often another mobile phone but may be a fax machine, PC or Internet email address.
We will now begin to describe these unique features of GSM SMS in more detail by exploring the differences between traditional paging services and GSM SMS.
Comparison between SMS and Paging
This section will compare the GSM Short Message Service and Paging, the service that is closest to it in the minds of both mobile phone users and mobile network operators. This is especially the case in the USA, where pagers are very widely used. In fact, mobile phones that support SMS are often viewed as a replacement for traditional paging terminals. Indeed, it is often expensive and unnecessary for the same person to carry around both a pager and a digital mobile phone. When it was launched initially, many mobile network operators and industry commentators positioned SMS as paging to a mobile phone. Indeed, many paging software packages have now been modified and enhanced to incorporate support for SMS. Some vertical market, industrial applications that used pagers were amongst the first to be modified to support SMS, in particular, remote monitoring applications such as the notification of computer hardware faults. Additionally, access to SMS Centers via the standard paging protocols such as TAP (Telecator Alphanumeric Protocol) has been incorporated into most major SMS Centers. TAP is a protocol that opens an ongoing- rather than interactive- session between the application software and the platform it is submitting messages to. However, a wider range of applications is available for the Short Message Service than for paging.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 5 Let us now compare the main features of SMS and Paging:
GSM Short Message Service Paging Store and Forward Repeated delivery attempts 160 characters Variable character length (80 to 1000s) Simultaneous with other GSM services Single service on a dedicated device Two-way One-way Higher frequency Lower frequency for better in-building coverage Confirmation of message delivery Delivery status unknown Sender pays Sender pays Wide range of terminals Fewer terminals International roaming is established International roaming difficult GSM is the main global standard Multiple standard contenders
SERVICE DESIGN
The Short Message Service is a store and forward service, such that if the message recipient’s mobile phone is out of coverage or switched off, the message is stored in a SMS Center and forwarded as soon as the recipient becomes available. All short messages of all types pass through the SMS Center on their way from sender to recipient. As such, the SMS Center is the gateway to the GSM network for SMS and the primary short message processing engine and storage repository. The store and forward nature of SMS makes it a particularly attractive service for users going in and out of coverage or traveling between time zones.
Paging on the other hand is a direct service such that paging messages sent to beepers do NOT pass through a paging platform once they have been generated and submitted to the paging network. Instead, repeated attempts are made to locate the pager and deliver the message.
As such, when a user is available to receive a message at the time the message is sent, both paging and SMS deliver it as soon as possible. But when the user is not available, the paging message could be lost, whilst the short message is stored in the SMS Center for deferred delivery. However, pagers do tend to be kept on all the time, whereas mobile phones are regularly switched on and off. Hence, the disadvantage of not having an SMS Center to store and forward messages to unavailable pagers is not as important as it may at first seem.
A pager system is like a radio receiver permanently tuned to a single station that is locked into the device at the time of manufacture. There are three types of traditional pager service- pagers that emit a single tone, those that emit different tones; each of which represents a different pre-defined message, and those that can display free-form alphanumeric messages. Clearly, the later has the closest affinity with SMS.
MESSAGE LENGTH
GSM short messages are typically twice the length of paging messages. Indeed, the GSM SMS standards committee decided on 160 characters because it is exactly twice the length of a typical traditional paging message at 80 characters. However, different paging standards support different lengths of paging messages. Some paging
Page 6 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham messages can be a thousand or more characters in length. As such, in some cases short messages may be longer and in others, paging messages can be of longer length.
A single GSM short message can contain up to a maximum of 160 characters of user data where the GSM 7-bit default alphabet is used or 140 bytes of user data where binary data is being sent. Other mobile communications standards support different lengths of messages (See the “SMS Availability on different Network Types” section).
CONCURRENT SERVICES
GSM short messages can be sent and received simultaneously with voice, Data and Fax calls. These calls use a radio channel. Short messages on the other hand travel over and above the radio channel using the signaling path, which is also responsible for tasks such as locating phones being telephoned, passing Caller Line Identify (CLI) information and monitoring the status of the phone. As such, users of SMS rarely if ever get a busy or engaged signal as they can when trying to make a call during peak GSM network usage times.
Paging terminals, on the other hand, tend to be single service devices dedicated to paging only. This has the practical implication that beeper users get paged and then need to find a telephone to call the person paging them. SMS users can usually return calls directly from the same terminal.
INTERACTIVITY
Paging services are typically one-way, with paging messages received on pagers. Paging messages are generated from a fixed network environment by means such as calls to a paging bureau or via a modem dial-up session. It is not generally possible to reply to a pager message, although interactive two-way paging systems such as Motorola ReFlex are becoming available.
The Short Message Service is a two-way interactive service, since the majority of GSM mobile phones support sending as well as receiving short messages. However, two-way usage is not likely to be more widely used until mobile terminals such as smart phones with alphanumeric keyboards become available that increase the ease with which users can generate short messages. Some smart pagers with mini- QWERTY keyboards have also been developed.
RADIO FREQUENCY
Paging networks use much lower frequencies than GSM networks which means that in-building paging coverage and penetration is much greater than GSM. For example, the frequency band allocated to ERMES, a digital paging standard, is 169MHz. As such, paging messages are more likely to be receivable in those indoor environments where GSM, and therefore SMS, coverage is unavailable. For example, one successful paging application is location and communication with staff throughout large hypermarket distribution warehouses.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 7 As mobile network operators and infrastructure vendors develop more solutions for providing mobile coverage in buildings, such as mini-base stations, SMS is likely to become more continuously available inside and outside of buildings. After all, the extent to which short messages can be received is directly and closely related to the availability of general mobile network coverage for voice services. When the mobile phone is within network coverage, short messages can be sent and received on mobile networks that support such services.
DELIVERY CONFIRMATION
An important feature of SMS and a key advantage compared with traditional paging is confirmation of short message delivery. This means that the sender of a short message is given information about whether or not the message has successfully been delivered. This information is typically presented in the form of a second short message sent back to the message originator. Confirmation of message delivery is useful because it provides comfort to the user, and this information facilitates secondary action such as sending undelivered short messages to someone else.
With paging, the delivery status of messages is typically unknown- the first time that the sender of the page is informed that their message has been received is when the recipient responds to it by, for example, calling the sender.
Whilst confirmation of short message delivery is incorporated into the SMS specifications, only certain mobile phones actually support it. All major SMS Centers now support confirmation of delivery. Hence, users of SMS may find themselves in a situation where the mobile network they are using has an SMS Center that supports confirmation of message delivery, but their particular model of mobile phone does not.
CHARGING
In the case of paging, the charging mechanism varies- some users pay an ongoing subscription whilst others do not pay anything else once they have purchased the pager itself. Subscription-based paging services involving ongoing charges remain widespread for business users. However, Calling Party Pays (CPP) dominates the consumer sector and has accounted for the rapid expansion in pager sales in the 1990s. As its name suggests, with Calling Party Pays (CPP), the sender of the paging message incurs the charge. Once the CPP pager has been purchased, the only ongoing costs fall upon the calling party- who makes a (usually, premium rate) call to send messages. The holder of the CPP pager does not get charged for receiving messages and pays no monthly network access charge either.
The absence of any ongoing charges is one of the most attractive features of Call Party Pays pagers. There are no known instances where a mobile network operator offers an SMS-only tariff that has no ongoing monthly subscription or per message charges. Vodafone in the UK does offer an SMS-only tariff that does not include voice, Data or Fax services- but charges a (relatively low) monthly subscription for this tariff. (See the Vodafone case study for more details).
Page 8 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham In the vast majority of cases, the sender of short messages pays for them. The sender pays irrespective of whether they originate the short message via a modem dial-up service, mobile phone keypad, voice call and so on. Where the sender cannot be charged for the short message, such as with messages generated from an Internet page, no-one typically pays for the short message. It is unusual for a mobile network operator to charge its customers for receiving short messages. Vodafone of the UK is the sole known network carrier to charge recipients of messages sent via its Premium Rate Information Services tariff. (See the Case Study on Vodafone for detailed information). When the short messages are reverse charged, it is essential that the message recipient actively opts into receiving that particular information, so that they have a means to limit and control their expenditure on such services.
TERMINALS
A wide range of mobile devices is available for both paging and SMS. Pager terminals tend to be dedicated terminals for paging only, whereas there are no terminals available that solely support SMS.
Pager terminals do have some advantages over standard mobile phones for messaging purposes:
· Size and weight. Generally, pagers remain smaller than mobile phones, including those using the Personal Handyphone System and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) mobile standards in Japan. The later types of phone are often however lighter than most pagers.
· Message storage. A typical pager can store between 12 and 32 messages, which is more than the quantity that most mobile phones can currently store in the attached SimCard. (The SimCard (Subscriber Identity Module) is a smart card that plugs into the GSM mobile phone and contains user-specific information such as the user’s mobile number, short messages and mobile phone book entries). However, some mobile phones allow messages to be stored in the phone’s memory in addition to the SimCard.
· Battery Life. The battery life is also much longer for pagers- they do not need to be charged up and can run for many months on a standard battery.
ROAMING
Traditionally with paging, roaming between different networks running the same standard in different countries is not assured because the paging network does not know where the pager is. The paging network literally looks around for the pager.
However, like GSM, the digital ERMES standard (see next section) was designed from concept to support international roaming. ERMES roaming is based on a common frequency allocation in the 169.4-199.8MHz band, reserved in all markets where ERMES is licensed. Terminals can scan all these channels and messages are exchanged via a gateway interface that is defined in the ERMES standard.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 9 The GSM standard was also specifically designed for easy use in multiple countries. Within the GSM standard, network entities such as the Home Location Register (HLR) are incorporated to track the location and status of mobile phones. As such, international messaging is very possible with GSM SMS. (For full details, see the section about “GSM SMS Inter-Network Roaming”).
In practice, the number of international roaming agreements for the GSM Short Message Service far exceeds that available for any of the paging standards.
STANDARDS
There are several different paging standards, including:
· POCSAG. The international analog paging standard. Widely established, deployed and proven.
· FLEX. A protocol developed by Motorola. Claims many technical advantages compared with older analog paging standards such as POCSAG such as improved reliability and capacity. Flex is licensed to over 50 paging suppliers worldwide and approved as an international paging standard by the International Telecommunications Union. It is widely adopted in the Americas and Asia-Pacific and gaining acceptance in Europe. ReFlex is the two-way version of Flex that incorporates greater interactivity. (See http://www.motorola.com/flexsoftware)
· ERMES. A digital paging standard developed (like GSM) by the European Union. ERMES refers to the Enhanced- formerly European- Radio Messaging System. Over a dozen commercial ERMES networks are in operation, particularly in Eastern Europe.
The GSM specifications were the first, and are the primary, standard for SMS and encompass most of Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of North America. Other mobile network standards such as PDC and CDMA have also incorporated SMS-like services, with slightly different features. (See the “SMS Availability on different Network Types” section for more information).
SUMMARY
As we have seen, there are a number of differences between SMS and Paging. The feature set of GSM SMS is greater than that available for traditional one-way paging applications. The Short Message Service is paging plus, whilst paging is now beginning to incorporate more SMS-like features.
Page 10 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Comparison between SMS and GSM Data
The two main non-voice services widely available on GSM networks are Data and SMS. Software suppliers and corporate customers often face a choice between using the two. Let us compare the two services to determine when use of each is most applicable:
GSM Short Message Service GSM Data Limited in length Limited in speed Store and Forward Dedicated connection Phone only Phone plus data converter Teleservice Bearer service Signaling Path Radio Channel
LIMITATIONS
Whereas a single short message is limited in length to 160 characters, GSM Data allows open-ended transfers of information- subject to the current GSM Data transmission speed of 9,600 bits per second (bps). As such, Data calls are limited by speed, whereas short messages are limited by length.
The radio interface itself restricts user data rates to 9.6 kbits/s for current Data services. When the GSM Data standard was initially defined over a decade ago, 9,600 bps sounded very fast compared to the 2,400 bps that was then available over fixed links. It is only recently that significant increases in fixed network data transmission speeds, for example, from 14.4 to 28.8 kbps, have become possible. As such, the mobile bandwidth is currently only a quarter or less of the data transfer speed available over a fixed modem link. This makes applications such as extensive Internet surfing and downloading large email attachments largely impractical over GSM because of the relatively high amounts of time and money thereby incurred.
GSM Data calls are circuit-switched, in other words, there is a real-time connection between the sending and receiving entities. Packet-switched on the other hand means near real-time communications subject only to any delay in transmitting the packets- in effect, there is a virtual connection between the two entities.
INFORMATION TYPES
Whereas SMS is used primarily for the transfer of text, the Data service can be used to transmit video images such as photos and video clips, diagrams and graphics from sources such as the Internet. Mobile video conferencing applications running at just 9.6 kbps are possible by designing the application software such that only the changes in the images are transmitted rather than the whole image. This reduces the image update delays to around two seconds, sufficient for identifying a person or action in the image, but clearly not of broadcast quality.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 11 It is also however possible to use the Short Message Service for sending diagrams by transmitting binary data rather than text. This is achieved by changing a flag outside the message text itself called the Data Coding Scheme to 8 bits, rather than using the default 7-bit GSM alphabet.
CONCURRENT SERVICES
As we learned in the Comparison between SMS and Paging, whilst GSM Data, Fax and voice services all take over a radio channel for the duration of the call, short messages are transmitted across the signaling path of the GSM mobile network. The signaling path is always active monitoring phones and passing information back and forth across the mobile network.
GSM is fairly inefficient in that a single user’s call occupies a single channel for the duration of their call. A traffic channel assigned to a Data, Fax (or voice) user can only be used for one purpose at a time (i.e. one user monopolizes the use of those network resources until that call is ended). GSM does not currently support the simultaneous transmission of voice and Data from the same terminal. However, the recently agreed multiplexing standard (GSM 07.10) facilitates the interweaving and concurrent handling of SMS and other services such as Data and voice.
Use of GSM Data use is dependent upon the availability of mobile network coverage and an unoccupied radio channel. With SMS however, the constraints for supporting a large number of simultaneous users are associated more with the capacity of the SMS Center than the signaling path. As such, the number of concurrent Data users is likely to be much lower than that for SMS. The practical implication of this service design is that it is often possible to successfully transmit a short message when the user is in coverage even when it is not possible to secure a radio channel and make a voice, Data or Fax call. Next time you are attending a mobile exhibition or conference where there are a large number of users and a busy mobile network, try sending short messages instead!
SERVICE DESIGN
A Data call typically entails a mobile worker dialing in to connect to a remote site- be it their Internet Service Provider, office or home or elsewhere. Because the Data call involves a direct end-to-end connection, both the sending and receiving parties are connected in real-time for the duration of the data exchange. On the other hand, SMS is a store and forward service in which the sender and recipient of the message are not connected directly or in real-time. Instead, they are connected via an SMS Center.
In Data calls made from the GSM network to PSTN (fixed wire telephone networks, Public Switched Telephone Network) destinations, the bit stream must be converted from digital into analog signals. For Data calls, the so-called Inter-Working Function (IWF) in the GSM mobile network provides this inter-connection and inter-working between the GSM and PSTN networks. It usually takes between 10 and 20 seconds to set up the Data call- during which time the modem handshaking, user authentication and so on takes place. This is sufficient time for a short message to typically be delivered from its originator to its available recipients via a reliable SMS Center.
Page 12 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham However, GSM network operators have begun implementing direct dedicated Data connections between the GSM network and host servers such as company head offices. By having a physical connection such as X.25 or TCP/IP between the host server and the mobile network, Data users dial the server direct and therefore do not need to establish a modem connection. (X.25 is the international public access packet radio data network standard). Direct connections typically reduce GSM Data call setup times to approximately three to four seconds. However, such direct links only reduce the call setup time, they cannot increase the speed at which the data passes over the radio channel. Direct connections have been established to Internet Service Providers and corporate customers and any other destinations that are popular with Data users. Obviously there is a cost incurred from having a dedicated physical link, along with the resulting dedicated use of communications ports at both the host and network. Thus it is only generally cost effective to establish a direct connection when Data traffic levels exceed a certain quantity.
SERVICE TYPES
Within the GSM standard, there are two types of services: bearer services and teleservices. Bearer services supply the low level transmission path over GSM networks that provide a basis for teleservices. In the GSM standard, teleservices include SMS and Fax and bearer services include Data.
There are two types of bearer services for transmitting Data over the GSM network: the transparent and non-transparent bearer services. The non-transparent mode provides virtually guaranteed error-free transmission of the user data to the application software, even in hostile radio conditions such as moving vehicles. This is achieved using a data integrity mechanism called Automatic Retransmission on Request (ARQ) using Radio Link Protocol (RLP). Because ARQ is used, the same data may be transmitted more than once. Hence, it is possible for data transfer delays of several seconds to occur when using non-transparent Data. It is therefore important that the application software is aware of the possibility of such delays such that it does not interrupt the flow of information by, for example, terminating Data calls due to timeout. However, in optimal radio conditions where mobile network coverage is good, the transparent service that is not error corrected could work just as well. Support of transparent and non-transparent Data services is subject to specific mobile network and equipment support. For example, not all GSM data cards (PC Card modems, see the next section) support non-transparent Data services.
As we shall see, all short messages are automatically checked for data integrity by forward error protection. As such, SMS is closer in character to the non-transparent Data service, although in the case of concatenated short messages (several messages strung together in a sequence), there is no mechanism for re-transmitting any short messages that are lost between sending and receiving entities.
TERMINALS
All that users require to use SMS is a (suitable) digital mobile phone. However, to use GSM Data or Fax, functionality is needed to handle the conversion between the different PC data and GSM Data formats, presenting the information from Terminal Equipment in a format suitable for successful transmission across the mobile network.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 13 “Terminal Equipment” is the GSM term for any external device that is connected to mobile phone, such as a mobile data terminal or handheld computer. There are several ways of obtaining this conversion functionality:
1. Separate Hardware. When GSM Data first became available, such conversions were typically carried out by a PC Card (formerly PCMCIA) modem. This is a standard developed by the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association and adopted by laptop PC manufacturers to facilitate a standardized mechanism for adding on additional accessories such as memory cards and GSM Data cards. A cable then connects the mobile phone to the PC Card.
2. Integrated Hardware. The PC Card functionality is increasingly being integrated into the mobile phone itself. This is the case with smart phones, terminals designed specifically for vertical market industrial use and even commonplace phones. Additionally, phones on a card have been released- these are PC Cards with Data, Fax, SMS and voice support integrated. An optional earpiece allows the voice functionality to be used. Infrared allows communications between the mobile phone and Terminal Equipment- allowing a wire-free connection for sending and receiving Data, Fax and short messages.
3. Software. Support for GSM Data has been incorporated into software- meaning that users of either SMS or Data only need a serial cable and a software suite to use either service.
(See the “SMS Hardware” section for further information about the hardware required for transmitting short messages).
As such, there are a range of different hardware options for accessing both Data and SMS. However, SMS is more readily accessible to more mobile phone users, without the need for specialist equipment or accessories.
Future Mobile Data Standards
INTRODUCTION
Today’s GSM networks support the Short Message Service (SMS) which allows 160 characters of information to be transmitted and GSM circuit switched Data at 9,600 bits per second. By 1998, data transmission speeds of 14,400 bits per second were supported within the GSM standard using techniques such as better compression and more efficient use of radio channel. The first terminal to support 14,400 bps was the Nokia 9110, the second generation Nokia smart phone. Mobile network standards such as the Personal Handyphone System (PHS) in Japan already support data transmissions speeds of 64 Kilobits per second.
The future will see several new faster data services on GSM networks. These new services are shown on the “Evolution of non-voice mobile services” diagram (See Diagram 1 in Appendix)
Page 14 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham HIGH SPEED CIRCUIT SWITCHED DATA (HSCSD)
HSCSD enhances the speed of today’s Data service by giving a single user simultaneous access to multiple time slots. As such, there is a direct trade-off between greater speed and the associated cost from using more radio resources. Assuming a standard Data transmission rate of 14.4 kilobits per second, using four timeslots with HSCSD allows speeds of up to 57.6 kbps.
One potential technical difficulty with HSCSD arises because in a multi-timeslot environment, dynamic call transfer between different cells on a mobile network (called “handover”) is complicated unless the same slots are available end-to-end throughout the duration of the Data call. HSCSD is however easier to implement in a mobile network than GPRS because it only requires a software upgrade of base stations rather than new hardware.
The ETSI specification for HSCSD was available about one year before that for GPRS. Despite this, cellular infrastructure vendors such as Nokia and Ericsson have shown more demonstrations of GPRS than HSCSD. In September 1998, Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland) signed an agreement with Nokia for a High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) solution. Sonera was one of the first network operators to adopt HSCSD.
In sum, it can be said that the mobile infrastructure vendors do not seem to be as committed to HSCSD as they are to GPRS. The timescales for commercial availability of HSCSD are therefore uncertain.
GENERAL PACKET RADIO SERVICE (GPRS)
GPRS is part of the Phase 2+ specification upgrade to the GSM standard. Whereas today’s Data service and HSCSD are based on circuit switching, GPRS is a packet switched protocol. Because the GPRS data is sent in small packets, this service has similarities with SMS. Packet switching means that GPRS uses radio resources only when users are actually online sending or receiving data. This facilitates “connectionless applications” where the user is not always transmitting information but is ready to do so in an instant as the need arises. Because of this efficient use of radio resources, 50 to 100 GPRS users can share the same bandwidth and potentially be served from a single cell. GPRS will allow data transmission speeds of up to 115 kbps, which is well over 10 times the speed of standard Data services. One potential technical problem is that packet switched connections are typically less robust than their circuit switched equivalent, so some packets could be lost.
To implement GPRS, network operators would need to install a new packet-based Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) called a SGSN (Servicing GPRS Service Node) along with its own Visited Location Register (VLR) and other platforms. This represents an investment by a mobile network operator of tens of millions of dollars.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 15 BLUETOOTH
See http://www.bluetooth.com
Bluetooth is an alliance between mobile communications and mobile computing companies to develop a short range communications standard allowing wireless data communications at ranges of about 10 meters. Bluetooth will facilitate wireless Local Area Networks in which networks of different handheld computing terminals and mobile terminals can communicate and exchange data, even on the move and when there is no line-of-sight between those terminals. Bluetooth will mean that if users have several (Bluetooth-enabled) portable terminals, they can nonetheless use them with all the advantages of an integrated smart phone, without having to re-enter data or find the most recent versions on different terminals.
This kind of synchronization and exchange of data are Bluetooth’s major applications, as are electronic commerce applications such as electronically paying for parking meters, bus tickets, shopping, movies and so on. Smart offices are envisaged in which an employee with a Bluetooth device is automatically checked in when entering the building and this automatically triggers a series of actions such as lights and PCs being switched on. Such proactive intelligence could turn out to be a nuisance rather than a convenience for Bluetooth users. The Bluetooth partners see one of its main advantages as being that it does not need to be set up- Bluetooth runs in the background and line of sight is not even needed for the machines to automatically initiate and trigger processes. Clearly, such “intelligence” needs to be under the device owner or owners.
Bluetooth will encompass both a standard communications interface and a low cost standard computer chip. It is a cross between the DECT (Digital European Cordless Telephone) and iRDA (infra Red Data Association) technologies. Founded by Nokia, Ericsson, IBM, Intel and Toshiba, the Bluetooth alliance has also been joined by companies such as One2One, a UK mobile network operator, Motorola, Qualcomm, Compaq, Dell, 3COM Palm, VLSI, Xircom, Psion Dacom and Lucent.
Seen by its founders as complementary to UMTS, Bluetooth will operate at slightly higher frequencies than UMTS (see below)- at 2.45 gigahertz. Bluetooth does not involve mobile network transactions- its spectrum is freely available to use in the unlicensed spectrum area. Data transmission speeds using Bluetooth are expected to be between 720 kbps and one megabit per second (Mbps).
The Bluetooth specification will be outlined in early 1999, with Bluetooth-enabled mobile terminals such as laptops, smart phones, handheld computers and so on likely to be first available by the industry conference “Telecom 99” in Geneva, Switzerland. Commercial Bluetooth terminals are expected to be available in the year 2000.
In one negative prediction for Bluetooth, the September 1998 issue of “Wired” magazine listed Bluetooth at position one in its “Hype List” which aims at “Deflating this month’s overblown memes”. It commented that “This wireless LAN technology overcomes infrared’s line-of-sight limitations, but Bluetooth’s true application, much less its market potential, won’t emerge until there’s a critical mass of RF-chip PCs, handhelds, and phones. And even then, people looking to move data between gadgets
Page 16 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham might find it hard to sever their emotional connection to the entrenched wireline option.” Bluetooth was given a life expectancy of 24 months. Whilst it is true to say that other similar ideas to network electronic terminals and household appliances have come and gone in the past, such as Novel NetWare, Bluetooth does have the backing of a lot of market leading mobile phone and modem manufacturers. Others have failed because they have not been able to achieve a critical mass of wired appliances when licensing their technology. Bluetooth should be treated with open-minded scepticism- I for one would happy give up all wires tomorrow.
ENHANCED DATA-RATES FOR GSM EVOLUTION (EDGE)
EDGE is another high speed mobile data standard which is effectively enhanced channel coding for GPRS in order to achieve data transmission speeds of 384 Kbps. EDGE was developed to meet the requirements of mobile network operators who fail to win UMTS spectrum. The research and development departments of infrastructure providers such as Nokia and Ericsson are preparing for EDGE, but no decision has been made about EDGE capable terminals. EDGE is expected to be available commercially in 2001/2.
UNIVERSAL MOBILE TELEPHONE SYSTEM (UMTS)
See http://www.umts-alliance.com
UMTS is the third generation mobile phone system that will be available in the year 2001/2. UMTS will provide an evolution in mobile data. The shift from 9,600/ 14,000 bps to the speeds available under GPRS would really be a quantum leap in mobile data speeds, whereas the increase from GPRS to UMTS may not be perceptible to the user. UMTS will provide data transmission rates of between 384 kbps and 2 Mbps. The main positive (rather than defensive) reason for mobile network operators to secure UMTS spectrum and network licenses is to solve capacity issues in terms of simultaneous user access to the network.
The licensing of UMTS spectrum- which will mostly take place during 1999- may see new entrants into the mobile communications market- for example, media companies may bid to offer multimedia mobile services to their customers.
NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION OF HIGH SPEED DATA
Mobile network operators will decide which of these different high speed data services to actually implement depending on several factors, such as:
· Standards setting bodies
Take up of high speed data services depends on the extent to which they are standardized. For example, something like Bluetooth is only as useful as the number of terminals that support it. If common mobile phones and handheld computers do NOT all support Bluetooth, then the benefit to a customer of having one Bluetooth enabled device is less valuable, because they cannot coordinate their data between all of their communications and computing terminals.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 17 · Infrastructure Vendors
Network operators depend on the suppliers of their core mobile network infrastructure for availability of upgrades to support these services. For example, mobile infrastructure vendors have shown greater enthusiasm for GPRS than HSCSD.
· Competitors
One key driver of the need to implement such new services is differentiation, another is the defensive need to prevent a competitor from being able to offer unique mobile services. Some mobile network operators may be compelled to invest in interim high speed mobile data services that they do not see a great demand for if they feel that there is a high risk of their competitors being able to market themselves as a leader in innovation by having them.
· Customers
Customer demand for new high speed services is another decision variable. Most network operators have innovative customers who are keen to put the new services to use and drive the learning process regarding the new services and their potential.
APPLICATIONS USING HIGH SPEED DATA
Often, by designing applications to minimize the effects of the limitations of existing mobile services- such as the length of a short message or the speed of a GSM Data call- existing services such as SMS can be successfully used for mobile working. However, the new faster data services will allow better versions of today’s existing non-voice applications. For example, instead of occasional information messages with SMS, information services via GPRS or UMTS will be more akin to the “push” Internet channels we see on Active PC Desktops today. Instead of slow and small video transmission, real-time broadcast quality images will be transmittable. Instead of using SMS to notify Internet users of new email, the whole email will be sent, and full-blown Internet access will be possible. The same applications will be more immediate and convenient for users.
It is also likely that the Internet will become the primary communications interface for all applications. People will dial into the Internet for publicly available data, the extranet for access to the data of business partners and other external collaborators and the intranet to access internal employee information. As such, all work will be carried out through the Internet interface. Instead of corporate applications such as service engineering using platform and software specific interfaces, the mobile workers such as service engineers will access an Intranet page using their GPRS or UMTS terminal and fill in an electronic form.
PRICING OF HIGH SPEED DATA
Whilst these applications are technically feasible using SMS or high speed mobile data standards, the volume of usage is dependent upon commercial factors such as pricing. It should be less expensive to provide the same high mobile data bandwidth using GPRS than HSCSD, which uses more time slots.
Page 18 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham We will now look at the applications that both SMS and fast and slow Data facilitate- and how they are delivered using the Short Message Service.
Applications
Because the GSM Short Message Service is simply 160 characters of alphanumeric information, it represents a powerful information delivery mechanism for sending any short bursts of information that need communicating, from customer addresses and telephone numbers to share prices and sports scores. Other coding schemes such as binary extend the communications capability of SMS still further. As such, the same underlying Short Message Service technology can be used for many different corporate and consumer applications.
This section will outline what these applications are and the broad way in which they are delivered. The subsequent SMS Software Supplier Profiles will then describe specific implementations of some of these applications.
The main applications based on SMS are:
SIMPLE PERSON TO PERSON MESSAGING
The Short Message Service is routinely used by mobile phone users to communicate with each other. Typically, such person to person messaging is used to say hello or prompt someone for something or arrange a meeting or tell someone something. Such messages are usually originated from the mobile phone keypad or a handheld computer connected to the mobile phone.
When the communication is short or it would take too long to have a full conversation or someone is travelling overseas or not available to take a voice call, SMS is an ideal messaging medium. For example, network operators typically charge the same to send a short message to someone in the same room as they do to someone travelling overseas with their mobile phone. Because short messages are proactively delivered to mobile phones that are typically kept in the user’s pocket and can be stored for later reference, SMS is often more convenient than email or Data to communicate amongst distributed and mobile groups of people.
Once users have familiarized themselves with reading and sending short messages, they often find that SMS is a useful way of exchanging information and keeping in touch with friends. This is particularly so when the recipient is also able to reply to messages for two-way communication. If the recipient of the short message is unable to read or reply to it, then clearly the effectiveness of using SMS as the communications media is much lower. This is one of the reasons why simple person to person messaging is popular with many young people, a group that is generally more willing to learn how to use new technologies such as SMS. (See, for example, the Sonera case study). As such, simple person to person messaging generates a high volume of short messages.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 19 VOICE AND FAX MAIL NOTIFICATIONS
The most common use of SMS is for notifying mobile phone users that they have new voice or fax mail messages waiting. This is therefore the starting point for most mobile network operators and the first (but hopefully not the last) time that mobile phone users use SMS. Whenever a new message is dispatched into the mailbox, an alert by SMS informs the user of this fact.
Most network operators do not use their core SMS Center for sending voice mail notifications. The voice mail notifications by SMS are mobile terminated short messages that are predominantly generated by the voice mail platform rather than the SMS Center. Having separate SMS Center and voice mail platforms means that the delivery of time and mission-critical short messages such as information services and vehicle positioning updates are less likely to be delayed because the platform is busy dealing with the popular application of notifying voice mail users. As we shall see, some SMS Centers such as the Ericsson MXE do support SMS and voice mail services from the same hardware platform, whilst some voice mail platform suppliers such as Comverse have tried to market their SMS Mobile Terminate capability as a full-scale SMS Center.
Some mobile network operators have found that using SMS for voice mail notification has acted as a barrier to the success of other SMS-based services. Customers get used to new short messages indicating voice mail, and upon seeing the “envelope” symbol appear on their phone display, they simply assume that they have a new voice mail message. They dial into their mailbox without bothering to use the phone menus to read the message text itself. Whilst this can increase voice calls to the voice mail platform, it can also hinder the success of other SMS-based services such as information services. Hence, mobile network operators need to educate users to access their messages, or use the support in the SMS standards for sending different symbols for different services (for example, the Orange network in the UK uses a small “cassette” icon on the phone display to represent new voice mail).
Because SMS is already routinely used to alert users of new voice mail messages, this application is and will remain one of the largest generators of short messages.
UNIFIED MESSAGING
Unified messaging is an emerging value-added telecommunications service that is particularly compelling because it elevates communication above the technology used to communicate- the message takes precedence over the media. Currently, it is difficult to manage all the different kinds of messages that people get- they have to dial in and pick up emails, pick up their faxes from the fax machine, call in and listen to voice mail and so on.
Unified messaging involves providing a single interface for people to access the various different kinds of messaging they use. Be the messages fax, voice mail, short messages, email or so on, they can be conveniently accessed from a single point in the most actionable form.
Page 20 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham The user typically receives a short message notifying them that they have a new message in their unified messaging box. The short message often also includes an indication of the type of new message that has been deposited, such as fax, email or voice mail.
Media conversion is an integral component of unified messaging systems. For example, messages sent as faxes can often be received as emails, or vice versa. Instead of dialing into a voice mail box and listening to their messages, the unified messaging system may have a speech-to-text facility built in, such that the message is read into their unified messaging mailbox. A typical interface to the unified message box is dialing into an Internet page and accessing a web form that displays all the current messages of any type.
By making the communication readily available to the recipient in the most convenient form, unified messaging is likely to be widely deployed by mobile network operators and widely used by people in the near future.
Unified messaging system vendors include 2Communicate in The Netherlands (http://www.2communicate.com), Comverse Network Services globally (http://www.comversens.com) and VirtualPlus in the UK (http://www.virtualplus.com).
Pioneering mobile network operators offering unified messaging services commercially in 1998 included Telia Sweden’s Department of the Future mobile network (http://www.dof.se/english).
Few unified messaging services are commercially available as yet, however, this is a convenient application that is likely to grow in the future. It should therefore be a significant generator of short messages as more services are launched.
INTERNET EMAIL ALERTS
Upon receiving a new email in their mailbox, most Internet email users do not get notified of this fact. They have to dial in speculatively and periodically to check their mailbox contents. However, by linking Internet email with SMS, users can be notified whenever a new email is received.
The Internet email alert is provided in the form of a short message that typically details the sender of the email, the subject field and first few words of the email message. Most of the mobile Internet email solutions from the SMS Center and other SMS software suppliers incorporate filtering, such that users are only notified of certain messages with user-defined keywords in the subject field or from certain senders. Users could find it expensive or inconvenient to be alerted about every email they receive (including unsolicited “spam” emails), which would reduce the perceived value of the service. The user can then decide whether to dial in immediately and download that email or collect it later.
Once a user has been notified about a new Internet email message, the wireless email platform then typically allows a range of methods for accessing the entire email message, such as:
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 21 · PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network: a fixed, wire-line telephone network), or
· GSM Data, or
· PSTN Fax, i.e. downloading the entire message to a fax machine, or
· viewing it on an Internet page or
· receiving a series of concatenated short messages.
Having been notified of a new email, the user can choose the most convenient means of receiving the full email message.
Because of the high and increasing usage of Internet email to communicate globally, and the benefit from using SMS to notify users about important new email messages, this is likely to be a fast growing and popular application for SMS.
CORPORATE EMAIL
SMS can be used to extend the use of corporate email systems beyond an employee’s desk and office PC. With 40% of employees typically away from their desks at any one time, it is important for them to keep in touch with the office at all times. Corporate email systems run on Local Area computer Networks (LAN) and include Microsoft Mail, Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Lotus cc:Mail. Corporate email solutions based on SMS are typically two-way gateways that add a mobile software module to both individual email client software on the LAN and to the corporate email server software.
Corporate email notifications are similar to Internet email notifications. Users are given information such as the sender and subject of the email. Typically, but depending on the specific application software being used, users located in an office can send a short message from their existing email software to colleagues who are away from their desks. Mobile employees can also usually reply to that email by sending a short message from their mobile phone keypad or connected mobile terminal. The reply is routed via the SMS Center to the corporate LAN email server. It has then arrived back in the corporate environment. A software add-on to the corporate LAN email server then typically correlates the inbound and outbound messages and routes the reply directly back to the specific email user on the corporate LAN. This is shown the “Corporate email” diagram (See Diagram 2 in Appendix)
Because of the reducing use of proprietary corporate email solutions- and their replacement by Internet-based email services, this application is not likely to be a substantial generator of short messages in the medium and long term.
Page 22 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham VEHICLE POSITIONING
This application integrates satellite positioning systems that tell people where they are with SMS which lets people tell others where they are. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a free-to-use global network of 24 satellites run by the US Department of Defense. Anyone with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver can receive their satellite position and thereby find out where they are. Many commercial GPS receivers also incorporate support for the Russian equivalent of the Global Positioning System.
The connectivity that allows vehicle positioning applications is shown in the “Vehicle Positioning” diagram (See Diagram 3 in Appendix). The position updates from the satellites are collected by GPS receivers which then send them as short messages.
The Short Message Service is ideal for sending Global Positioning System (GPS) position information such as longitude, latitude, bearing and altitude. GPS information is typically about 60 characters in length, leaving room for other information such as the vehicle registration details, average speed from the tachometer and so on to be transmitted as part of the same short message. Another advantage is that because SMS uses the GSM network’s signaling path, location messages can be transmitted simultaneously with voice calls. As such, vehicle positioning can run in the background, transparent to the driver’s other activities. It would be an onerous burden if the vehicle driver had to regularly communicate this position information by voice. To communicate that same information by voice would entail the driver initiating a voice call and trying to communicate their position to another person receiving the call.
Previously, packet-radio type networks such as BellSouth Mobile Data (formerly RAM Mobile Data) were used for most vehicle positioning applications. Because these data-only networks are limited in their geographical coverage, stolen vehicle recovery became a “race against time”, with recovery agencies such as the police seeking to apprehend the vehicle before it reached an area that was not covered by the communications network. The increasingly global coverage of GSM and SMS has reduced this problem.
Position updates can typically be automated at any frequency required, depending on the urgency of the application. For example, the emergency services may need to know the location of their vehicles every five minutes, whereas long distance haulage companies may only need hourly updates.
Typically the position information is sent using SMS back to an office or monitoring station. This host has a PC that is running mapping software along with a mobile phone or other communications device such as X.25 connected to it to receive the incoming messages. Every time a new position update comes in, an icon depicting that vehicle is automatically updated on the map. Visually, the fleet operator has a good overview of where each vehicle is. The mapping software can be anything from off-the-shelf packages such as Microsoft Autoroute to customized and highly detailed maps.
This position information can be used for several applications:
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 23 · “Smart automobiles”. Increasingly more cars will roll off the production line with built-in GSM communications. Rather than some mobile phone users simply having a hands-free car kit fitted in their vehicle on an ad-hoc basis, automobiles will routinely come with pre-planned space and support for mobile communications. As cars lose their mobility to traffic congestion, they will simultaneously remain “automobiles” through integrated mobile communications. The implementation of such automotive communications will be phased:
Phase 1: From mid-1998, we have seen increased integration between GSM terminals and the vehicle audio system. This means that, for example, when incoming mobile calls are received, the radio volume is automatically muted and the speakers are used to voice the incoming call.
Phase 2: From mid-1999, GSM terminals will interface with the on-board automotive electronics such as the car’s door locks, engine management system, instrument panel and headlights. There is an information bus that runs around a vehicle. The GSM terminal will connect to the information bus via the engine management sub-system. This will allow several applications:
· Remote vehicle diagnostics. SMS will be used to proactively alert the car dealer or manufacturer when problems arise such as engine temperatures are high, brake pads are worn down or oil flow is slowing. Any such problems will be communicated to the manufacturer whose systems will diagnose the problem and transmit a fix back to the car- and every other affected vehicle. Real-time performance statistics will be gathered and sent to the car company’s product development and manufacturing departments.
· Not only that, but organizations such as roadside assistance companies will be able to “dial into” the vehicle and find out what is wrong with it- ensuring that the breakdown vehicle has the required parts on board to fix the problem when it arrives to assist.
· Once corporate customers know where their vehicle fleet is, they can use this information for customer service and sales. They will be able to deploy the nearest available sales and service personnel to meet customer requests as they are received at a call center or sales office. This knowledge improves customer responsiveness whilst simultaneously reducing the cost of deploying resources. Hence, vehicle management applications allow companies to manage and deploy their fleet of vehicles more effectively.
· As well as ongoing fleet management, vehicle positioning applications can be used for ad-hoc stolen vehicle tracking. SMS use is then only activated when a vehicle is reported stolen so that the police can attempt to recover it. Such applications sometimes use so-called “ring fencing”: this means that tracking is initiated as soon as a vehicle leaves a certain pre-defined area. For example, if heavy earthmoving equipment is removed from a construction site, tracking is activated. As with other vehicle positioning solutions, installing such equipment in vehicles can often be justified by the resulting savings in insurance premiums.
Page 24 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · Rental car fleet applications have also started to emerge, whereby rental charges can be tailored according to usage such as mileage, rather than simply charging for quantity of time the car is being rented for, irrespective of the actual usage during that time. The information that the vehicle positioning application provides facilitates such new rental tariff plans.
Automobiles are not the only things that will get smarter- phones will too. For example, both Nokia and Ericsson are working with a US-based developer of GPS chip sets called SiRF Technology. Nokia has invested in the company, whilst Ericsson has licensed its technology. This use of GPS has been spurred for offensive reasons and defensive reasons. The mobile phone vendors want to develop these kinds of vehicle positioning applications and in-vehicle terminals. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission, the regulator of the US telecoms industry, has decreed that mobile network carriers must integrate GPS technology into their networks by the year 2001 to enable the emergency services to locate callers.
As such, linking GPS with SMS facilitates a wide range of different applications that will become increasingly widespread and commonplace in the twenty-first century. Because the position updates are automatically generated, mobile network operators find that vehicle positioning applications are amongst the leading generators of short messages.
JOB DISPATCH
At first glance, 160 characters may not seem very long, but it is in fact sufficient for communicating most delivery addresses such as those needed for a sales, service or some other job dispatch application such as mobile pizza delivery and courier package delivery.
SMS is used to assign and communicate new jobs from office-based staff to mobile field staff. Customers typically telephone a call center whose staff take the call and categorize it. Those calls requiring a visit by field sales or service representative can then be escalated to those mobile workers using SMS. Job dispatch applications can optionally be combined with vehicle positioning applications- such that the nearest available suitable personnel can be deployed to serve a customer.
SMS can be used not only to send the job out, but also as a means for the service engineer or sales person to send in a short status message such as “Job 1234 complete, on my way to 1235”. This helps to keep the office informed of progress towards meeting the customer’s requirement.
Some job dispatch applications are initially implemented with stand-alone SMS software packages. However, the ideal situation is integration between call center packages such as Computer Integrated Telephony (CTI) software and SMS. In that way, queries can be taken and logged in a standard way, and then quickly and easily sent to mobile workers when necessary.
Because of the need to communicate with mobile workers and effectively and cost- effectively serve customers, such job dispatch applications are likely to be steady generators of short messages.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 25 REMOTE POINT OF SALE (POS)
SMS can also be used in a retail environment for credit card authorization. It is particularly convenient to use mobile technology when making sales from, for example, carts in the middle of isles at shopping malls, at flee markets or at sports stadiums, where it would be inconvenient to trail a PSTN wire. A mobile phone is connected to a Point of Sale terminal such as a credit card swipe and keypad, and the credit card number is sent to a bank for authorization. The authorization code is then returned using SMS to the Point of Sale terminal.
Short bursts of transaction information such as credit card numbers fit well in the 160 characters of a short message. Credit card information exchanged over the GSM mobile network is secure because as the section on security explains, all short messages are encrypted over the signaling channel and are therefore extremely difficult to intercept. However, any short message transit delays could hinder the successful implementation of this application- it is important that the authorization is given quickly so as not to keep the customer waiting. As such, Data calls, in which there is a real-time end to end connection may be used as an alternative to SMS for remote credit card authorization applications.
Vendors of mobile Point of Sale terminals supporting GSM communications include Psitek of South Africa, VeriFone of the US (http://www.verifone.com) and MoneyLine (http://www.moneyline.fr) in France.
This is a relatively niche application for SMS- because only a minority of purchases are made in a mobile environment. However, such remote Point of Sale applications are likely to be steady generators of quite high volumes of short messages.
REMOTE MONITORING
SMS can be used to manage machines in a remote monitoring environment. This application provides people with valuable information from a remote location when an important event occurs that they need to know about. The information is automatically delivered electronically without having to constantly employ physical resources locally on the off chance that such an event occurs.
Examples of remote monitoring applications include:
· Vending machines. Mobile phones can be connected to vending machines such that when an item of stock is running low, a short message is sent directly to someone who can then restock the machine. Rather than having to check the stock levels periodically just in case the machine stock is running low, stock levels are known exactly and vending machines can therefore be restocked just in time. Resources can thereby be deployed much more effectively. Other parameters such as vending machine temperatures can be monitored at the same time.
· Similarly, water and gas flow meters can be monitored, with a short message generated when the flow of gas or water through the pipes falls or rises. Such falls
Page 26 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham could signify a drought or leak. Rises in gas pressure could represent a safety hazard.
· Remote meter reading is also possible using SMS, with remote interrogation of meters to ensure the customer bills are set at the right level. A short message can be sent to a meter requesting the current reading. A short message can then be returned stating the exact usage level. This eliminates the costly manual meter reading process which entails sending out human meter readers to check meters, requiring customers to write down and send in actual readings through the post for subsequent processing, dealing with disputed bills and so on.
· Computer system fault information can also be sent out using SMS, such that when a computer or peripheral malfunctions, an engineer receives details such as “Mainframe 23b in Leeds: error code 164: disc drive corruption”.
Remote monitoring is a fairly niche application which is particularly suited to situations where no person is able to efficiently monitor the situation. Short messages are only generated occasionally when an error condition occurs.
PREPAYMENT
Whereas post-payment services are billed and paid for after the calls and network usage have been made, prepayment involves the user paying to use the mobile network in advance. The technology used to deliver prepayment services is typically a choice between three different solutions:
· Service Nodes. Use call switching to route calls made from prepaid users to a Pre- Paid Platform to check that the user has unused prepaid airtime available to make the call, before routing the call back to the mobile network for completion. Service Node vendors include Aethos (http://www.aethos.co.uk) of the UK and Vicorp (http://www.vicorp.com) of the US.
· Intelligent Network (IN) nodes are Service Nodes on a larger scale and with a wider potential range of applications (such as personal numbering) from a single platform. IN vendors include Ericsson and NorTel.
· SimCard solutions. Some SimCard-based prepayment solutions use SMS as the mechanism to update the prepaid user’s SimCard. When the user buys new airtime, they typically make a voice call to a Pre-Paid Platform and enter the prepaid payment code printed on the recharge card using DTMF tone dialing. Recharge cards can typically be purchased from a wide variety of channels and outlets such as petrol stations. The Pre-Paid Platform then sends a special short message that is routed to the SimCard and updates the prepaid subscription stored on the SimCard. The actual recharge is carried out electronically, using a proprietary protocol or SIM Application Toolkit. SimCard-based prepaid vendors include Swisscom with their SICAP platform (http://www.swisscom.com/sicap)
Irrespective of the type of technology used to make prepaid available, SMS can be used to allow prepaid users to find out how much airtime credit they have. Because prepaid involves buying airtime in advance of using it to make calls, it is important
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 27 for users to know how much unused airtime credit they have remaining. Typically, mobile network operators make such services available by allowing users to dial an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) electronic voice system connected to the Pre-Paid platform. The platform pulls through the caller’s mobile number, looks up the user’s details in its database and sends a short message saying how many minutes of airtime they had left at a certain time on a certain day. (See, for example, details on the Vodafone Minute Manager service in the Vodafone, UK case study for details of a similar service).
Interestingly, use of the Short Message Service has been largely precluded for prepayment customers, because of problems reducing the customer’s prepaid airtime credit. However, network operators such as Cellnet in the UK and NetCom in Norway have solved this problem and begun offering SMS to customers on prepayment tariffs. These solutions may involve mediation between the MSC and the Pre-Paid Platform.
Because of the global popularity of prepayment, SMS-related functions such as account enquiries and remote subscription recharging are likely to be a growing and large generator of short messages.
OVER-THE-AIR SIMCARD
Over-The-Air SimCard applications use SMS to give mobile network operators some remote control of SimCards for service and subscription activation, personalization and programming. A single Over-The-Air SimCard standard called SIM Application Toolkit has been agreed as GSM 11.14.
The SIM Application Toolkit Over-The-Air standard facilitates a number of end user applications such as:
· Remote service activation. New applications can be programmed into the mobile phone’s SimCard Over-The-Air after purchase. New menu options can be remotely added to the user’s phone, allowing services to be provided via menu- driven sequences. This allows mobile phone purchase and activation to be separated.
· Address book updates. Short messages can be sent Over-The-Air for routing to the SimCard and updating the user’s address book. Mobile network operators are often keen to help users easily keep an address book built into their mobile phone since this facilitates voice call usage because the user has telephone numbers conveniently available.
· Remote diagnostics. SIM Application Toolkit allows requests to be made for a status update on a terminal connected to a mobile phone. For example, in automotive applications, the status of the engine management sub-system can be interrogated. Hence, SIM Application Toolkit provides a means for proactively servicing and checking remote terminals.
(Suppliers of Over-The-Air solutions include Orga (http://www.orga.com), Gemplus (http://www.gemplus.com) and AU-System (http://www.ausys.com/sim/default.htm).
Page 28 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Technical discussion of the SIM Application Toolkit standard that facilitates these applications can be found in the “Emerging SMS-based standards” section.
Few Over-The-Air applications have emerged in practice as yet- and it remains to be seen how many messages such applications generate.
INFORMATION SERVICES
SMS can be used to deliver a wide range of information to mobile phone owners featuring a range of content from share prices, sports scores, weather, flight information, news headlines, lottery results, jokes to horoscopes. Essentially, any information that fits into a short message can be delivered by SMS.
A typical configuration for an information services platform is shown in the “Information Services” diagram (See Diagram 4 in Appendix). The high bandwidth information feeds are received by the platform. Each server responsible for a different information service then monitors those feeds for information of interest to mobile phone users. This information is then packaged and prepared into short messages and sent to the relevant SMS Center for onward delivery.
TYPES OF INFORMATION SERVICES
There are four different kinds of information services:
PUSH PULL Information is automatically pushed to Mobile phone users specifically request mobile phones certain information via SMS PUBLIC PRIVATE The information sent by SMS is gathered The information sent by SMS is from publicly available sources gathered from confidential databases
PULL
With pull information services, mobile phone users request specific information on an ad-hoc basis, either by originating a short message or making a voice call to an electronic voice menu (Interactive Voice Response (IVR)) platform or a menu on their phone. They then receive the requested information by means of an incoming short message. An example of one pull-based information services platform is Nokia Smart Messaging.
Use of pull-based information services rely on users:
· having a mobile phone that supports SMS Mobile Originate, AND
· being able to manipulate their phone keypad to originate a short message, AND
· knowing which keyword to send in and to which Destination Address
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 29 As such, there are considerable barriers to the widespread usage throughout the full user population of pull-based information services that use sending a short message as the request mechanism.
PUSH
With push information services, short messages are generated as part of a trigger system- they are automatically sent at pre-defined times or whenever a pre-defined event occurs such as a share price hits a certain level or when a goal is scored by a certain soccer team.
Users go through a one-off set-up process to subscribe to that particular information- this is typically through an Internet page.
It is easy to receive pushed information via SMS on a mobile phone- users are simply alerted of a new short message and can read it from their mobile phone. Hence, push- based information services is a consumer service suited to all mobile phone users.
PUBLIC
Public information sources range from those that are available free-of-charge on the Internet to those that are publicly available, but charged for, from news agencies around the world. News providers such as Reuters, Bloomberg and Bridge also supply publicly available information- but at a (considerable) charge. Sources of local language information about local events are usually available from the national press agencies.
PRIVATE
Private information sources encompass any that contain personal or private data about specific individuals. Examples include information stored on corporate intranets, bank records and hypermarket loyalty databases. Information from private information sources is used principally for the provision of affinity programs.
Information services can therefore be configured as push-based and from a public or private source or pull-based and from a public or private source. An information service for an affinity program may combine public information such as share prices with private information from bank databases.
Information services have been a key differentiator for many mobile network operators such as Omnipoint in the USA and WIND in Italy. They are likely to remain a significant generator of short messages in the future.
Page 30 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INFORMATION SERVICES
Whatever type of information service is being introduced, a number of critical success factors have emerged from pioneering information services:
SIMPLICITY
It should be easy and convenient for users to receive information. They should be able to access the service with their existing equipment and receive the information they require as and when they want it. It should also be easy and convenient for customers to set up and change the nature and form of the information services they receive- through mechanisms such as Internet-based service provisioning. As Internet access and usage has become more widespread, network operators are increasingly looking for platforms that allow end users to directly set up their own information services via a simple and easy-to-use Internet interface.
TIMELINESS
When an event occurs that the information services customer is interested in, they want to know as soon as possible. A stock trader does not want to wait ten minutes to find out that the price of one of their stocks have moved and neither does a sports fan wish to wait ten minutes to find out that their favorite team has scored or won their match.
CUSTOMIZATION
When the mobile phone user reads an information message, it should contain the exact information they are interested in. The data must be personalized and tailored for that specific customer. Information service platforms must not only receive high bandwidth feeds of raw data, but package and process this information into a format suitable for low bandwidth short messages. It is relatively simple to set up information services- but the filtering and customization of the information is essential and not always adequately provided.
LOCALIZATION
It is important that the information service is provided in the local language and contains information that is relevant and interesting in the local market where the service is being offered. For example, someone in Germany subscribing to an information service about weather is likely to want to find out about the weather in Germany and in the German language. Restaurant reservations, pollution warnings, film listings and school and airport closings in bad weather are all by their nature information services that need to be localized.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 31 INFORMATION SERVICES MARKET STRUCTURE
For successful information services using SMS, it is useful to understand in a little detail the structure of the information services market.
Content Provider Information Consolidator Information Deliverer
e.g. London Stock e.g. Dow Jones, Reuters e.g. WIN, GIN Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade or Banks
VERY RAW DATA LESS RAW DATA TAILORED DATA
Information Deliverers (SMS information services suppliers) such as Wireless Information Network (WIN) pay BOTH Content Providers and Information Consolidators. For example, to gain access to information from the London Stock Exchange, Information Deliverers typically pay a “pass through” fee of £10,000 per annum to the London Stock Exchange. Additionally, they pay a couple of pence to the London Stock Exchange per share price actually delivered to a mobile phone. Additionally, Information Deliverers pay a variable fee to each Information Consolidator that is typically between £10,000 and £50,000 per month. This is for a full stream of information from the major world stock exchanges. There is also a per short message charge for resellers of the information of typically 25% of the end user charge. Hence, we can see that Information Consolidators such as Bridge are highly skilled in capturing a revenue stream that is closely related not only to the information they deliver, but also to the use that information is subsequently put to.
The market for SPORTS information is structured in a similar way as that for financial information:
Content Provider Information Consolidator Information Deliverer
e.g. Associated Press e.g. Clubcall e.g. WIN, ESPN
VERY RAW DATA LESS RAW DATA TAILORED DATA
AFFINITY PROGRAMS SUCH AS MOBILE BANKING
Some mobile network operators view the development of SMS as low down in their priorities- because few users select the mobile network solely or primarily on the basis of SMS. However, affinity programs- which are also known as lifestyle packages- are a large opportunity for mobile network operators with the potential to secure large numbers of new customers, in which SMS is an integral part of the offering.
Affinity programs are the result of collaboration between mobile carriers and other companies in different industries with large customer groups. Affinity partners include television companies, sports clubs, supermarkets and other retailers, airlines and banks. SMS can be used to provide customers will all kinds of reminders and information such as frequent flyer miles status, overdue videotape rentals, appointment reminders and prescription drug pick-up notifications.
Page 32 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham All parties to affinity programs can potentially benefit from the partnership- mobile network operators gain access to a largely new set of potential customers and affinity partners get to offer their customers new convenient services to their customers- offering differentiation possibilities against their competitors.
For affinity programs, the mobile phone may be branded with the affinity partner’s logo and may have custom and personalized packaging. The route to market- i.e. the sales channel for the affinity product- is likely to be different from that of standard mobile phone purchases. Typically, the customized phones are marketed and distributed using direct mail- customers receive information about the affinity program through an insert into their statements or bills and they can then sign up and receive the package containing the mobile phone by post. A single bill, lower rates and easy access to the services are often features of the affinity package. (Distribution companies such as Brightpoint specialize in implementing affinity programs by procuring and customizing the phones and packaging and distributing them to the end customer, see http://www.brightpoint.com).
Let us take a closer look at a specific kind of affinity program- mobile banking. The successful implementation of mobile banking programs incorporates several different elements discussed in this book, such as private information services, SIM Application Toolkit and SMS security.
There are few technology limits constraining how the mobile banking service is designed:
· Any information that is useful to bank customers can be provided such as the last four transactions, account balances, overdraft limits and so on.
· Information can be provided in a number of different ways. It can be pull-based and requested on an ad-hoc basis via a telephone call to an electronic voice (Interactive Voice Response, IVR) menu (with short code access from mobile phones) to initiate the information via SMS. Alternatively, the user could send a short message in and get an information short message back or the service can be push-based such that information is automatically generated at set intervals or on the basis of events such as account credits and withdrawals.
· The mobile banking service can run on all existing mobile phones or be tailored for a particular branded phone or protocol-compliant phone, for example, SIM Application Toolkit.
· Novel marketing methods such as direct and Internet marketing and routes to market such as bank branches can be established.
· SMS can be used to transmit transaction-based information to mobile phones as all short messages are protected against interception and data corruption.
· New protocols such as SIM Application Toolkit and Wireless Application Protocol will allow not just information provision, but also secure mobile transactions and electronic commerce via SMS.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 33 Affinity programs and related lifestyle packages are a fast growing area of mobile communications, because as competition between network operators increases, differentiation and customization for specific user groups will be necessary to extend mobile phone penetration and usage. As such, they are likely to be a significant generator of short messages.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Electronic commerce applications involve using a mobile phone for financial transaction purposes- this usually means making a payment for goods or transferring funds electronically. For example, in the Sonera case study later, we will see how Sonera customers can purchase soft drinks from vending machines and start and pay for car washes by originating a short message with specific content. The charge for these services then appears on that user’s regular mobile phone bill. In mobile banking services, transferring money between accounts and paying for purchases are electronic commerce applications.
An emerging application, electronic commerce has been facilitated by developments in other areas in the mobile world- such as dual slot phones (See the “SMS Hardware” section) and other smarter terminals and more standardized protocols, which allow greater interactivity and therefore more sophisticated SMS-based applications.
The convenience of paying for purchases using SMS must be weighed against the related issues of security, integration with the retail and banking hardware and systems, and money transfer issues. However, this area of electronic commerce applications is expected to contribute to growing SMS traffic in the future.
Having looked at the applications that are facilitated by SMS, lets now look at the technical implementation of SMS within mobile networks.
Page 34 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PART 2- How does SMS work?
Overview of SMS mobile network implementation
INFRASTRUCTURE
The basic mobile network infrastructure for SMS is shown in the “Infrastructure” diagram (See Diagram 5 in Appendix).
MESSAGE TRANSFER
The basic message transfer mechanism is shown in the “Basic Message Transfer” diagram (See Diagram 6 in Appendix). An Short Message Entity originates a message which is sent to the SMS Center for onward delivery to the receiving SME.
A Short Message Entity (SME) is defined as the point of origination or point of final destination of a short message. An SME is any electronic device capable of sending or receiving short messages- that could be a mobile phone, known in the GSM specifications as a Mobile Station, a computer or even the SMS Center itself. Short messages can pass- always through the SMS Center- from one Mobile Station to another Mobile Station, from a fixed to a mobile or from a mobile to a fixed environment. Short messages are sent initially to the SMS Center for onward delivery via the Mobile Switching Centre (MSC) to the receiving SME. The MSC carries out several functions, but its primary responsibility is call handling for mobile subscribers located within its geographical area. This includes setting up and clearing down voice calls and the execution of some supplementary services including SMS in cooperation with an associated Visited Location Register (VLR).
When a short message is transferred from the SMS Center to the Mobile Station, the SMS-GMSC (Gateway Mobile Switching Centre for SMS) is used. The SMS- IWMSC (Interworking Mobile Switching Centre for SMS) is used when the short message is transferred in the other direction, i.e. from the Mobile Station to the SMS Center. The SMS-GMSC and SMS-IWMSC may or may not be integrated with the SMS Center. For example, the SMS Center developed by Sema does integrate these functions. An advantage of SMS Centers with these functions built-in is that there are fewer separate pieces of equipment in the mobile network to be managed and maintained. There is also likely to be a performance gain from keeping the processing internal within a single platform without communication with the outside world.
Routing short messages around the mobile network is achieved using an enhancement to the ITU No 7 signaling system (SS7) known as Mobile Application Part (MAP). MAP is a layer on top of SS7 signaling that has been designed specifically for mobile telephony. It is used extensively for routing all traffic around the mobile network- not just SMS. (MAP is described in the GSM specification 09.02). The connection between the SMS-GMSC or SMS-IWMSC and the MSC itself is SS7 signaling using MAP. The mobile network’s SS7 signaling used for SMS manifests itself as either the SACCH (Slow Associated Control Channel) or the SDCCH (Slow Dedicated Control Channel), depending on the status of the mobile phone when the short message is
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 35 being delivered. The SACCH is used to deliver short messages when a speech, Data (or Fax) call is in progress, whilst the SDCCH is used when the phone is not in use.
MESSAGE DELIVERY ATTEMPTS
When mobile terminated short messages can be delivered, the SMS Center sends the short message to the SMS-GMSC which interrogates the Home Location Register (HLR) to retrieve the necessary routing information. The short message is then sent from the SMS-GMSC to the relevant MSC, which delivers it to the Mobile Station. The HLR manages information about the presence, status and availability of a mobile network operator’s home subscribers. In the case of mobile originated short messages, the process is the same in reverse, but using SMS-IWMSC. In other words, mobile originated short messages are sent to the MSC, then the SMS-IWMSC followed by the SMS Center itself for onward delivery to the destination Short Message Entity.
If the short message cannot be delivered immediately, it will remain stored in the SMS Center. At the same time, the “Messages Waiting” (sometimes known as Messages Pending Trigger) condition is set in the SMS Center which triggers the provision of information about the existence of undelivered short messages to both the HLR and the VLR. A “Mobile-Station-Not-Reachable” flag is then set for that mobile number in the Visited Location Register (VLR). (The VLR is an intelligent database and service control entity that amongst other things, stores on a temporary basis the information needed to set up outbound or inbound calls). A flag is also set in the HLR to record the address of the SMS Center that previously tried unsuccessfully to deliver the short message. Another flag in the HLR is set to denote that the Mobile Station is either not reachable or its memory capacity has been exceeded.
MESSAGE DELIVERY RETRY SCHEDULES
Each SMS Center has a retry schedule that defines the schedule that is followed in the event that the short message cannot be immediately delivered to its intended recipient. Retry schedules are important because between half and three-quarters of all short message delivery attempts by a SMS Center typically fail. In setting a retry schedule, mobile network operators need to make a trade-off between delivering the short message in the shortest possible time and deploying scarce SMS Center and mobile network resources such as processing and signaling that are involved in every delivery attempt. Most SMS Centers come pre-loaded with a default retry schedule which are either time or event driven.
Whenever a short message cannot be immediately delivered, the SMS Center is informed along with an error indication stating the reason for delivery failure. Time- driven retry schedules simply retry at set time intervals irrespective of the reason why the message could not be immediately delivered. Event-driven retry schedules use this information to tailor the retry schedule to the specific error condition. Event-driven retry schedules are more efficient and effective than time-driven ones because some error indications are permanent errors such as ‘teleservice not provisioned’ or ‘unknown subscriber’, whilst other errors are of a temporary nature, such as ‘absent subscriber’ or ‘memory capacity exceeded’. The most common reasons for not being able to deliver a short message immediately are the temporary error indications of ‘absent subscriber’. For some types of delivery failure, event-driven retry schedules
Page 36 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham should retry continuously, sometimes they should wait for an external event such as another short message submission, and sometimes in the case of permanent errors, delivery attempts will quickly be abandoned and the short message purged ( i.e. permanently deleted). Clearly, there is little point in trying to deliver a short message to an invalid mobile number. It would be dissatisfactory to leave such short messages at the head of the queue of short messages waiting to be delivered to that subscriber as other short messages could expire before they can be delivered (Short messages are assigned a message lifetime called the Validity Period. If they are not delivered in this timeframe, they expire such that no further delivery attempts are made). It would also be an inefficient use of resources to try to deliver other short messages in the queue whilst the ‘mobile phone memory capacity exceeded’ condition persists. If there is insufficient capacity for one short message, then there is insufficient capacity for any short messages waiting in the queue.
As a result of the design of the overall GSM standard, the SMS Center is only informed that the mobile phone has become available again if either the mobile phone:
· gets switched off and then back on again
· changes cell
· receives or makes a voice call
· sends a short message or
· The Mobile Station’s Periodic Location Update Timer (PLUT) expires. The PLUT value is the frequency that the mobile phone ‘touches base’ with the mobile network when no other event occurs in the meantime. For example, mobile network operators typically set their PLUT at a value of between 15 minutes and one hour. This is clearly a long time to wait for a short message.
When a mobile phone becomes temporarily unavailable and then becomes available again in the SAME cell, there is NO notification to the SMS Center. This same cell non-update is a central reason for having a retry schedule for absent subscriber.
Over time, the SMS Center vendors and mobile network operators have put more thought into their retry schedules and gradually improved their intelligence. The differences between retry schedules and use of time-driven retry schedules has therefore been reduced.
MESSAGE DELIVERY SUCCESS
When the short message recipient becomes available, the SMS Center is notified. This process is called ‘Alert Service Centre’. When the HLR receives- via the MSC and VLR- notification that the Mobile Station is now able to receive short messages, the HLR alerts the SMS Center(s) that previously tried to deliver the short messages (because the short messages are stored in those SMS Centers).
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 37 The SMS Center will then attempt another delivery by transferring the short message across the mobile network to the mobile phone. If receipt is successful, the mobile phone will acknowledge this to the SMS Center. All the relevant checked flags are then cleared in the VLR and the HLR. This notification ensures that the SMS Center does not tie up valuable resources by continuing to try to deliver short messages that have already been received and simultaneously ensures that the same mobile customer does not receive multiple copies of the same short message. In this way, short messages are automatically delivered from the SMS Center to available SMEs, without the user needing to carry out any particular action.
In the case where the recipient is able receive a short message and the SMS Center and network are able to process and transmit it, an approximation of the typical delivery time from being sent to being received is 8 to 15 seconds. Such times do depend on the specific operating scenario, but are a useful first indicator for those people who are unfamiliar with using SMS.
BILLING
All SMS Centers provide (varying levels of) administration and maintenance facilities such as customer provisioning and management, billing and network management (alarming). However, SMS Centers do NOT typically contain an integrated billing system. Instead, SMS Centers have the capability to generate billing records, which are typically passed to the main mobile network billing system for processing and bill generation. Each short message has a billing reference associated with it, which tells the billing system the rate that particular short message should be charged for. Generation of these billing records can usually be enabled or disabled for specific customers or services. For example, the billing records can be disabled if the network operator does not charge for voice mail alerts.
The ETSI standards for SMS
ETSI
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is responsible for defining the complete GSM standard. This responsibility includes elements relating to SMS which are generated primarily by the SMG4 (Special Mobile Group section 4). ETSI specifications are available by contacting:
ETSI, 650 Route des Lucioles, F-06921 Sophia Antipolis Cedex, France The ETSI Internet site is http://www.etsi.org Email [email protected] or [email protected]. Tel: +33 492944200 Fax: +33 493654716
Page 38 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham COMPETITION AND COOPERATION
The standards governing the GSM Short Message Service are a curious but clever mix of elements that are not specified in order to encourage competition, and factors that are closely mandated to ensure cooperation and interworking. To turn SMS into a standard, ETSI defined certain areas that had to be the same on all mobile networks that conform to the GSM standard, whilst leaving certain areas open to competition.
Closely defined and strictly mandated features of the GSM Short Message Service include:
· the key features of SMS such as its store and forward nature and the fact that it uses the mobile network’s signaling path
· the link between the SMS-GMSC/ SMS-IWMSC and the MSC
· the interaction between SMS-related entities such as the SMS Center and the HLR and VLR
Non-standardized elements left to competition include:
· The functionality provided by and the design of Short Message Entities. For example, SMS software designs are under the discretion of application developers.
· The GSM standard defines how short messages are sent and received from the SMS Center, but not how they are generated and displayed on the mobile phone itself. Neither the menu systems used to generate short messages, not the look and feel of the mobile phones themselves, is standardized.
· The architecture and functionality of the SMS Center. The SMS Center itself is viewed within the GSM standard as a black box receiving specified inputs and generating defined outputs. The design of the internal processes is under the discretion of the SMS Center supplier.
· Each SMS Center has a different external interface. (Such interfaces are often called the API, Application Programming Interface, in the computing industry). The external interface specification describes the interface between software applications and the SMS Center, i.e. the format in which this software sends and receives short messages to and from the SMS Center.
For example, Sema has its Open Interface Specification (OIS), Logica Aldiscon has its Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP) protocol, Nokia has its Computer Interface to Message Distribution (CIMD) and CMG has its Universal Computer Protocol (UCP). Whilst the feature set of these external interfaces differs, most are endorsed as part of the GSM SMS standard as appendixes to GSM 03.39.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 39 THE STANDARDS
Several different ETSI standards describe various elements of the Short Message Service. GSM 03.40 is the primary specification, whilst others describe specific SMS- related functions such as SMS compression. The standards are:
SMS-RELATED CONTENTS GSM ETSI DOCUMENT REFERENCE Technical Realization of SMS Point-to-Point. Describes the overall 03:40 functionality of SMS. The various alphabets used by SMS, including non-European 03:38 character sets Describes the optional SMS Compression algorithms 03:42 (plus 03:40 and 03:38) Describes the optional SMS Concatenation mechanisms 03:40
SMS/ email interworking 03:40 and 03:38
Fixed network to SMS Center access protocols (e.g. SMPP) 03:39
SMS Cell Broadcast 03:41
Message transfer between the SMS Center and SMS-GMSC/ SMS- 03:40/ 09:02 IWMSC Interworking between SMS-GMSC/ SMS-IWMSC and the HLR 09:02
Interworking between the MSC and the VLR 09:02
Interworking between SMS-IWMSC/ GMSC and the MSC 03:40/ 09:02 Message transfer between MSC and the Mobile Station 04:11
Interconnection between a mobile phone that supports SMS and 07:05 Terminal Equipment Setting up the characteristics of a mobile phone that supports SMS 07:07 to communicate with Terminal Equipment Multiplexing protocol that allows SMS and other services such as 07:10 Data and voice to be interweaved and handled concurrently. Mobile Application Protocol (MAP) 09:02
SIM Application Toolkit 11.14
Page 40 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham General SMS Features
CONCATENATION
Concatenation is the process of stringing several short messages together as a group. SMS concatenation has been defined and incorporated into the GSM 03:40 specification. Up to 255 short messages can be concatenated.
As explained in the “Short Message Data Structure” section, every short message contains additional information outside the short message text itself. One of these information fields, the User Data Header Indicator, is used to indicate that concatenation is being used, which set the concatenated short message belongs to, how many concatenated short messages are in that set and where the concatenated short message belongs in the complete sequence. This enables the receiving application to put the concatenated short messages back together in the right order and determine whether all the short messages have been received. The concatenation standard does NOT incorporate a recovery mechanism if one concatenated short message in the sequence is lost- there is no automatic retransmission of missing short messages. Mechanisms for handling such errors are determined by the specific application software. Whilst the presence of concatenation is indicated in the User Data Header Indicator, many mobile phones do not support this bit. Hence, mobile network operators may need to assign a special value to the Protocol Identifier (PID) to indicate that concatenation is present. A mobile phone can pass this PID value to and from Terminal Equipment connected to the mobile phone.
Concatenation can in theory be used for any application that requires more than 160 characters of information transfer. However, SMS was not designed for high volume information transfer. As such, concatenation of more than three or four short messages is impractical because it is often cost ineffective when mobile network operators do not offer special tariffs for concatenated short messages and inefficient because of the possibility of losing some short messages in the sequence. For information transfer beyond a few hundred characters, Data should be used.
COMPRESSION
Compressing short messages involves getting more than 160 characters of information into a single short message. SMS compression has been defined within GSM 03:42. The extent to which extra characters can be fitted in a short message depends upon the level of compression used:
· Raw untrained dynamic Huffman algorithm. Use of this algorithm allows short message lengths to be increased to about 200 characters. This algorithm means that there does not need to be any preconceived notion that the short message is compressed at either the sending or receiving end.
· Higher level compression algorithms use compression criteria such as punctuation, keywords, case shifts and character frequency tables (listing the most commonly used characters in the language being used). This requires the receiving entity to hold character frequency tables to decipher the intended text. Several
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 41 hundred characters can be sent as a single short message when such compression criteria are used.
Mobile phone manufacturers have been reluctant to incorporate language-specific compression criteria into their phones. As such, Huffman is the most widely deployed means of compression. The incorporation of character frequency tables alone into mobile phones would allow a gain of about 80 additional characters. Mobile phone manufacturers have shown themselves to be more inclined to use the limited mobile phone memory for additional ringing tones and games (for example, recent Nokia mobile phones include three games as standard). The majority of mobile phone users also prefer having ringing tones and games to SMS features- the ringing tones let them differentiate the calls they receive from other people who have the same model of mobile phone.
Although the presence of SMS compression is indicated by the Data Coding Scheme, many mobile phones do not support the setting of this parameter. Hence, mobile network operators need to assign a specific value to another special bit called the Protocol Identifier (PID) which can be transferred to and from Terminal Equipment connected to the mobile phone.
ENCRYPTION AND SECURITY
Clearly, the extent to which security has been built into the GSM standard is important for SMS-based applications generally and banking and other sensitive uses such as stolen vehicle tracking in particular.
To ensure that short messages do not get corrupted or intercepted, data integrity is incorporated in the GSM standard. The Short Message Service is afforded the same high level of security as that used to protect the signaling channel generally. The SMS information passing across the signaling channel is split into 23 byte segments, each of which is protected by a 5 byte ‘fire code’ which provides a cyclic redundancy check. Forward error protection is incorporated using conventional encoding. All of the information inside and outside of the short message text itself is included in the check. This check is automatically calculated between the Mobile Station and the BSS (Base Station Sub-system which is responsible for providing the access between the mobile phones and the GSM core network) and between the BSS and the SMS Center. Short messages are routinely encrypted over the radio path between the Mobile Station and BSS using the IA5 encryption algorithm. Because of this high level of security, no short message is ever known to have been intercepted and read.
Whilst IA5 is sufficient for most routine short messaging requirements, for optimal security in applications such as mobile banking, end-to-end encryption is advisable between the sending Short Message Entity and the receiving Short Message Entity. This means that there should be encryption at the host- banks, for example, typically use their own encryption and this is outside of- and does not affect- the mobile network. Some Terminal Equipment such as mobile Point of Sale terminals also includes mechanisms to encrypt outbound short messages and decrypt inbound short messages.
Page 42 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PRIORITY MESSAGES
It depends upon the SMS Center configuration, but short messages are typically delivered on the basis of First In First Out (FIFO). In other words, those messages submitted earlier are delivered before those that subsequently arrived at the SMS Center. However, it is possible for software applications (but not for mobile phones) to designate a short message as high priority, and thereby change the order of delivery.
Some SMS Centers handle high priority short messages by storing them in a separate queue from normal priority short messages. As such, high priority short messages do not merely go to the front of the queue for short messages to be delivered to a particular destination- they take priority over all normal priority short messages intended for any destination. The receipt of priority short messages always automatically triggers a proactive attempt by the SMS Center to locate the recipient Short Message Entity. This location attempt can sometimes succeed because in certain instances, the mobile phone may be available, but the mobile network (HLR) may not be aware of this, such as in the case of same cell non-update (as explained earlier in this book).
Because the handling of high priority short messages places a resource burden on the SMS Center and the mobile network, many mobile network operators limit the use of this short message parameter to high priority applications such as those for the emergency services. Priority message handling is typically controlled by the SMS Center validation process that occurs after the short message has been submitted, but before it has been accepted by the platform.
SUPPORT FOR DIFFERENT ALPHABETS
The GSM 03:38 specification defines the alphabets that SMS supports. This standard is called UCS2 and incorporates all of the major languages from around the world such as Chinese and Arabic characters. UCS2 stands for Universal Multiple Octet Coded Character Set 2, and is derived from the ISO standard ISO/IEC10646-1.
There are two different GSM SMS alphabets: UCS2, and the GSM 7-bit Default Alphabet, which is derived from the CCITT IA5 Alphabet, and more commonly known as the ASCII character set. The main difference between the GSM and CCITT versions is that the control characters (except for carriage return and line feed) have been replaced with other European language variants such as umlauts and accents. Because only 7-bits are sent to the mobile phone, this allows 160 7-bit characters to be packed into the 140 octet limit of available capacity for the user data (i.e. short message text) itself.
Whilst the default Latin GSM alphabet uses 7 bits per character, the non-Latin characters are complex, such that they each require 16 bits to code. This means that each non-Latin short message has a maximum length of 70 characters and such applications may need to use compression or concatenation for greater information transfer. Currently, all mobile phones support the default GSM 7-bit alphabet but not necessarily UCS2.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 43 In addition to UCS2 and the default 7-bit alphabet, GSM 03.38 also specifies the way that eight bit data, i.e. binary, is sent.
GSM SMS INTER-NETWORK ROAMING
In this context, roaming means using the SMS-related resources of another mobile operator to carry out SMS-related activities, such as sending a short message. SMS roaming is probably the most contentious and least specified area of the whole Short Message Service.
The GSM SMS standards expect that only one SMS Center is used in the transfer of a short message from a sender to a recipient and do not propose or stipulate how more than one SMS Center could be used.
Both national and international routing of short messages uses the SS7 signaling link that interconnects the two networks. Obviously, there has to be a direct connection between the mobile networks for message transfer to actually take place. The signaling link that sets up voice calls is also used to transmit inter-network, international short messages.
Various different scenarios can arise with SMS roaming which can be summarized as:
NATIONAL SMS ROAMING
For example, when a customer on network A uses SMS Center A to send to network B. In this scenario, a customer on network A wants to use their home network’s SMS Center to send short messages to subscribers on network B in the same country.
Any such national inter-network roaming between two mobile networks operating in the same country or territory which allows their customers to exchange short messages has technical and commercial implications.
Technically, a physical interconnect between the SS7 signaling links of the two networks is required to exchange the short messages. A network operator may also have security concerns with interconnecting signaling with competitors, especially since, in addition to carrying short messages, the signaling channel also carries other important information relating to call set ups and so on. However, the advent of firewalls has largely resolved this security issue by preventing external access to critical network information.
From a commercial perspective, network operators often charge different prices for the Short Message Service and offer different service. In such cases, knowledgeable users could benefit from accessing less expensive or more sophisticated Short Message Services by changing SMS Center addresses or sending their messages in a different way. A price has to be agreed for such inter-network national messaging to discourage or prevent such behavior. Because of this commercial issue, some mobile network operators are reluctant to implement national SMS roaming with their domestic competitors. They wish to prevent their subscribers from using their competitor’s SMS Center and their competitor’s customers from using their SMS Center. Most network operators around the world do recognize the need to implement
Page 44 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham such national SMS roaming, however the substantial deviations in service availability, pricing and reliability have until now limited actual implementation. Network operators wish to maintain control of their tariff structures, for example, in the UK, Cellnet charge for short messages being submitted to their SMS Center, whereas Vodafone only charge for delivered messages.
The status of national SMS roaming in August 1998 was:
Country National Network Operators SMS Roaming Finland Yes Radiolinja and Sonera Netherlands Yes Libertel and KPN Telecom Norway Yes NetCom and Telenor Mobil. Since spring 1997. Sweden Yes Comviq and Telia Poland Yes Idea, Era and Plus Denmark Yes All networks: Mobilix, Telia, Sonofon and Tele Danmark Mobile Germany No No formal interconnect exists but other solutions are available. For example, Mannesmann offer a D2-branded service that requires use of a special SMS Center address. (This gateway is operated by Dr. Materna). Other companies such as ISOCOR also offer similar gateway services. UK No Portugal No France No South Africa No Testing is underway. Malaysia No Successful tests between Mutiara and Celcom and Adam. However, some network operators such as Maxis do not have SS7 in their interconnect links.
INTERNATIONAL SMS ROAMING
Generally with the GSM Short Message Service, no specific international SMS roaming agreement is needed to use SMS overseas. Instead, international SMS roaming automatically arises whenever the following conditions are met:
· the GSM network operators have a voice roaming agreement, and
· the mobile network supports SMS. Obviously mobile phone users who are using another mobile network (known as “roamers”) cannot use SMS if the mobile network they have roamed onto does NOT support the Short Message Service they are trying to use, and
· neither of the network operators have taken specific measures to preclude such short messaging activity.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 45 For example, imagine a customer on mobile network A with the SMS Center address of their home network programmed into their SimCard originating a short message to a customer on mobile network B which is operating in another country or territory. The short message is routed through mobile network A’s SMS Center. The SMS Center goes to the VLR and looks up looks up the Destination Address using a command called “Send routing information for short message” (defined in 03:40 and 09:02). When the Destination Address has been found, the short message is forwarded to the recipient’s mobile network via an SS7 MAP link.
For example, assume I am a Vodafone UK subscriber roamed onto D2 in Germany. If I originate a message from my Vodafone phone using the Vodafone SMS Center, the message is routed over D2’s network back to the Vodafone UK’s SMS Center, which then tries to deliver the message in its usual way. The D2 SMS Center is not used in such a transaction because it was not stipulated by the originating Short Message Entity.
Whether or not the network operator charges for such short messages is a commercial decision. A few network operators do charge for sending such messages originated by roaming subscribers. After all, although their SMS Center may not be being used, their signaling resources (both within the national network and to facilitate the international roaming) are being used.
In sum, different national and international roaming scenarios can be envisaged and there are few specific rules that have been agreed in the GSM SMS standards that network operators are obligated to follow.
SMS Hardware
INTRODUCTION
There are a variety of different terminals and means for users to send and receive short messages depending on the mobile phone and other terminals they are using. Because the GSM standards committees did not standardize the mobile phone interfaces, a wide range of terminals that support SMS with a variety of different interfaces are available.
SMS RECEIVE SUPPORT
Nearly all GSM mobile telephones are able to receive short messages (known as SMS MT: Mobile Terminate). The only known exceptions that CANNOT receive short messages are some of the very first GSM mobile phones released in the early 1990s such as the Motorola 3200, the AEG Telcard 901 and the Alcatel HB100.
Whilst most GSM mobile phones support the receipt of short messages, few support the receipt of confirmation of delivery messages.
Because of variations in the hardware design and software menus used on each mobile phone due to non-standardization of this aspect, it is not possible to categorically state here how different phones present short messages to the user.
Page 46 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham SMS SEND SUPPORT
All major and minor phone manufacturers without exception now have at least one mobile phone available that can send short messages (known as SMS MO: Mobile Originate). Many phone manufacturers are not now supplying ANY mobile phones in their range of models that do NOT support SMS send. Even budget phones can send messages. As such, the percentage of phones that are able to send short messages is increasing over time. At the beginning of 1998, approximately 60% of the installed worldwide base of GSM mobile phones were capable of SENDING a short message.
Some manufacturers did initially launch entry-level budget mobile phones without SMS Mobile Originate support. This was a purely commercial decision as there were no technical constraints. Following pressure from mobile network operators, manufacturers such as Nokia subsequently issued a software upgrade for support of SMS Mobile Originate by their entry-level mobile phones. Of course, users who bought these mobile phones when they were initially released may find that they do not have the relevant software release to support SMS Mobile Originate even if they own that particular mobile phone. To send short messages, they will require a software upgrade to their phone.
PHONE MAN-MACHINE INTERFACES
Whilst the majority of mobile phones are technically capable of sending short messages, it should be stated that the user interface and therefore ease with which these messages can actually be generated and sent varies significantly depending on the vendor. For usage of SMS to be widespread, it is clearly necessary for mobile phones to support SMS services in easy-to-use form.
The term “Man-Machine Interface” (MMI) describes the way users interact with hardware terminals such as mobile phones. As related to SMS, the MMI encompasses the form of the menu systems and button presses required by users to generate short messages. There is no standard MMI, hence, the way short messages are originated varies significantly between different mobile phones. Many MMIs are difficult to understand and use. As such, sending a short message from the keypad of a normal mobile phone is a difficult task requiring much user practice, patience and dexterity. Some manufacturers even persist with using technical terms to refer to SMS functions- for example, some phone menu options use the word “originate” rather than “send”. The Nokia 2110 took the lead in terms of an intuitive and easy-to-use menu structure to drive their mobile phone and generate short messages. Nokia remains the leader in the field of friendly interfaces. Intuitive Nokia-like interfaces have been cross-fertilized, i.e. copied, by some of the smaller mobile manufacturers, but Nokia has not been followed by several other major mobile phone vendors.
Mechanisms for simplifying short message generation on mobile phones are being developed. For example, the US-based company Tegic Communications developed T9 which enables text to be entered into a mobile phone using just one key press for each letter. T9 stands for text on nine keys and uses an intelligent software protocol in combination with a proprietary algorithm and internal linguistic database that estimates the word that the message originator is trying to input and displays this on
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 47 the display. In 1 in 25 cases, the Tegic algorithm incorrectly guesses the word the user is trying to input- however, Tegic compliant phones incorporate a button marked “Next” which when pressed displays the next most word match. As such, the use of Tegic can significantly simplify the origination of short messages. Nine European languages are currently supported, with Asian language such as Chinese and Japanese under development. T9 has been licensed by a lot of mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola, Philips, Mitsubishi, Samsung, TTP COM and Fujitsu. (See http://www.tegic.com or email [email protected]).
In early 1998, most mobile phones in China supported the GSM default 7-bit alphabet, but not UCS2. The phones were modified slightly by having their menus translated into Chinese characters but could not accept short message text entry in the Chinese language. However, some progress has been made in developing simple interfaces for originating short messages in non-Latin languages. For example, in February 1998 Ericsson licensed a system called Zi-8 from a Canadian company, Zi Corp. By simplifying the 36 different stokes that make up each Chinese character into eight basic categories plus wildcards, this system allows Chinese speakers to make ten key presses to input a complex Chinese character using the mobile phone keypad. Japanese and Korean versions of the system should also be available in 1998. As systems such as this become widely integrated into mobile phones, use of SMS will be simplified and usage should therefore increase. (See http://www.zicorp.com or email [email protected]).
MESSAGE ORIGINATION
Short messages can be originated in several different ways- from the mobile phone keypad itself or the keyboard on Terminal Equipment connected to the mobile phone or via software connected to a modem. Terminal Equipment is the GSM term for any external device connected to a Mobile Station (such as a mobile phone). Examples of Terminal Equipment include handheld computers or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.
However they are originated, all short messages are sent initially to a SMS Center. Once the SMS Center has received the short message from the originating SME, there is no requirement to maintain any ongoing communication link with the originating SME.
Short messages are sent to and routed through the SMS Center whose number is specified by the originating Short Message Entity. There is no reason why, subject to commercial agreement, customers of one mobile network cannot program in the SMS Center number of a different mobile network from another country and route their short messages via that SMS Center.
MESSAGE ARRIVAL
Upon receipt of a new short message, the mobile phone notifies the user. The alert mechanism depends on the mobile phone and is often a parameter that is under the control of users, who can, for example, use the mobile phone menus to turn their phone to silent mode. This allows short messages to be discreetly received in meetings without disturbing other participants. Short message receipt is usually
Page 48 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham indicated either audibly or through a vibrating battery function supported by some mobile phones. Whatever the alert mechanism, the mobile phone usually also displays a message icon or the word “Message” on the display. The user can then access the messaging menu and read the new short message. Incoming short messages are not usually immediately displayed on the screen, however, most new phones allow their users to easily read short messages with a single button push to access the text. Some Motorola phones released in 1998 offered an Autoread SMS feature that allowed the immediate viewing of short messages without any button presses at all.
When the short message is read, the Originating Address such as the sender’s mobile phone number and a timestamp is included in addition to the short message text itself. This information is automatically added to every short message. The timestamp is not the time that the message was originated or received- it is the time it arrived at the SMS Center. Sometimes information such as the timestamp and Originating Address are presented before the message text itself, sometimes afterwards. This depends upon the specific phone being used.
SIMCARDS AND MESSAGE STORAGE
Received short messages are stored in the mobile phone’s memory or in the SimCard (the Subscriber Identity Module: a smart card that is inserted into the GSM mobile phone), depending on the value in a field called the Data Coding Scheme (See the “Short Message Data Structure” section). Once received, the recipient can retain or delete short messages at their discretion. Any short messages stored on the SimCard can be transferred to another mobile phone. The SMS Center delivers as many short messages as it can until the storage limit is reached. As storage space is freed by the user reading and deleting stored short messages, further messages are delivered.
SimCards have evolved from having a memory of 3K on which five short messages could typically be stored, to 8K SimCards that can typically store 15 or more short messages. Imminent 16K SimCards will allow a corresponding increase in short message storage capacity.
SERIAL CABLES
Because the converter functionality for GSM Data is not required for SMS, a serial cable suffices to connect a GSM mobile phone to other terminals such as handheld computers and vending machines. However, as we learned in the Comparison between Data and SMS, this converter functionality is increasingly being incorporated into software- facilitating serial connectivity for Data too.
Most mobile phone manufacturers have introduced a serial cable interface- with a proprietary connector to the phone on one end of the cable and RS232, a standard serial interface, on the other. The serial interface is different for different mobile phones- and sometimes even for different models of mobile phones from the same manufacturer.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 49 INDUSTRIAL TERMINALS
Whilst the vast majority of the installed base of GSM terminals are conventional phones with keypads and displays, a number of GSM terminals have been specifically designed for vertical market industrial applications.
The most widely available industrial terminal is the Siemens GSM M1 module, which is a rugged GSM mobile phone without the keypad or display that is slightly larger than a packet of playing cards. The M1 supports Data, Fax and SMS via a serial cable interface. Other such terminals designed for vertical market applications include the Motorola AtlasRanger, which is a 8 watt fixed car mobile phone encased in a black box.
DUAL SLOT PHONES
Mobile phone manufacturers such as Alcatel and Motorola are designing dual slot phones which will be used primarily for electronic commerce applications. The dual slot phones will support a standard SimCard but will also incorporate a second card slot. (This second slot could be used for something like a Mondex electronic purse smart card).
The latest release of the SIM Application Toolkit standard includes four commands that allow the second card to be addressed from the SimCard. For example, money could be transferred from the SimCard to the second smart card, or the SimCard identity can be used to verify the authenticity of the electronic funds transfer by confirming the identify of the transaction beneficiaries.
SMART PHONES
As we have seen, a significant barrier to widespread use of two-way SMS services has been the difficulty in manipulating the mobile phone keypad to enter a short message. However, one type of mobile terminal that significantly eases short message origination is so-called “smart phones”- these are mobile phones with built-in Data, Fax, SMS and Internet capability. Smart phones integrate mobile computing and mobile communications technologies into a single terminal.
Smart phone designs come in various form factors with some voice-centric, some data-centric, some opening in half to reveal a QWERTY keyboard and others icon- driven. But whilst many manufacturers have shown a wide variety of prototypes, at the start of 1998, Nokia remained the only manufacturer that had actually launched a smart phone- the 9000 and its slightly modified successor the 9000i incorporating Nokia Smart Messaging. Nokia was very successful in getting software developers to develop applications for the Nokia 9000 platform. Nokia also cleverly set up a system whereby a 9000 software application developed in a local market could be approved as “Nokia OK” and then offered for (non-exclusive) distribution to a third party called Widget Software which made those applications available regionally throughout Europe. This facilitated the flow of quality applications to the marketplace. However, some other mobile phone manufacturers did finally launch smart phones commercially during 1998.
Page 50 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham HANDHELD COMPUTERS
There is increasing inter-operability between mobile phones and handheld computers. Handheld computer vendors include Psion, 3Com with its PalmPilot, Sharp, and until recently, Apple. The Apple Newton MessagePad is being withdrawn from Apple’s product range as its focuses on its core Macintosh products.
Handheld computers connect to mobile phones either by modem and software, cable and software, software modem and cable and so on. When compared with smart phones, it is more difficult for users of SMS to initially configure the software and hardware necessary to turn a handheld computer into a messaging station. However, once users are up and running, handheld computers are nearly as easy as smart phones to connect to the mobile network and send short messages (and Data).
SYMBIAN
See http://www.symbian.com
In mid 1998, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Psion Software teamed up to form a company called Symbian to develop the software and hardware standards for the next generation of wireless smart phones and terminals.
A mobile terminal consists of hardware, an operating system and applications. Traditionally, all three of these were developed in-house by a terminal manufacturer. However the product life cycle of mobile phones (the time the product is in the market before it is superceded by enhanced products) has shortened. As such, some elements in the product development phase have begun to be outsourced. For example, the operating system for the pioneering Nokia 9000 smart phone was outsourced to Geoworks and the operating system for Symbian is the Psion EPOC 32 bit operating system. This operating system has already been developed and incorporated into palmtop computers such as the Psion Series 5.
The reasoning behind Symbian was partly defensive- to try to prevent Microsoft Windows CE from becoming the de facto operating system for mobile terminals, and partly offensive- to stimulate the development of a standard operating system. The success of Symbian will depend on the ability of the initial partners to license the Symbian design to other handheld computing and telecoms vendors. Microsoft has already widely licensed CE to video games manufacturers, set top digital television box manufacturers and so on, as well as a dozen handheld computer companies such as Casio and Hewlett-Packard. Whilst it remains unclear whether CE or Symbian will become the handheld operating system standard, the Symbian partners are likely to continue to develop easy interoperability between their mobile phones and Windows CE terminals. This will cover them in the event that Microsoft is still able to establish a mobile computing standard.
The handheld operating system battle will depend on the original partners’ ability to license Symbian to other terminal manufacturers. Whilst the original partners account for over three quarters of all mobile phones sold, the handheld computer market is also driven by the computing industry- which is dominated by Microsoft. Expect to
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 51 see Symbian devices (supporting the Wireless Application Protocol, see below) in the first half of 1999.
SUMMARY
Much progress has been made in terms of improving hardware accessibility for SMS. However, there is still a long way to go until SMS is easy-to-use for the majority of mobile phone users.
Interfacing Terminal Equipment with Mobile Phones
A crucial element of many SMS applications is the ability to connect the mobile phone to another device such as a handheld computer or Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. Within GSM, any such external device is called Terminal Equipment. The interface between a Mobile Station and Terminal Equipment is defined within the GSM 07:05 and 07:07 standards. GSM 07:05 defines three alternative interface protocols for control of SMS functions within a GSM mobile phone from a remote terminal:
BLOCK MODE
Block Mode is a binary synchronous protocol for text with a defined end and a defined beginning.
Block Mode constructs TPDUs within block markers and is entered be sending the AT command AT+CESP. The application can then request groups of operations such as:
· List all short messages held in the mobile phone
· Transfer all or specified short messages from the mobile phone
· Set the mobile phone so that all new incoming short messages are passed immediately to the application
· Submit short messages for transmission
· Delete short messages from the mobile phone
Block mode commands and responses are generated by constructing a pre-defined set of components or information elements in binary. For example, an ‘Insert SMS’ command, used to transfer a short message to the mobile phone, is constructed by stringing together the information elements “Message Type”, “Insert Type”, “RP- Destination Address” and “SMS-TPDU”. The SMS-TPDU consists of the user data itself along with other parameters such as the Data Coding Scheme.
Page 52 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Advantages:
· because of its built-in error correction in the form of a block check sum, Block Mode is highly suited to applications where the GSM radio link may not be completely reliable
· Allows the control of remote terminals
· A long established and proven standard
· Allows the efficient transfer of binary encoded user data because AT commands do not need to be repeated for each instruction. In fact, Block Mode is effectively a string of Protocol Data Units (PDUs) without the AT commands
Disadvantages:
· A PC or some other intelligent device is required to implement the Block Mode protocol
· Block Mode is used exclusively for SMS- when an application commands the mobile phone to enter Block Mode, the mobile phone is not available for voice or Data calls until this mode is terminated. Neither Text Mode nor PDU Mode impose this restriction
· Poor support among hardware manufacturers
· Block Mode characters can conflict with flow control at serial ports (for example, the Xon/ Xoff characters).
TEXT MODE
Text Mode allows the transfer of text one character at a time based on AT commands. Unlike Block Mode, with Text mode, the application first sets up fixed parameters such as the SMS Center address. The mobile phone then uses those parameters to construct a PDU when the application requests it to send a short message.
Advantages:
· Simple enough to be suitable for terminal emulators and dumb terminals
· Inexpensive to implement a solution or test proof a concept before commencing more serious development work
· The only mode which has an interface readily understood by non-technical people
Disadvantages:
· Not widely implemented by manufacturers
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 53 · Message header information has to be input separately. In PDU Mode and Block Mode, parameters such as Validity period can be set in the TPDU
· Both Text Mode and PDU Mode are capable of responding to AT+CNMI settings to forward the full message. However, phone manufacturers have implemented an inconsistent set of responses which makes it seem like there is a Text Mode limitation here
PDU MODE
PDU Mode shares some characteristics with each of the other two modes. In common with Block Mode, it uses a TPDU, but rather than using raw binary, each character is encoded using HEX (the characters 0...9,A..F). In fact, if you encode a Block Mode TPDU as HEX, you have a PDU. In common with Text Mode, PDU Mode is implemented through an identical series of AT commands.
Advantages:
· Suitable for AT command-based software drivers that do not understand the content of the message blocks
· Can be automated
· Binary coded data can be sent as well as characters
· Fullest manufacturer support
· Allows hardware to interact with Data and Fax as well as SMS
· No flow control issues as characters transferred at the serial port are A..F, 0..9.
Disadvantages:
· Manufacturers have interpreted the ETSI specification inconsistently. Thus we have around nine different implementations of PDU Mode, all of which conform to the specification. For example, Nokia alone has three different versions in its product range.
· Not as suitable as Block Mode for binary data or continuous SMS operation
· Inefficient because of the need to repeat the “AT=” command. However, this is not a rate determining factor in the submission of short messages.
As such, the serial cable connecting the mobile phone to Terminal Equipment differs for each mobile phone, as does the software interface that drives the transfer of information through the cable. The fact that the interfaces are different and proprietary increases the entry barriers such as time, effort and money needed by application software developers who want to develop an SMS-based application that works with a large number of different mobile phones. This situation is not helped by the fact that
Page 54 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham the proprietary interfaces are not publicly available. For example, the Nokia 2100 data card uses Block Mode and implements GSM 07:07 for Data and Fax functionality, but to access SMS functions in the mobile phone via serial cable, you need to implement their proprietary SMS Interpreter interface. Nokia have only officially licensed their interface to a few hardware and software suppliers such as Aplicom (http://www.aplicom.fi). Other suppliers have reversed engineered the bus information to find out the protocol.
Software developers would be advised to read the ETSI specifications, ask the phone manufacturers for informative examples of their implementation and not expect the full set of features to always be available.
Short Message Data Structure
A short message is formally known as a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) and comprises two parts- the header information and the short message text itself (known as the user data). You can imagine a PDU as the short message text itself (a “letter”) inserted into an “envelope” with some address details on the outside. This “letter” is sent to the SMS Center that looks at the details on the “envelope” and tries to send the “letter” to the recipient using the type of postal service the sender specified. These parameters that are written on the “envelope” are the:
SMSC ADDRESS
The address of the SMS Center to which the short message is to be sent.
DESTINATION ADDRESS
The Destination Address field denotes the final recipient of the short message. This parameter is usually specified by the sender.
ORIGINATING ADDRESS
The address of the sender of the short message. Usually automatically appended to the short message itself so that the recipient can identify the sender.
STATUS REPORT REQUEST
This parameter allows the short message sender to request confirmation that the short message has been delivered to its intended recipient.
SERVICE CENTRE TIMESTAMP
In addition to the short message text itself and the Originating Address, the time and date that the SMS Center received the short message are usually also automatically appended to outbound short messages from the SMS Center.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 55 VALIDITY PERIOD
Each short message submitted to the SMS Center is assigned a Validity Period, which sets the maximum time that the short message is retained in the SMS Center. Failure to successfully deliver the short message within the short message lifetime causes it to be marked for purge, with no further delivery attempts made.
Setting specific short message Validity Periods is important for many SMS-based applications. For example, an urgent gas leak may need to be allocated to a service engineer within 15 minutes of being reported, hence, the Validity Period would be set to 15 minutes. Some SMS Centers can inform software applications as soon as a short message lifetime expires, allowing alternative, secondary action to be taken.
All short messages have a message lifetime- those short messages that do not have a specific value when submitted are automatically assigned the default Validity Period for that mobile network. For example, some mobile network operators set a maximum short message lifetime of 72 hours (Vodafone, UK) or 48 hours (Mannesmann D2, Germany), after which any short messages that haven’t been delivered are deleted.
DATA CODING SCHEME
The Data Coding Scheme (DCS) parameter is used for several purposes, including:
· to indicate the form in which the short message text (user data) is encoded, be it the GSM 7-bit default alphabet, 16-bit text or binary.
· to specify short message classes, which tell the mobile phone how to deal with the short message. For example, the Data Coding Scheme flag is used to indicate whether to store the short message in the SimCard or memory, send it directly to the display or to Terminal Equipment attached to the mobile phone. For instance, when short message class 0 is conveyed in the Data Coding Scheme field, it indicates that the short message should immediately be displayed on the mobile phone but not stored
· to allow a receiving Short Message Entity to display an icon associated with a short message, such as an email or voice mail icon
· to indicate that a short message is compressed
The Data Coding Scheme values are described in GSM 03.38. How or if they are supported depends on the specific mobile phone. Network support of the DCS parameter also varies- application developers and users should check with their network operator to see which if any uses of the DCS are allowed.
PROTOCOL IDENTIFIER
Another flag that is used for a wide variety of purposes is the Protocol Identifier (PID). The PID determines how the short message should be handled by the receiving entity or the SMS Center. Uses of the Protocol Identifier include:
Page 56 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · routing short messages to the correct outbound interface. This is useful when several interfaces share the same numbering plan (e.g. PSTN fax and voice). Use of the Protocol Identifier indicates to the SMS Center where to send the short message to maximize the likelihood that it is successfully delivered to its intended Destination Address
Routing by Protocol Identifier is, for example, used in the provision of SMS to Fax services, through which a mobile phone user can send a short message to a fax machine. The SMS Center recognizes that the Protocol Identifier indicates an SMS to Fax message and routes the short message to the module within the SMS Center that incorporates fax outdial, or a SMS to Fax platform resident outside the SMS Center itself
· indicating that a mobile phone receiving a short message should check to see if a short message of the same type is currently stored and if so replace it with the new one. This function is known as message types 1 to 7
Some network operators do not support the PID parameter. For example, in the UK, Cellnet supports PIDs which allows existing messages to be replaced on the SimCard (used for example, to prevent the SimCard being filled by voice mail notifications) whilst Vodafone does not allow the submission of such messages.
REPLY PATH
The Reply Path allows a user to indicate to the receiver that a reply to the short message is requested. When the recipient elects to reply to a short message, the SMSC Address from which the short message came is used instead of the SMSC Address stored on the SimCard. Additionally, the Originating Address from which the short message came is automatically used as the Destination Address.
This feature was incorporated to indicate to the SMS Center that the initial sending entity should be charged for the reply rather than the replying entity. The advantage is that someone sending a message can receive a reply even if the recipient of the short message has not got an SMS Center number programmed into their SimCard.
Many mobile phones allow a recipient to reply to a short message irrespective of the setting of the Reply Path parameter in the received short message. In such cases, the SMS Center and Originating Address translation described above is also applied.
MESSAGE REFERENCE
The Message Reference parameter allows the mobile phone to assign each short message with an identifier modulus 255 which increments with each short message sent. The user does not have control over the value that is assigned to this parameter even if the short message is being sent from Terminal Equipment connected to the Mobile Station.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 57 MESSAGE LENGTH
The Message Length parameter allows the mobile phone to indicate the length of the short message. A user does not normally have control over this parameter from the mobile phone keypad.
REJECT DUPLICATES
The Reject Duplicates parameter allows a sender to indicate to the SMS Center that a short message with the same Message Reference as one already stored in the SMS Center for the same Destination Address should be discarded and replaced by the new one.
USER DATA HEADER INDICATOR
The User Data Header Indicator allows a sender to indicate that the short message text itself (the user data) is in a special format of the types defined in GSM 03:40 such as SMS concatenation. A user does not normally have control over this parameter from the mobile phone keypad.
SMS COMMANDS
Some mobile phones allow the sender to send specific instructions to the SMS Center to carry out operations on previously submitted short messages. For example, different command types allow the user to enquire about the status of a short message or delete a short message that is waiting to be delivered.
MESSAGE TYPE INDICATOR
The Message Type Indicator parameter indicates whether a short message is for sending, receiving, is a status report (confirmation of delivery), or a specific command to the SMS Center such as an enquiry on a short message. A user does not normally have control over this parameter from the mobile phone keypad.
The Message Type Indicator parameter signals whether a Protocol Data Unit (PDU) is a Submit, Deliver, Command or Status Report.
Some of these parameters are added by the mobile network entities and some are accessible by the originator of the short message. A default value for all of these parameters except the Destination Address is usually built into the application software, the SMS Center and mobile phone.
Different combinations of these Short Message Data Structure parameters are formed depending on what SMS-related action is being carried out. For example, the Validity Period parameter is only set when submitting short messages. Some of the Short Message Data Structure parameters are optional and some are mandatory. The presence and order of the parameters for different types of short message transactions are defined within GSM 03:40.
Page 58 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham The user data plus the other parameters is collectively known as the Protocol Data Unit (PDU) or SMS-TPDU (SMS-Transport Protocol Data Unit). There are several different types of PDU, each of which contains different parameter combinations. For example, the Submit PDU is the format sent by the originating Short Message Entity to send a short message. The Deliver PDU is the format presented to the receiving message. The Command PDU is the format sent by the originating SME to request an action on previously submitted but not yet delivered short messages. The Status Report PDU indicates the status of a previously submitted short message to the originating SME (for example, confirming successful delivery to the Destination Address).
Emerging SMS-based Standards
The Short Message Service is an integral part of several emerging mobile standards. The general industry direction that all the protocols anticipate is towards more individual, interactive and intelligent services. This section will discuss the main protocols:
· SIM Application Toolkit
· Nokia Smart Messaging
· Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and
· MExE (Mobile Station Application Execution Environment).
These protocols are shown in the “Evolution of non-voice mobile protocols” diagram (See Diagram 7 in Appendix).
All four protocols are client-server solutions- requiring support in both mobile phones and servers connected to the SMS Centers for actual implementation.
SIM APPLICATION TOOLKIT
Whereas SIM Application Toolkit has been agreed and incorporated within the GSM standard as GSM 11.14, the other three protocols remain proprietary and are only backed by certain mobile manufacturers and application providers. The full title of GSM 11.14 is “Specification of the SIM Application Toolkit for the Subscriber Identity Module – Mobile Equipment (SIM – ME) interface”. “Mobile Equipment” is the term used in the SIM Application Toolkit specification to refer to “Mobile Terminals”. “SIM” is used to denote the smart card referred to in this book as the “SimCard”. Specifying the interface between these two components means that SIM Application Toolkit is independent of phone manufacturers and designs. The design of the SimCard itself is not mandated either, only the interface with it. SimCards work identically in all Phase 2+ mobile phones. (The GSM standard was released in phases (Phase 1, Phase 2 and Phase 2+). Each phase developed more complete and sophisticated features).
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 59 SIM Application Toolkit allows the flexibility to update the SimCard to alter the services and download new services Over-The-Air. For example, network operators can remotely provision the user’s wireless terminal by exchanging codes embedded in short messages from the server. Within the SIM Application Toolkit specification, SMS is a key mechanism for personalizing the SimCard in each user’s GSM mobile telephone. The short messages are identified as related to SimCard management by setting the Protocol Identifier (PID) flag. This capability facilitates applications such as those described in the “Over-The-Air SimCard” section in “Applications”.
SIM Application Toolkit is designed as a client-server application. On the server side, SimCard platform specialists such as Orga, Gemplus and AU-System have introduced applications that comply with this standard. (See http://www.orga.com http://www.ausys.com/sim/default.htm http://www.gemplus.com). On the client side, phone manufacturers such as Siemens and Alcatel have announced phones that have support SIM Application Toolkit.
SIM Application Toolkit provides mechanisms that allow SimCard-based applications to interact with any Mobile Equipment that supports the mechanisms. The SIM Application Toolkit specification defines the following mechanisms:
· PROFILE DOWNLOAD
Allows the Mobile Equipment to tell the SimCard what SIM Application Toolkit facilities it is capable of supporting, so that the SimCard can limit its instruction range accordingly.
· Proactive SIM
A mechanism through which the SimCard can let the Mobile Equipment know that it has some information or commands for the Mobile Equipment to carry out, which the Mobile Equipment can then fetch. Such actions include displaying text from the SimCard to the Mobile Equipment, sending a short message, setting up a voice or Data call to a number held in the SimCard and so on.
The SimCard can issue a variety of commands to the Mobile Equipment using the Proactive commands:
Command Explanation DISPLAY TEXT* displays text (of less than 160 characters) on the screen
GET INKEY* sends text to the display and requests a single character answer
GET INPUT* sends text to the display and requests a response
MORE TIME* requests more time to perform a task
PLAY TONE* plays a tone
POLL INTERVAL* tells Mobile Equipment how often to send status data to the SimCard during idle mode
Page 60 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham POLLING OFF* stops the polling function by the mobile phone
REFRESH* asks the mobile phone to re-read all data from the SimCard
SELECT ITEM* supplies a list of items and receives user’s choice
SEND SHORT sends a short message to the mobile network MESSAGE* SEND SS* sends a supplementary string to the mobile network
SEND USSD* sends an Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) string to the mobile network SET UP CALL* initiates a voice call
SET UP MENU* supplies new sub-menu items to add to the mobile phone menu
PROVIDE LOCAL Requests that Mobile Equipment passes local information to INFORMATION* SIM such as country and mobile network codes for roamers.
· CELL BROADCAST DOWNLOAD* or SMS-PP DOWNLOAD*
This command allows the mobile network operator to use SMS or Cell Broadcast to transfer information to the SimCard. When the Mobile Equipment receives a short message with the:
Protocol Identifier set equal to the SIM data download and the Data Coding Scheme equals a Class 2 Message, then the Mobile Equipment will pass this short message directly to the SimCard without the knowledge or intervention of the mobile phone user.
· MENU SELECTION*
This command allows a set of possible menu options to be supplied by the SimCard using the Proactive Command SET UP MENU. If the user subsequently uses the mobile phone keypad to select a menu option, the Mobile Equipment informs the SimCard using this mechanism.
· CALL CONTROL*
When this service is activated by the Mobile Equipment, all call set-up attempts will result in the telephone numbers, supplementary services and Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) strings being sent first to the SimCard. The SimCard can then decide whether to allow those actions to be carried out or can selectively bar them.
· COMMAND RESULT
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 61 When the Mobile Equipment has attempted to execute a proactive command from the SimCard, the Mobile Equipment informs the SimCard of the success or otherwise of this command.
· Security
Mechanisms to ensure data confidentiality and integrity have been included in the SIM Application Toolkit standard. The standard is secure enough for mobile banking and electronic commerce applications- the SimCard can encipher data, verify separated secret PIN codes, sign messages and so on.
Support of SIM Application Toolkit is optional for Mobile Equipment. Any Mobile Equipment claiming to support SIM Application Toolkit need not support all Toolkit functions, but must support the functions marked with a * above.
NOKIA SMART MESSAGING
Smart Messaging is a proprietary Nokia messaging protocol that they describe as “an open standard messaging concept initialized by Nokia”. It is a client-server solution that is incorporated into Nokia mobile clients such as the 8110i and 9000i and servers such as the Nokia Artus Messaging Platform and the CMG VASP Smart Messaging module.
Smart Messaging involves an exchange of information between a mobile phone and an information source. Customized menus on Smart Messaging-enabled mobile phones request information from sources such as database queries, special Internet pages, or in-company intranets. The user originates a short message from a menu in the Smart Messaging-compliant mobile phone. The message is sent to the server which then formulates the query and sends it to the appropriate Internet server where that information resides. When the response is sent back from the Internet server, the server filters all the other content except the requested information and sends it back to the mobile phone as a short message.
Nokia Smart Messaging is implemented using Tagged Text Markup Language (TTML). TTML is a subset of HTML (HyperText Markup Language, the standard Internet programming language) for filtering Internet pages to remove information such as logos so that it can be provided to low bandwidth mobile terminals. Converting HTML to TTML allows the Internet content to be relayed as a short message.
Nokia Smart Messaging allows the menus on compliant mobile phones to be dynamically updated via SMS. This facilitates new service provision and limited-time and event-related services. For example, NetCom GSM in Norway implemented a service based on Smart Messaging for the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano. Japan. Other potential services using Nokia Smart Messaging include sending new ring tones to a mobile phone and sending a telephone number that is automatically added to the recipient’s mobile phone book. Whereas SIM Application Toolkit can be used for information services and general utilities such as call control and phone management, Smart Messaging is primarily used for pull-based information services.
Page 62 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham For example, GSM Direct, a service provider for the Vodacom network in South Africa, launched some Smart Messaging-based services. Users of the “Call Total” service send in a short message reading “CT” and get back the value of the calls made. “Balance Enquiry” is another service to find out the customer’s account status- for example, whether last month’s bill has been paid. There is also a “Jackpot” service whereby if the Jackpot numbers match a part of the participating user’s mobile phone number, they win account credits.
Nokia Smart Messaging suffers from several disadvantages. Aside from only being supported by (some) Nokia phones, when it was first released in 1997, Smart Messaging was a technology without any services working with it. Software providers such as GIN and WIN have subsequently implemented the protocols and developed information services that use the Smart Messaging infrastructure- but they are under- developed and under-deployed. Mobile network operators find Smart Messaging- based services easy to set up technically, but end users find them difficult to use commercially. Smart Messaging is a pull-based service that uses customized phone menus on the phone. Network operators should get users comfortable with receiving information on their mobile phones before they start asking them to use interactive two-way services. As such, hundreds of thousands of Smart Messaging-compliant mobile phones have been shipped globally- but very few users know that the Nokia Smart Messaging feature exists, let alone use it.
A second generation version of the Artus Messaging Platform was introduced in March 1998 that did add Content Push services via user-defined triggers.
WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL (WAP)
See http://www.wapforum.org
Motorola, Nokia, Ericsson and the US software company Unwired Planet were the initial partners that teamed up to develop and deploy the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). WAP is another attempt at defining the standard for how content from the Internet is filtered for mobile communications. WAP was developed because content is now readily available on the Internet, and there needs to be a way of making it easily available to mobile terminals.
The Wireless Application Protocol is envisaged as a comprehensive and scaleable protocol designed for use with:
· any mobile phone from those with a one line display to a smart phone
· any existing or planned wireless service such as SMS, Data, Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) and GPRS
· any mobile network standard such as CDMA, GSM or UMTS
· multiple input terminals such as keypads, keyboards, touch-screens and styluses
The Wireless Application Protocol embraces and extends the previously conceived and developed wireless data protocols such as Unwired Planet’s technology and
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 63 Nokia’s Smart Messaging. WAP is intended to be a more sophisticated version of Smart Messaging including scripting and security layers. The Nokia Artus Messaging Platform will support both Smart Messaging and the Wireless Application Protocol.
Unwired Planet (See http://www.uplanet.com) is a relatively new player in wireless communications. It created a new version of the standard HTML (HyperText Markup Language) Internet protocols designed specifically for effective and cost-effective information transfer across mobile networks. Wireless terminals incorporate a HDML (Handheld Device Markup Language) micro-browser, and Unwired Planet’s Handheld Device Transport Protocol (HDTP) then links the terminal to the UP.Link Server Suite which connects to the Internet or intranet where the information being requested resides. (UP.Link was the first Wireless Application Protocol Server available, the Nokia Artus Messaging Gateway and the Sendit ICSA platform (adopted by both Ericsson and Motorola) followed). The Internet site content is tagged with HDML. This technology has been incorporated into WAP- and renamed using some of the many WAP-related acronyms such as WMLS, WTP and WSP. The Unwired Planet technology has been deployed by AT&T Wireless, GTE Wireless and Bell Atlantic Mobile in the USA and is also being trialled in Europe by GSM mobile network operators such as SFR in France and Telenor in Norway. The Unwired Planet technology supports most cellular network standards including CDMA, CDPD, GSM, Personal Handyphone System (PHS), Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and TDMA. In the face of competition from other WAP-compliant servers, UP see their principal advantage as being already developed and deployed commercially.
Someone with a WAP-compliant phone uses the in-built micro-browser to make a request in WML (Wireless Markup Language, a language derived from HTML especially for wireless network characteristics). This request is passed to a Wireless Application Protocol Server that then retrieves the information from a Internet server either in standard HTML format or preferably directly prepared for wireless terminals using WML. If the content being retrieved is in HTML format, a filter in the Wireless Application Protocol Server may try to translate it into WML. A WML scripting language is available to format data such as calendar entries and electronic business cards for direct incorporation into the client device. The requested information is then sent from the WAP Server to the WAP client, using whatever mobile network bearer service is available and most appropriate, automatically formatting the information to suit the particular user’s wireless device.
As defined in the initial Wireless Application Protocol specifications, there are questions over the security of the protocol- the Security layer is not mandatory but optional and does not use smart cards. This makes it insecure for applications such as mobile banking. SmartCard and security experts such as Schlumberger and Certicom joined the WAP Forum to try to consult to improve WAP security.
Page 64 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham MOBILE STATION APPLICATION EXECUTION ENVIRONMENT (MExE)
The aim of Mobile Station Application Execution Environment (MExE) is to provide a comprehensive and standardized environment on mobile phones for executing applications.
MExE shares several similarities with the Wireless Application Protocol, in that both protocols have been designed to work with a:
· range of mobile network services from SMS to GPRS.
· MExE services have also been designed to work with a wide range of interfaces such as voice recognition, icons and softkeys.
However, MExE also goes beyond the WAP functionality and aims to provide a more sophisticated environment for Over-The-Air transactions, incorporating custom application programming and user interface design. This is achieved by building a Java Virtual Machine into the client mobile phone. Java is the “write once, run anywhere” programming language. Development of the MExE protocol is being led by Lucent Technologies and NorTel from the UK, with the NorTel Orbitor smart phone in line with the MExE concept. Because programming and running Java applications requires significant processing resources on the mobile client, MExE is primarily aimed at the next generation of powerful smart phones. MExE also plans to integrate mobile phone location services, such that relevant information options can automatically be sent to mobile phones dynamically.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THESE PROTOCOLS
Clearly, these protocols are very similar and designed with the same sorts of applications in mind. They are all based on a client-server design and involve new menu functions on mobile phones and servers installed in the mobile network. There are several overlaps between the protocols: version two of WAP will incorporate SIM Application Toolkit. Many of the ideas in Nokia Smart Messaging have been incorporated into WAP and some of the elements of Wireless Application Protocol will be incorporated into MExE. It is therefore an important question to discuss what the differences between the protocols are and which is most likely to emerge as the standard. We can disregard Smart Messaging because it has been incorporated into and built upon by Wireless Application Protocol.
The biggest advantage of SIM Application Toolkit over the other emerging SMS- based applications such as Wireless Application Protocol is that it is already agreed as a full GSM standard (GSM 11.14). SIM Application Toolkit is also a useful tool for accessing the SimCard which contains all the information about the end user. This personal information allows security-related functions and identity verification to be carried out, which is essential for electronic commerce. SIM Application Toolkit defines a set of fairly simple operations for ‘non-smart’ mobile phones.
The Wireless Application Protocol on the other hand incorporates a relatively simple micro-browser into the mobile phone. As such, WAP’s requirement for only limited resources on the mobile phone makes it suitable for thin clients and early smart
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 65 phones. WAP is designed to add value-added services by putting the intelligence in the Wireless Application Protocol servers whilst adding just a micro-browser to the mobile phones themselves. Microbrowser-based services and applications reside temporarily on servers, not permanently in phones. The Wireless Application Protocol is aimed at turning a mass-market mobile phone into a “network-based smartphone”. As a representative from Unwired Planet on the board of the WAP Forum commented “The philosophy behind Wireless Application Protocol’s approach is to utilize as few resources as possible on the handheld device and compensate for the constraints of the device by enriching the functionality of the network”.
Whereas the Wireless Application Protocol allows incorporates some scripting, graphics, animation and text, MExE allows full application programming. SIM Application Toolkit adds fairly simple menus driven by fairly simple servers, MExE builds significant intelligence into the client mobile phones. Whereas WAP is better suited to entry level phones, MExE would be used to provide sophisticated intelligent customer menus and also facilitate Intelligent Network (and so-called GSM CAMEL) services. MExE is designed as a full application execution environment ON THE MOBILE terminal. This means that full software applications can be designed and run. However, this does require greater processing power and memory and is therefore better suited to future smart phones. On the other hand, MExE terminals can also include simple phones, because by using a standardized capability negotiation mechanism, the MExE mobile client can inform the MExE server of its classmark and therefore its capabilities. MExE incorporates classmarks that define the MExE-related services that a terminal supports- there will be classmarks that incorporate WAP functionality and classmarks which have a functionality set which exceeds the capability of WAP-compliant terminals.
WAP is the best-placed protocol to become a standard. Whilst MExE is an ETSI- agreed standard designed only for GSM phones (and later UMTS terminals), WAP is being designed for other cellular standards such as CDMA and is supported by major wireless leaders such as AT&T Wireless and NTT DoCoMo. The initial Wireless Application Protocol partner companies- Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Unwired Planet –formed a limited company called WAP Forum Limited to administer the global Wireless Application Protocol specification process and involve new companies in the process. By September 1998, the WAP Forum had 72 members. WAP is backed by major phone manufacturers, network operators, SMS Center suppliers and SMS software suppliers.
Announced WAP Forum members include:
Telecommunications Hardware: Alcatel, Ericsson, Matsushita Communication Industrial, Motorola, Nokia, NorTel, Philips Consumer Communications, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Uniden Corporation, Bosch Telecom Denmark A/S, Intel, NEC, Siemens
Telecommunications Software: Apion, Fujitsu Software Corporation, Geoworks, IBM, MD-Co, Psion Software, Sema Group Telecom, Sendit, Scandinavian Softline Technology, Spyglass, Starfish, Unwired Planet, VTT Information Technology, CCI, CMG, Comverse Network Systems, CTC, Logica Aldiscon, Puma Technology, Tegic
Page 66 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Mobile telephone network operators: AT&T Wireless Services, BellSouth Cellular Corporation, DDI Corporation, Hongkong Telecom, SBC Communications, SFR, Sonera Corporation, Telecom Italia Mobile, Telenor, Telstra, T-Mobil, Vodafone, Cellnet, Dolphin, IDO, NTT DoComMo, Rogers Cantel, Sprint PCS, Swisscom, Telia Mobile
Smart cards and security: Certicom, RSA Data Security, De La Rue Card Systems, Gemplus, Schlumberger
(See http://www.wapforum.org/announcedmembers/members.htm for more information and also http://www.wapforum.org/pressrel/sept0898WAPMembers.htm).
On the other hand, Mobile Station Application Execution Environment (MExE) has been agreed as a Stage 1 ETSI standard, which means that it needs to go through stages 2 and then 3 before it becomes an official standard. The stage 3 process would be undertaken in a Java Forum much as Wireless Application Protocol is being developed in the WAP Forum.
Mobile network operators were trialling WAP-based services by late 1998, and WAP compliant terminals were scheduled to be available by early 1999. The timing of MExE is further in the future than WAP because the processing power to run the Java applications is not currently available in mobile terminals.
As we can see in the Evolution of mobile data Protocols diagram, as phones get more sophisticated, so too will the protocol.
IMPORTANCE OF THESE PROTOCOLS
Until now, different mobile phone manufacturers have bought out mobile phones supporting different protocols- there has been no common standard to follow that has been widely implemented by the majority of mobile phone manufacturers. Some have supported the Sendit SPICE protocol, some UP HDML, some like Siemens and Alcatel incorporate SIM Application Toolkit. If few users can access the services from their phone, then there is less incentive for developing them. It has previously been necessary for several different versions of the same service to be developed so that different end users with different types of mobile phone can use those services.
Hence, any standardized protocols are a step forward because they will facilitate the development of value-added services that most mobile phone users will be able to easily access. Whichever protocols are chosen will have the advantage that application developers can write a single application that will run on many different mobile phones.
However, all of these standards may be a technology chasing an application. Whichever standard emerges from these technologies, there seems to be no compelling application that would capture the imagination of the majority of mobile phone users. Applications and services driven by Wireless Application Protocol microbrowsers are envisaged as Over-The-Air provisioning, email, personal organizers, information services and so on- there is nothing new here- nothing
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 67 compelling that does not already exist. The main application is in the commercial realization of affinity programs and lifestyles packages that offer combinations of these services. The standard setters state that they are not designing the protocols to be “killer applications” in themselves, rather they are designed to enable more widespread availability of value-added network services for a wide range of mobile phones and users.
The benefit of being able to “mass customize” the same phone for different user requirements to allow “one on one marketing” needs to be balanced against the resulting increased complexity of managing customer care when every customer has a different mobile phone configuration. A successful protocol must incorporate a mechanism for the mobile network operator to be able to remotely interrogate the user’s terminal in real-time. For example, as soon as a customer rings into customer care with a problem or query, the customer care operator should be able to immediately remotely interrogate the phone to find out what the set up is, and even diagnose the mobile phone itself. Otherwise, mobile network operators could find themselves in the situation where far from simplifying the provision of network services, these protocols could complicate this process and take control away from the network operator.
For example, because Mobile Station Application Execution Environment (MExE) is specifically designed to allow the user to program the phone, it is also particularly susceptible to the user taking control of the phone by programming their own unique applications. However, whilst MExE can allow the user to control the look and feel of the user interface, the end user cannot define the services or applications that are available on the network. This means that MExE users, service providers or network operators will be able to add or modify the user interface configurations on the terminal. SIM Application Toolkit on the other hand gives the mobile network operators the opportunity to control the user’s actions such as allowing calls from the phone and so on. Network operators will however also lose control with SIM Application Toolkit because standardized Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are being put forward to allow SIM Application Toolkit applications to be developed and transferred independently of the mobile phone.
Consumer confusion would also result. For example, some mobile network operators who have the capability to update their customer’s SimCards have done so without any warning or audible alert. Customers have thereby been confused by the sudden disappearance of familiar menu options.
In sum, mobile data protocols are a means to an end and not an end in themselves. A critical mass of phones supporting any one standard is not sufficient, compelling applications are also necessary.
Page 68 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PART 3- How is SMS marketed?
SMS Center Selection Criteria
Because SMS is a store and forward service, every single short message of any type passes through an SMS Center. As such, the selection of an SMS Center vendor is absolutely critical to success of the mobile network carrier’s SMS-based services. The reliability of SMS services varies considerably between different mobile networks because they deploy different SMS Centers. In other words, not all SMS is the same. Choose badly and mobile network operators limit the possibilities of using SMS for time and mission critical applications such as for the emergency services, stolen vehicle recovery and so on. The deployment of further services is also severely hindered if there is insufficient SMS Center capacity and expandability. Indeed, many network operators have discovered this fact for themselves whilst using first generation SMS Centers. They have subsequently migrated to more reliable SMS Centers as their second generation systems.
The key selection criteria for an SMS Center are:
DESIGN
Because the design of the SMS Center was not closely defined in SMS standards, they do vary significantly. Some SMS Centers take an integrated approach and incorporate services other than SMS into the SMS Center. Others such as Sema take an interface approach with their SMS Center designed as an SMS engine devoted to processing inbound and outbound short messages. Some early adopters of SMS amongst the first commercial GSM mobile network operators saw the integrated SMS Center approach as an opportunity to get multiple mobile network services up and running quickly by buying an integrated platform offering several services such as voice mail built-in. Other mobile network operators took the long view and realized that the integrated approach could mean that the SMS Center gets busy doing lots of other things, slowing down message delivery times. The integrated approach also reduces the network operator’s freedom to subsequently develop tailored services for its customers without having to go back to the SMS Center provider.
Basically, each computer platform has limited internal and external processing capability. The same computer platform can be used for multiple services, such as voice mail and general SMS, but the services compete for a share of the fixed and scarce resources. Voice mail usage tends to peak at certain times of the day and this concentrated usage degrades the performance of the general SMS functions- leading to the situation where the same platform can offer different levels of reliability at different times of the day. Obviously, this inconsistency does not reflect favorably on the overall reliability of SMS.
There is some discussion as to whether the ever-increasing processing power from new computer processor technologies will facilitate the reliable delivery of multiple services from a single platform. Clearly, this has advantages from a mobile network operator’s perspective in that it means that fewer network nodes and entities exist that have to be administered and maintained. This is one of the reasons why Intelligent
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 69 Network (IN) solutions are of interest to mobile network operators- they facilitate the availability of multiple existing services such as prepayment and personal numbering from the same IN node.
Over time, SMS Center performances certainly have improved, with the likes of Sema and CMG publicizing and demonstrating benchmarked systems delivering 250 and more short messages per second on certain hardware platforms. As computing technologies continue to rapidly develop, multiple reliable services from a single platform will become increasingly possible. However, mobile network subscriber numbers and SMS users will increase exponentially in that same period- meaning that reliability problems may remain. My advice to mobile network operators remains cautious- beware of “false economy”- integrated options that look less expensive and easier to maintain in theory. They may in practice lead to platform overloading, network congestion and performance degradation, and end up constraining the ability to earn revenue from the services that very technology is supposed to enable.
Whilst I encourage of new entrants to enter the SMS Center market, the fact remains that several of the SMS Center solutions being marketed have not been deployed commercially or have only been deployed in a few mobile networks. Mobile networks should be wary of taking “SMS Centers” from voice mail manufacturers. Nearly all voice mail platforms have built-in SMS Mobile Originate (send) functionality as a means to alert mobile users that they have received new voice mail messages. The voice mail vendors have then looked for additional revenue streams from their existing capability and seen the opportunity to market a full SMS Center capability. However, this does not mean that SMS functionality represents a reliable and robust SMS Center with full two-way functionality and expandability.
SCALABILITY
It is important that as SMS usage grows, the SMS Center can be effectively and cost- effectively (i.e. quickly and cheaply) expanded so that overall service reliability does not fall as usage increases. Scalability is optimally conferred within the same SMS Center, through, for example, the addition of more SS7 signaling links into and out of the SMS Center or increased processing power within the SMS Center computer itself.
Too many mobile network operators in too many places have found themselves with too many SMS Centers because of a lack of expandability within the same platform. Naturally, because of the hardware duplication, platform maintenance and so on, it costs more to add the same SMS capacity by deploying a new SMS Center than it does upgrading and expanding an existing one.
PERFORMANCE
SMS Center performance is usually measured by several different variables. SMS Centers are usually dimensioned in terms of throughput in short messages per second and SMS Center transit delays. Transit delays are the time it takes for the short message to be processed within the SMS Center. The transit delay tends to be a more important factor than the throughput since the throughput statistics refer to the whole SMS Center and have little meaning to the individual user unless they are the only
Page 70 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham user. Throughput is largely irrelevant given the fact that any particular time, half to three-quarters of subscribers have their mobile phones switched off and are not in a position to receive processed short messages anyway.
Specific SMS Center configurations and performance is often quoted in terms of Busy Hour Short Message Call Attempts (BHSMCA). By building in sufficient capacity to cope with the number of short messages being generated in the mobile network’s busiest hour, sufficient capacity to handle all other less busy hours is automatically incorporated. One BHSMCA corresponds to a single attempt to submit a short message from OR deliver a short message to a mobile network, irrespective whether the transmission is successful- in between 50% and 75% of cases the delivery attempts fail. BHSMCA is determined by the number of subscribers using SMS, usually expressed as a percentage of the total subscriber base on the mobile network. Short messages inputted to the SMS Center are determined by estimating the average number of short messages per SMS user per day and the average number of short message delivery attempts per short message.
AVAILABILITY AND RESILIENCE
An SMS Center is fully available if it is in a position to receive and send all short messages. Availability is defined in terms of Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and Mean Time to Recovery (MTTR). High availability is associated with high values of MTBF and low values of MTTR.
An SMS Center is fully resilient if it is able to withstand partial or complete hardware failure without the loss of stored short messages. High resilience can be achieved in different ways, such as:
· Where a single SMS Center is used, ensure reliable hardware by, for example, agreeing a guaranteed service response time with the vendor, having mirrored discs and redundant network interfaces and so on.
· Having fully redundant hardware configurations with a secondary SMS Center on high standby in case of problems with the primary system. For example, some mobile network operators have a secondary test SMS Center connected to a different part of the mobile network to the primary SMS Center. The secondary platform is used for application development and testing.
· Use of fault-tolerant hardware in which all components of the system are replicated within the same platform.
· Load-sharing by running multiple platforms continuously. The disadvantage of having to install and maintain multiple SMS Centers is weighed against the advantage that if one SMS Center fails, not all SMS traffic stops.
Mobile network operators need to determine the level of resilience they require by weighing the additional costs of building in resilience against the benefits in terms of minimizing the risk of service outages.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 71 CONNECTIVITY
Connectivity is another important criteria for selecting an SMS Center vendor. Ideally, the SMS Center will allow a network operator to offer its customers a variety of different inbound connectivity options and a variety of different types of recipient. This is shown is the “Advanced Message Transfer” diagram (See Diagram 8 in Appendix).
There are several kinds of connectivity:
· Inbound interface connectivity relates to the availability of flexible means for third parties such as SMS software suppliers to access the SMS Center. For example, because Logica Aldiscon initially captured the majority of the SMS Center market, its proprietary interface SMPP emerged as the de facto means for connecting to many other SMS Centers. For instance, ADC NewNet and Unisys, as well as SMS services platforms such as the Nokia Artus Messaging Platform, have adopted SMPP. This increases the range of available SMS software solutions that connect to the SMPP-compliant SMS Centers, by eliminating the changes necessary to get the software to communicate with different SMS Center protocols.
· Inbound communications connectivity. It is important that multiple messaging standards are supported for inbound access to the SMS Center. Different corporate customers and SMS software suppliers use different communication standards- some may wish to connect to the SMS Center using X.25, some TCP/IP, some ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network, a digital multimedia fixed communications standard) and so on. It important that corporate customers can use their existing communications bearer for SMS. Mobile network operators hinder the commercial deployment of SMS-based applications if they increase the entry barriers to the market by necessitating that either software suppliers or corporate customers adopt what is for them a non-standard communications mechanism to access the SMS Center.
X.25 communications offer secure connections, whereas those of ISDN and TCP/IP are not as secure. Methods for preventing unauthorized access and excessive messaging volumes are essential. Different applications have different requirements, therefore the ability to offer tailored service levels per corporate customer or business partner is increasingly important.
· Outbound connectivity concerns the ability to use the same SMS Center to provide messaging services to multiple mobile network types. Many mobile network operators run more than one type of network- some started with analog networks such as NMT and were awarded a GSM license, some want to provide the same sorts of messaging services to both paging and mobile customers. Clearly, given the required investment in messaging infrastructure, it is preferable for mobile network operators to have the flexibility to use the SAME SMS Center to offer messaging services to different customers on DIFFERENT networks, or the same customer roamed onto different networks.
Page 72 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PRICING
Clearly, the cost of obtaining the SMS Center is an important selection criteria for many network operators. Indeed, some network operators running relatively small networks in small countries may not have the funds to purchase an SMS Center and may prioritize the roll out of geographical network coverage above having an SMS Center.
Having discussed the criteria for selecting a SMS Center, the main SMS Center suppliers will now be reviewed.
SMS Center Suppliers
The promotional literature produced by all SMS Center vendors is virtually interchangeable- they make the same claims of great reliability and rapid scalability. Hence, before making a final vendor selection, it is necessary to read between the lines and speak to other mobile network operators (and not just SMS vendor’s reference customers) with operational experience of how the platforms actually perform in practice.
Each of the main SMS Center vendors will now be profiled. These organizations are CMG, Logica Aldiscon, ADC NewNet, Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Sema.
CMG http://www.cmg.nl
Address: Nieuwekade 1 P.O. Box 8038 3503 RA Utrecht The Netherlands
Contacts: Fevzi Cakmak, SMSC Product Manager Daan van Kootwijk, Product Manager- Value Added Services David Haynes, London, Tel +44 171 592 4000 Gerald Rooks, US, +1 603 886 9760 Email: [email protected] Tel: +31 30 233 9300 Fax: +31 30 233 9498 Locations: Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Netherlands, London England, Cologne and Frankfurt in Germany, Nashua NH USA, Singapore
Products and services:
· The CMG SMSC
· The CMG Value Added Services Platform (VASP). VASP service modules include Internet Gateway services, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), Information
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 73 Services, Cell Broadcast Centre, Over-The-Air activation and Nokia Smart Messaging.
These VASP modules can be combined to offer specific services. For example, “Smart email” services can be offered by combining the following VASP modules: Internet Gateway, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and Smart Messaging Gateway. Smart email services use SMS to notify users about the receipt of new Internet emails. The user can then access the full emails by originating short messages such as “READ 1” to download the first email message, hear the email message read out using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or dial in using GSM Data.
Another VASP-based service is “FLEXI-message” which can be offered by using the Smart Messaging, Over-The-Air SimCard activation and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) modules. FLEXI-message allows mobile network carriers to alter the menus that are built-into certain SIM Application Toolkit-compliant mobile phones. Such changes are made using SMS without affecting normal mobile phone use. Both the mobile phone and the SimCard can be reconfigured and reprogrammed Over The Air. Updates can be initiated by various means, including the network operator’s helpdesk staff, Short Message Service Mobile Originate, Internet page or Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
Customers:
Mobile network operators with CMG SMS Centers include:
Omnipoint, USA/NY/Philadelphia APC, USA/Washington/Baltimore Pacific Bell Mobile Services, California Entel, Chile Mascom Cellular, Botswana Powertel, Atlanta Mutiara, Malaysia RadioMobil, Czech Republic Tele Denmark Mobile, Denmark Telia Denmark, Denmark EMT, Estonia SFR, France Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland), Finland T-Mobil, Germany Stet Hellas, Greece Postur og Simi, Iceland Mobifon, Romania MTS Moscow, Russia Centertel, Poland Mobitel, Slovenia Turkcell, Turkey One2One, UK KPN Telecom, The Netherlands (2 CMG SMS Centers) Mobistar, Belgium
Page 74 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham KPN Orange, Belguim Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM), Italy Swisscom, Switzerland Mannesmann Mobilfunk D2, Germany Telefónica Móviles, Spain TMN, Portugal Telecel, Portugal Telenor Mobil, Norway (2 CMG SMSCs) Telia Telecom, Sweden (2 CMG SMSCs)
Mobile network operators with the CMG VASP include:
Country Network Operator VASP modules Belgium Mobistar Internet Gateway and IVR France SFR Information Services Germany Mannesmann D2 Cell Broadcast Centre Germany T-Mobil D1 Cell Broadcast Centre Italy Telecom Italia Mobile Information Services Netherlands KPN Telecom Internet Gateway and Smart Messaging Gateway Portugal Telecel IVR Sweden Telia Information Services and IVR Switzerland Swisscom Information Services USA Omnipoint Internet Gateway
Advantages:
· The CMG SMS Center has good outbound connectivity with support for multiple standards: GSM, CDMA, NMT and D-AMPS. Some mobile network operators such as Centertel in Poland selected the CMG SMS Center on the basis that it was the only one known to support both GSM and NMT.
· Claimed throughput of 500 short messages per second on a single SMS Center. However, CMG themselves admit that whilst their SMS Center can handle this capacity, mobile networks are unlikely to have sufficient SS7 signaling capacity.
· Interworking Gateways: Fax, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), voice mail, X.400, ERMES paging.
· Good inbound communications connectivity. Supports: leased line, PSTN, ISDN, X.25, TCP/IP, Universal Computer Protocol (UCP): this is the CMG SMS Center proprietary interface, Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP), TAP, POCSAG analog paging (UCP converters for the POCSAG protocol have been developed, but not by CMG).
· Ericsson endorsed the CMG SMS Center by selecting it to be offered to its mobile network customers. Mobile network operators such as One2One in the UK, Powertel in the US, Entel in Chile, Mascom Cellular in Botswana and Mutiara in Malaysia were supplied their CMG SMS Centers indirectly via Ericsson.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 75 · The CMG VASP works independently of the CMG SMS Center and SMPP support is scheduled for the VASP in 1998. The VASP will therefore be able to be deployed alongside SMS Centers such as Logica Aldiscon for email notification services, cell broadcast and so on.
· CMG is committed to keeping its platforms, in particular the VASP, future-proof. For example, they have partnered with both Nokia and Unwired Planet to develop Wireless Application Protocol ready services for the CMG VASP which already supports Nokia Smart Messaging. The VASP supports GSM Data, facilitating, for example, the retrieval of full email messages from the VASP Internet Gateway module. The VASP also supports an Internet interface for service configuration by the end user or mobile network staff.
· The CMG VASP has been designed with software modules that interwork through a common software information bus on a single hardware platform- for example, as we have seen, the “FLEXI-message” and “Smart email” services comprise combinations of several VASP modules.
Disadvantages:
· The CMG SMS Center is widely deployed in Europe, but not in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and other mobile markets. CMG did open a local sales office in Singapore in mid-1998. It is the only major SMS Center NOT to support UCS2.
· Whilst the CMG SMS Center incorporates gateways such as SMS to Fax, this means that mobile network operators may have to take CMG’s particular implementation of such services because they are integrated into the platform. This reduces the mobile network operator’s flexibility to deploy services that are specifically developed for its customers- without going back to CMG. SMS Center engineers are not necessarily experts in what end users want from value- added services.
· The basic price of the CMG SMS Center is high relative to that of entry-level platforms. Not only that, but the pricing structure can require a significant ongoing expenditure. Most of the features of the CMG SMS Center are charged for as optional extras. For example, if a network operator wanted to offer password- controlled fixed access to the CMG SMS Center, then features such as enquire and delete and port control have to be purchased separately. Network operators could find themselves in a position where they have a fully featured SMS Center that is too expensive to deploy services on because of the number of options required to use features.
· The CMG VASP is relatively expensive compared with the price of platforms with similar functionality supplied by independent SMS software suppliers.
· VASP modules such as Information Services are mechanisms for providing information services- but they do not include the content itself and do not therefore provide a complete turnkey capability.
Page 76 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · CMG is a procedurized company. They have set internal procedures to follow, such as the requirement for all calls to go via the CMG Help Desk. These procedures are sometimes more convenient to CMG than the customer. For example, calling the CMG Help Desk outside of European hours is likely to lead to little response unless the problem is described as urgent, in which case CMG will escalate the call to their engineers in the US.
In the case that a network operator outsources service development to an SMS software developer, CMG are highly reluctant to deal with that company- because their support contract and relationship is with the network operator. Once support has been secured, CMG employees can be reluctant to provide anything other than basic support.
LOGICA ALDISCON http://www.aldiscon.com
Address: 5 Custom House Plaza Harbourmaster Place Dublin 1 Ireland
Contacts: John Doyle, SMPP Product Manager Fergus Murphy, Telepath Product Manager Joe Cunningham, Technical Director Email: [email protected], [email protected] Tel: +353 1 819 3400 Fax: +353 1 819 3401
Locations: Ireland, Germany, UK, Australia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong, USA: Lexington MA, Atlanta GA, Dallas TX, Dublin OH and Seattle WA.
Products and services:
Aldiscon was acquired by Logica, an IT consultancy, in mid-1997 and changed its name to Logica Aldiscon.
Its products include:
· The Telepath SMS Center.
· A value-added service platform which connects to the Telepath SMS Center. Services include (filtered) email notification services, SMS to Fax, email to SMS, SMS to email, SMS from an Internet page, pull-based information services with information requested by keyword and Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
· Telecast, Logica Aldiscon’s Cell Broadcast Center.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 77 Logica Aldiscon resells electronic voice (Interactive Voice Response (IVR)) systems made by Computer Communications Specialists Inc. (CCS), such as the Touch Tone 2000, which Logica Aldiscon helped to design. Several such systems linking the Telepath SMS Center to the CCS Interactive Voice Response platform have been deployed commercially by Logica Aldiscon.
Customers:
Logica Aldiscon claims over 300 installations of its Telepath SMS Center globally. Mobile network operators with Telepath SMS Centers include:
MTN, South Africa Westel 900, Hungary HPT CRONET, Croatia Ritabell, Estonia Cellnet, UK Orange, UK ESAT Digifone, Ireland Eircell, Ireland T-Mobil D1, Germany E-Plus Mobilfunk, Germany Telecell, Malta STA, Andorra Mobilkom, Austria Maxmobil, Austria Sonofon, Denmark Finnet, Finland PTT Luxembourg Comviq, Sweden BPL, India Sterling, India Aircell Digilink, India FTML, Lebanon Libancell, Lebanon Mobile Telecommunications Company, Kuwait Movicomm, Argentina Clearnet, Canada/ON Microcell Connexions, Canada/QE Southern Companies, USA/AL Iridium, USA/AZ Nextel, multiple platforms throughout the USA GTE Wireless, (D-AMPS), USA/GA, BellSouth Cellular, USA/GA, BellSouth Mobility, USA/GA, Ameritech, USA/IL Bell Atlantic Mobile, USA/NJ AirTouch, USA/UT Southwestern Bell, USA/TX AT&T Mobile, USA/TX Optus, Australia
Page 78 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Telstra, Australia BellSouth, New Zealand DataStream Technology, Brunei Darussalem CTM, Macau Beijing Unicom, China Guangxi Unicom, China Guangdong, China HPTA Hebei, China Hong Kong Telecom CSL Hutchinson, Hong Kong Mandarin Communications (Sunday), Hong Kong Pacific Link, Hong Kong People’s Telecom, Hong Kong Excelcom, (GSM-XL), Indonesia Komselindo, Indonesia Satelindo, Indonesia Telkomsal, Indonesia CDP, Japan KDP, Japan Tokyo Digital Phone (J-Phone), Japan Korea Mobile Telecom, South Korea KTRC, South Korea LGT, South Korea SKTelecom, South Korea Celcom, Malaysia TMTouch, Malaysia TransAsia Telecommunications, Malaysia Islacom, Philippines Singapore Telecom Mobile, Singapore KG Telecom, Taiwan LDTA, Taiwan Suretone, Taiwan Tuntex, Taiwan TransAsia, Taiwan Advanced Info Service, Thailand Total Access Communications, Thailand Wireless Communications Service, Thailand VNTP, Vietnam
Customers with Telecast, Logica Aldiscon’s Cell Broadcast Center, include:
Celcom, Malaysia Libancell, Libya
Advantages:
· The Logica Aldiscon Telepath platform is deployed on every continent and is the most widely deployed SMS Center around the world. This means that the Telepath SMS Center has been interfaced with almost all the possible different
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 79 configurations of mobile network architecture, from voice mail suppliers to SS7 signaling vendors, HLRs and MSCs.
· The Logica Aldiscon interface protocol SMPP has become the defacto software interface for SMS applications. As such, a large number of different software applications have already been developed that work with the Telepath SMS Center.
· Infrastructure vendors such as Lucent Technologies and Siemens have endorsed the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center by selecting it to be offered to its customers- mobile network operators such as KG Telecom in Taiwan and NetCom in Norway received their Telepath SMS Centers indirectly.
· Telepath is the only SMS Center to support SMS services on Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) networks, a mobile standard that is popular in Japan.
· The Telepath SMS Center supports short messaging-like services on CDPD (Cellular Digital Packet Data) networks (this does not use the signaling path).
· Good inbound communications connectivity: Supports TAP, TNPP (Telocator Network Paging Protocol), a subset of Universal Computer Protocol (UCP) which is defined within the ERMES specification, TCP/IP, SMTP, X.25 and PSTN dial- up.
Disadvantages:
· Suboptimal reliability and scalability have meant that the same mobile network has found itself running and managing several Telepath SMS Centers. Network operators with high SMS volumes can have EIGHT or more Telepath SMS Centers. As such, some network carriers that used Logica Aldiscon for their first generation SMS Center have subsequently selected other SMS Centers. For example, Airtel, Spain migrated from Logica Aldiscon to Sema. T-Mobil in Germany migrated from Logica Aldiscon to CMG.
· Features such as alarming and monitoring to ensure the availability of the SMS Center and a graphical user interface to simplify programming and configuring the SMS Center are currently under-developed.
· Reliability difficulties
The main reason for the Telepath’s reliability problem is the fact that each short message that is successfully submitted is stored in a relational database until after it is successfully delivered. This approach offers advantages such as no loss of short message traffic even in the event of a system failure. However, it also requires processing resources to locate and retrieve stored short messages from the database for delivery. Regular database modifications can inconvenience mobile network operators.
Logica Aldiscon has been looking at introducing alternative storage mechanisms and database suppliers in System Release 2600 due in 1998. System Release 2600
Page 80 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham significantly enhances the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center. As well as alternative short message storage mechanisms to improve platform reliability, the new release includes full compliance with GSM Phase 2+ such as short message replace and query from mobile phones. Additionally, System Release 2600 includes an SMPP multiplexer to significantly increase the number of simultaneous connections to the Telepath SMS Center.
As an example of how these reliability problems affect a network operator running the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center, consider the following real life case study. Following a popular breaking news story, a network operator experienced all time record high levels of SMS traffic. The Telepath SMS Center was congested- all Mobile Originated messages were accepted by the SMS Center, but many were accepted without sending an acknowledgment back to the mobile phone. This resulted in a lot of redundant resent messages (not knowing that the short message had been received by the SMS Center, it was sent again, unnecessarily). Additionally, about a quarter of all Mobile Terminated short messages failed with “Error 36”- denoting System Failure. This in turn generated a retry schedule, which further contributed to the processing problems. This System Failure was not an error from the SS7 signaling link itself, but from the interface between the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center and the Mobile Application Part (MAP). Hence, problems were incurred handling both Mobile Originated and Mobile Terminated short messages.
NOKIA http://www.nokia.com
Address: Valimotie 1B 00380 Helsinki Finland
Contacts: Petri Dahlberg, Product Manager, SMS Center Hannu J. Jokinen, Senior Product Manager, SMS Center Anne Larilahti Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +358 9 51121 Fax: +358 9 5116 3038
Products and services:
· Nokia Artus SMS Center
· Nokia Artus Messaging Platform (Also see the “Smart Messaging” section above for analysis). The Nokia Artus Messaging Platform integrates GSM short messaging with the Internet, enabling any GSM phone with SMS capability to access information from the Internet or corporate intranets through a standard open interface. Services can be created from a Web-based form within minutes.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 81 Customers:
Nokia have 42 reference sites with 80 installations of their SMS Center globally. Mobile network operators with Nokia SMS Centers include:
Aerial Communications, USA Iowa Wireless, USA Mobilix, Denmark Europolitan, Sweden Telia, Finland Radiolinja, Finland Oulun Puhelin Oyj, Finland Turun Puhelin, Finland Omnitel Pronto Italia, Italy Proximus, The Netherlands Connect, Austria Cosmote, Greece DiAx, Switzerland Orange, Switzerland Omnitel, Lithuania Polkomtel (Plus), Poland Pannon, Hungary EuroTel, Czech Republic LMT, Latvia North West GSM, Russia BPL US West, India Evergrowth, India Fascel, India Skycell, India Tata Communications, India Digitel, Venezuela Globe Telecom, Philippines MobileOne, Singapore Time Wireless (formerly Sapura Digital), Malaysia. Total Access Communications, Thailand Beijing Telecommunications Administration, China Fujian PTA, China Henan PTA, China Ningxia PTA, China Shanxi PTA, China Zhejiang PTA, China Hongkong Telecom CSL, Hong Hong SAR New World PCS, Hong Kong SAR Smartone, Hong Kong SAR Reuters Europe Mobile network operators with the Nokia Artus Messaging Platform include: Mobilix, Denmark NetCom, Norway Time Wireless (formerly Sapura Digital), Malaysia.
Page 82 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Advantages:
· Nokia see their main advantage as being the only SMS Center provider that has in-house knowledge of all the elements of Short Message Service solutions from the mobile phones to the mobile network infrastructure to the SMS Center itself. This makes it easier for Nokia to introduce new SMS-based services such as Smart Messaging.
· Inbound communications connectivity encompasses TCP/IP, X.25 PAD and modem access.
· The Nokia Artus Messaging Platform provides an easy-to-use service creation environment, such that mobile network operators can quickly set up new services that take information from the Internet, prepare it as short messages and send it to the SMS Center.
· The Nokia Artus Messaging Platform works with the Nokia, Logica Aldiscon and CMG SMS Centers. For example, NetCom in Norway connected their Artus Messaging Platform to a Logica Aldiscon SMS Center.
· Nokia leads in operations and maintenance issues such as the availability of a Graphical User Interface, billing (hot billing is available for prepayment customers), alarms and monitoring.
Disadvantages:
· There are constraints on short message throughput compared with the likes of CMG and Sema. However, networked load sharing solutions are available using a single SMS Center that provides a capacity of up to several hundred short messages per second.
In mid-1998, Nokia introduced three solutions for handling increasing SMS traffic using not only the SMS Center, but other network elements such as the MSC too. The three solutions are:
The Basic Nokia SMS solution. In the initial SMS configuration, SMS signaling and interfaces to other switches and registers are located in the Nokia DX200 Mobile Switching Center (MSC) for optimal speed and reliability. The Nokia Artus SMS Center itself is connected to the MSC by the X.25 protocol.
The Enhanced Nokia SMS solution. The latest Nokia DX200 MSC software release enables a growth path from initial configuration to a large SMS Center network. The intelligent routing functionality in the MSC makes it possible to have an application connected to only one SMS Center while still providing access to all subscribers regardless of their SMS Center address. The load sharing functionality in the MSC enables the operator to connect several Nokia Artus SMS Centers to one or more DX200 MSCs. This allows for very high capacity while still distributing only one SMS Center address to the subscribers.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 83 The Nokia MAP SMS solution. The Nokia MAP SMS Center solution provides a gateway and interworking MSC (SMS-GWMSC and SMS-IWMSC) functionality for short messages, and the ETSI Mobile Application Part (MAP) interface. The MAP interface uses general ITU-T Signaling System #7 (SS7) protocols enabling the connection of the SMS Center directly to any common ITU-T based SS7 network. SS7 provides high reliability by using multiple signaling links and routes between network elements (such as MSCs, HLRs, etc.). SS7 automatically re- routes traffic if a failure occurs in a link or route. The Nokia SMS Center with the MAP interface can be connected directly to several network elements (such as MSCs, HLRs, etc.) in even a non-Nokia MSC environment. Multiple signaling links also provide increased signaling capacity since the signaling traffic load can be shared by all available signaling links without user or application interaction. For given operator network destinations, the MAP phase can be set to either phase 1 or 2. This feature enables the operator to avoid unnecessary fallbacks, therefore generating extra signaling traffic and optimizing network usage.
· The Nokia SMS Center only works with GSM.
· A very significant increase in the functionality and performance of the Nokia SMS Center is available when the platform is upgraded from the third generation of the Nokia SMS Center software (called SC3) to the fourth generation (called SC4). Enhancements include:
· SC3 requires application software to poll the SMS Center to pull down waiting short messages. SC4 automatically pushes short messages to the application.
· With SC3, 12 or 13 short messages per second can be sent between the SMS Center and the MSC. With SC4, this is increased to up to 20 short messages per second.
· SC4 is future-proof as it is designed to support the vast majority of the GSM SMS standards, including all Phase 2 features. It is also designed to support the emerging Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) specification.
· SC4 will allow short message routing according to variables such as the originating or Destination Address. The SMS Center determines how to route the short messages according to the Protocol Identifier or the Destination Address of the message. For example, users could originate a message sent to a short code such as “123”. All short messages received by the Nokia SMS Center addressed to that short code can then be routed to any other Destination Address.
SC4 began to be shipped commercially from the summer of 1998.
Page 84 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham SEMA http://www.sema.com/telecoms/
Address: Trafalgar House Richfield Avenue Reading Berkshire RG1 8QA UK
Contacts: Mo Wright, SMS2000 Product Management, UK Peter G. Sharp, Sales Director- Messaging, UK Martin O’Byrne, Vice President- Americas, Tel: +1 404 256 1447 Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 1189641600 Fax: +44 1189391714 Locations: UK, France, Spain, Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, USA, Canada
Products and services:
Sema Group Telecoms, the telecoms strategic business unit of Sema Group plc, has served the international market for over 15 years. The unit provides modular and customized systems and services for billing, customer care, pre-paid, messaging and provisioning of enhanced services. Products include AuC- the Authentication Centre, EIR- Equipment Identity Register, CABS2000- Customer Care and Billing System and PPAS- The PrePaid Administration System. Sema Group Telecoms modules are in service with more than 135 mobile network operators worldwide, serving over 30 million subscribers.
In the SMS area, Sema’s main products are:
· SMS2000 SMS Center
SMS2000 modules include:
· VAS Manager (Value Added Services Manager) for voice mail notification
· An Internet email gateway
· Over-The-Air Activation Teleservice (OATS)
· USSD2000 module for supporting Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) driven value-added services (See the case study in “Advantages” section below)
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 85 Customers:
Over 30 mobile network operators throughout the world use Sema SMS Centers. They include:
Vodafone, UK Libertel, Netherlands Bouygues Telecom, France Cegetel (SFR), France Panafon, Greece Airtel, Spain Era GSM, Poland MobiFon, Romania VimpelCom (Bee Line 1800), Russia/ Central and Central Chernozem Regions KB Impuls (Bell Line 1800), Russia/ Moscow and Moscow Oblast Kyivstar, Ukraine Sotelgui, Guinea Republic Vodacom, South Africa Mozambique Cellular, Mozambique Societe Ivoirienne de Mobiles, (SIM), Cote d’Ivorie New Caledonia, OPT (Mobilis) Bell Mobility (PCS PLUS), Canada/ Ontario BC TEL, Canada/ British Columbia Telus Mobility, Canada/ Alberta Mobile Tri-States LP 130 (DigiPH PCS), USA AT&T Wireless, US Vanguard Cellular, US AirTouch, US/Great Lakes Western Wireless (VoiceStream Wireless), US APC/ Sprint (Sprint Spectrum), US Pacific Bell Mobile Services (Mobile PCS), US TM International (AKTel), Bangledesh Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone), India/ Bihar Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone), India/ Orissa Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone), India/ Uttar-Pradesh East Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone), India/ Uttar-Pradesh West Telecom Egypt, (Formerly Arento), Egypt ECMS (MobiNil), Egypt Binariang Communications (Maxis), Malaysia PT Satelindo, Indonesia SmarTone Mobile Communications, Hong Kong FarEasTone Telecommunications, Taiwan Vodafone, Australia Vodafone, Fiji Guangzhou PTA, China/ Guangdong Jiujiang PTA, China/ Jiangxi Jilin City PTA, China/ Jilin
Page 86 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Customer using SMS2000 modules include:
Country Network Operator Module France France Telecom Mobiles VAS Manager Hong Kong SmarTone USSD2000 USA AT&T Wireless OATS USA Western Wireless VAS Manager
Advantages:
· The Sema SMS2000 SMS Center was designed from the start as a dedicated SMS engine- with SMS-based services developed and driven from outside of the SMS Center. This maximizes the mobile network operator’s ability to develop specific unique services. It also increases the reliability of the SMS Center by keeping the focus on processing and delivering short messages that have been pre-packaged and prepared by Short Message Entities outside of the SMS Center.
· The Sema SMS2000 SMS Center has been in commercial operation with Vodafone in the UK since 1992, and is deployed globally on every continent.
· The Sema SMS2000 SMS Center works on both the GSM and IS-41 standards and is used by mobile network operators on both TDMA and CDMA networks in North America. Sema has an alliance with NorTel for IS-41 markets. For example, Sema and NorTel teamed up to supply AirTouch in the Great Lakes region of the US. Sema also have alliances with Ericsson and Alcatel. Ericsson have certified the SMS2000 as successfully interfacing to their network infrastructure.
· The Sema SMS2000 SMS Center has good outbound connectivity providing single platform access to multiple mobile networks. For example, Bell Mobility Canada uses the same SMS2000 SMS Center to provide messaging services to customers on its CDMA/ PCS, paging and analog networks.
· Inbound communications connectivity encompasses TCP/IP, X.25, TAP, TNPP, Fax Gateway, SMPP, SMTP and OIS. Additionally, a GPI module facilitates authorized access for external applications. As such, Sema’s SMS2000 platform supports both its own Open Interface Specification (OIS) and SMPP protocol conversion over either TCP/IP or X.25.
· Sema claim to have achieved a throughput level of 270 short messages per second when the Sema SMS2000 SMS Center is run on Digital AlphaServer hardware.
· The Sema SMS2000 SMS Center is designed to be future-proof. By the end of 1998, it will have a fix for the year 2000 software problem and be compliant with all GSM Phase 2 and Phase 2+ services such as SIM Application Toolkit. The Sema SMS Center will be able to distinguish between normal short messages and those that need to be routed to the SimCard to be treated as executable programs. Sema has teamed up with Unwired Planet to develop Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) ready services for Sema’s product range.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 87 · The Sema SMS2000 has a unique module called USSD2000 which as its name suggests supports the Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) service. Like SMS, USSD uses the mobile network’s signaling path. For example, SmarTone in Hong Kong use the Sema SMS2000/ USSD2000 platform for their “SmartInfo” service. Users enter a specific USSD code to request information, which they receive back in the form of a short message. Information that SmartInfo users can request includes finance, travel and subscriber account details. Upon receiving a request for information by USSD, the USSD2000 platform retrieves the information from an Information On Demand server and sends it to the SMS2000 SMS Center for delivery as a short message. Using Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) to trigger the service has the advantage that it is quick and easy to use because users do not need to access any particular phone menu- they can enter the USSD command direct from the initial mobile phone screen. USSD-based services work well in any language. Because Unstructured Supplementary Services Data (USSD) commands are routed back to the home mobile network’s HLR, the services work just as well when users are roaming. The service works on all existing phones. The SmartInfo service is based on either a push or pull basis.
ADC NEWNET http://www.NewNet.com/products/SMserver.html
Address: 2 Enterprise Drive Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Contacts: Mr. Dilip Singh, President Mr. Eric Giessler, Vice President Sales Mr. Kerem Irten, Product Line Director, Wireless Messaging Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 203 925 6121 Fax: +1 203 926 2664 Locations: Malaysia, Switzerland, US
Products and services:
Established in 1987, NewNet developed SS7 technology on open system platforms such as UNIX. NewNet was acquired in October 1997 by ADC Telecommunications Inc, and became a subsidiary of its ADC Wireless Systems Group, under the name ADC NewNet.
· ADC NewNet’s SMS Center is called the SMserver.
· Various optional clients are available such as voice mail and email notifications, Batch Message Client for broadcasting short messages to distribution lists and the Orga Over-The-Air SimCard platform.
Page 88 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Customers:
Mobile network operators using the ADC NewNet SMserver include:
Telsim, Turkey Telefónica Móviles, Spain Clearnet, Canada US Unwired, USA Hansol PCS, South Korea Korea Telecom Freetel, South Korea Shinsegi Telecom, South Korea 4 mobile network operators in China 2 mobile network operators in India
Advantages:
· ADC NewNet have the least expensive entry-level SMS Center available, with flexible pricing for small and large network operators. The hardware for the SMserver is widely available Sun, IBM and Motorola equipment which is less expensive to purchase (and quicker to source) than the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Servers that the Logica Aldiscon and Nokia platforms run on.
· In September 1998, ADC NewNet announced partnerships with Motorola for both iDEN and GSM markets.
· The ADC NewNet SMserver is scalable to 2,000,000 subscribers and 750,000 short message delivery attempts per hour.
· The ADC NewNet SMserver works with multiple mobile network standards such as CDMA (IS-637), TDMA (IS-136) and GSM.
· ADC NewNet have alliances with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd, Alcatel and Glenayre for licensing and distribution of SMserver. They also have a “remarketing” agreement with IBM to package SMserver with the RS/6000 server.
· The ADC NewNet SMserver is based on wireless Intelligent Network technology. It is capable of using the existing Home Location Register (HLR) database to validate short messages, and thus, in simple installations, eliminates the necessity and overhead of maintaining a local subscriber database.
· SMserver leverages ADC NewNet’s core competence in SS7- its SS7 and telecom application development products have been deployed in over 30 countries. Control over and expertise in the SS7 stack and mobile access components allows swift implementation.
· The ADC NewNet SMserver supports SMPP, the Logica Aldiscon interface, as well as SMCI, Short Message Center Interface, the ADC NewNet proprietary external interface.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 89 · Mobile network operators have the choice between developing or sourcing SMS- based services around the SMserver or using ADC NewNet’s existing modules.
Disadvantages:
· ADC NewNet’s SMCI external interface is NOT registered as an appendix to GSM 03:39, unlike that of suppliers such as Sema, Logica Aldiscon, Nokia and CMG.
· ADC NewNet have fewer deployments deployed for a shorter time than those SMS Centers of other suppliers profiled.
Page 90 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham ERICSSON http://www.ericsson.se/US/messaging/
Contacts: Kristina Forsman, Marketing Communications, Sweden Solomon Israel, Manager, South America, Dallas Email: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +46 8 757 1447, +1 972 583 0166 Fax: +46 8 757 5536, +1 972 583 1853 Locations: Sweden, Dallas TX, USA
Products and services:
In addition to recommending and supplying the CMG SMS Center, the Ericsson Messaging Systems division (EMX) also has its own SMS Center, the MXE, a “new generation messaging applications platform” that can be configured to run different applications. The MXE currently supports two applications- SMS and Voice Mail. Mobile network operators can choose to run either or both applications on their MXE platform.
Customers:
Network operators who have Ericsson MXE platforms include the following. Please note that under “SERVICES”, VMS denotes VoiceMail System and SMS denotes Short Message Service.
COUNTRY NETWORK OPERATOR SERVICES NETWORK TYPE Algeria Algerian PTT VMS GSM Argentina Telefonica Communications VMS,SMS D-AMPS Personales SA (TCP, UNIFON) Australia Vodafone Ltd VMS GSM Bangladesh Sheba Telecom VMS GSM Bosnia Public Enterprise PTT Bosnia- VMS, SMS GSM Herzegovina Brazil CRT - Porto Alegre SMS D-AMPS Brazil ATL Algar VMS, SMS, FAX D-AMPS China Guangdong Mobile VMS WAP Communication Corporation (GMCC) China Lianoning Province Mobile VMS, SMS GSM Communication Ltd. (Shenyang) China Shandong (Jinan) VMS, SMS GSM China Jiangsu (Wuxi & Suzhou) VMS, SMS GSM China Guangdong Mobile VMS, SMS GSM Communications Corporation (GMCC) China Harbin PTA (Heilongjiang) VMS, SMS GSM
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 91 China PTT Hebei VMS, SMS GSM China Tong liao PTB VMS, SMS GSM Colombia Empressa Municipal de Telefonos VMS Fixed de Barranquilla El Salvador Telemovil SMS D-AMPS Ethiopia Ethiopian Telecommunication VMS Fixed Organization Fiji Vodafone FIJI Ltd. VMS GSM Ghana Scancom VMS, SMS GSM Hong Kong Hong Kong Telecom (Pacific VMS, SMS D-AMPS Link Communications Ltd.) India Bharti Cellular Ltd. GSM India RPG Cellular Services Ltd. VMS, SMS GSM India Cellular Communications India VMS, SMS GSM Ltd. (CCIL) India Reliance Telecom VMS,SMS GSM Jamaica Cable & Wireless SMS D-AMPS Japan Digital Tu-ka Co. (DTD) VMS PDC Japan Digital Tu-ka Co. Ltd. (DTH) VMS PDC Japan Digital Tu-ka Kyushu, Co. Ltd. VMS PDC (DTQ) Lebanon FTML (France Telecom Mobile VMS, SMS, FAX GSM Int’l.) Macedonia PTT Macedonia VMS, SMS GSM Malaysia Mutiara Telecommunications Sdn VMS, SMS PCN Bhd. Mexico Telcel SMS D-AMPS The Libertel VMS, FAX GSM Netherlands New Zealand Telecom Mobile Communications SMS D-AMPS Ltd. Russia Krasnodar VMS GSM Russia TAIF VMS,SMS GSM Russia Umdurtia Digital (in Izeuvesk) VMS, SMS GSM Serbia Mobile Telecommunications, VMS, SMS GSM Serbia Slovenia Mobitel DD VMS NMT Spain Telefonica VMS GSM UK Vodafone VMS GSM USA Hawaiian Wireless VMS, SMS D- AMPS/SMR USA Pacific Bell Mobile Services SMS PCS/GSM (PBMS) USA PRTC (Puerto Rico) SMS D-AMPS USA Airadigm Communications SMS GSM USA MacTel SMS D-AMPS Uzbekistan Dae Woo of Korea VMS, SMS GSM Venezuela Movilnet SMS D-AMPS
Page 92 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Advantages:
· As with ADC NewNet, the hardware for the MXE is widely available Sun equipment which is less expensive to purchase (and quicker to source) than the Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Servers that the Logica Aldiscon (and Nokia) platform runs on.
· The MXE works on various different mobile network standards such as GSM and D-AMPS, as well as fixed networks. Deployed widely throughout the world.
· The MXE’s integrated applications design means that it is well placed to provide multiple services from the same platform as computing power increases.
Disadvantages:
· The MXE fits all Ericsson network infrastructure solutions- but only Ericsson solutions. For example, the connection between the MXE SMS Center and the MSC is Ericsson MAP (E-MAP), rather than GSM MAP.
· Early adopters of the MXE such as Vodafone in the UK found that the capacity for voice mail boxes was lower in practice than the theoretical totals indicated by Ericsson.
· Some mobile network operators such as Era GSM in Poland that used the MXE as their first generation SMS Center have migrated away from the MXE, following reliability and scalability difficulties.
· Ericsson’s preference for deploying the CMG SMS Center rather than its own MXE is hardly a glowing endorsement of its confidence in its own platform.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 93 MOTOROLA http://www.cig.mot.com/IN
Address: 1501 West Shure Drive M/S 2B4 Arlington Heights IL 60004 USA
Contacts: David Bettini, Market Planning Manager, Network Products, CIG Email: [email protected] Tel: +1 847 632 7234 Fax: +1 847 632 3149 Locations: USA and globally.
Products and services:
The Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group’s (CIG) SMS Center is called the Message Register. The CIG also offers an Advanced Messaging Gateway- a value- added services platform that connects to the Message Register to allow short messages to be generated from an Internet page, email, information services (with Internet self-provisioning), email forwarding and filtering from the Internet, Text-to- Speech conversion for expired messages and email, and other value-added services.
Customers:
Motorola have over 40 Message Register platforms deployed today in CDMA and analog networks. An approximate breakdown of installations by region is:
3 in Asia 3 in Latin America 1 in the Middle East 3 in Africa Over 20 in North America Over 6 in South America
Message Register customers include:
GTE/Bell Atlantic Mobile, Phoenix, AZ GTE/Bell Atlantic Mobile, El Paso, TX GTE/Bell Atlantic Mobile, Charlotte, North Carolina Alltel/360, Las Vegas, Nevada Alltel/360, Lynchburg, VA Alltel/360, Little Rock, Arkansas CFW, Waynesboro, VA GTE PCS, Seattle, WA AirTouch Communications, Los Angeles AirTouch Communications, Seattle AirTouch Communications, Phoenix AirTouch Communications, Denver
Page 94 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham AirTouch Communications, Minneapolis AirTouch Communications, Atlanta AirTouch Communications, Sacramento Poka Lambro, Lubbock, Texas Aliant Cellular
Red Nacional Amcel, Mexico A network operator in the Dominican Republic Comcel, Guatemala CRM, Argentina TelCel, Venezuela TelCom, Chile Telefonica del Peru Lima, Peru (South) Telefonica del Peru Lima, Peru (North) A network operator in Caracas, Venezuela Ceterp, Brazil Telesp, Brazil TelCel, Zaire Pele-Phone Communications, Israel Hutchison, Hong Kong MobileOne, Singapore PilTel, Philippines
Advantages:
· If short messages are about to expire, they can automatically be escalated to pagers or the subscriber’s voice mail box. Text-to-speech conversion is used for sending the expired short messages to voice mail. Complete emails can be routed through the Text-to-Speech conversion and deposited into a subscriber’s voicemail box.
· Scaleable from 5,000 to 3.6 million customers.
· Deployed globally on every continent bar Europe.
· IS-41 Rev. C Compliant and integrated into multiple vendor networks. Supports IS-95 CDMA and IS-95 analog systems, in addition to AMPS/NAMPS systems. Fully complies with IS-637 standard. Motorola's Message Register and Advanced Messaging Gateway have been integrated in IS-41 Rev. C networks from multiple vendors including Lucent, Siemens, and Alcatel. Motorola’s Advanced Messaging Gateway platform was deployed in the Iridium network for Internet and email message input.
· Based on Tandem hardware platform and offers fully redundant, highly fault tolerant hardware and software.
· Information services and email forwarding and filtering capability that can be self- provisioned from the Internet.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 95 · Message senders can receive an email acknowledgement that their messages were successfully delivered. In addition, message senders can query the network via the Internet for the delivery status of messages.
· Motorola now offers an integrated SMS Center and Over-the-Air Activation system on the same platform.
· Inbound communications connectivity encompasses TCP/IP, SMTP/ email, WWW, TAP, Octel Voice Mail, TNPP, IVR, SMPP, CDMP, WMtp, TDP, T1/E1 and X.25.
· Motorola's Cellular Digital Messaging Protocol (CDMP) is available to any vendor who wishes to develop the interface to the Message Register. To date, dozens of vendors have developed the CDMP interface.
Disadvantages:
· Works with NAMPS and CDMA, but not GSM. The Motorola Message Register was specifically designed for CDMA and it complies with the IS-637 standard for CDMA SMS and works with all IS-95 approved CDMA mobile phones. The Motorola Message Register also supports SMS on Narrowband AMPS (NAMPS) systems. Motorola partnered with ADC NewNet in September 1998 to deploy ADC’s SMserver for Motorola’s GSM customers.
· Maximum throughput of 50 messages per second- this is low relative to other SMS Center offerings.
· The Motorola CIG Base Transceiver Station (BTS) does not support IS-95 analog messaging. However, Motorola plan to offer system wide IS-95 analog SMS starting in late 1999.
OTHER SMS CENTER SUPPLIERS
Other SMS Center vendors with fewer installations around the world include:
UNISYS: Has at least one commercial SMS Center installation, at Globtel, Slovakia. (http://www.unisys.com).
COMVERSE: Have an SMS Center called the Intelligent SMS Center that includes enhanced voice mail notification. Supports SMPP, the Logica Aldiscon protocol. (http://www.conversens.com).
GLENAYRE: Does not manufacture their own SMS Center. Instead, they have an agreement with ADC NewNet to resell a variation on the ADC NewNet SMS Center optimized for voice mail notifications. (http://www.glenayre.com).
CENTIGRAM: Supplied an SMS Center to the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications in China. (http://www.centigram.com).
Page 96 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham ALCATEL/ DSC COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION: Have a SMS Center called the Infusion SMS Center. Alcatel completed its acquisition of DSCCC in September 1998. (http://www.dsccc.com or http://www.alcatel.com).
Comparison of SMS Centers by Selection Criteria
CON COST DEPL FLEX FUT GLOB RELIA HARD Sema Med Med High High High High High High CMG High Low High Med High Low High High Nokia High Med Med High High Med Med Low NewNet High High Low High Med Med High High Aldiscon High Med High Med High High Low Low Ericsson Med Med Med Med Med Med Low High
Note: A rating of “High” denotes a better ranking than “Medium” and so on.
CONNECTIVITY: (CON). Denotes SMS Center connectivity. All the SMS Center vendors support TCP/IP access. Ericsson connectivity is limited to networks with Ericsson mobile infrastructure.
COST: (COST). Denotes the cost of deploying the platform. ADC NewNet is the least expensive SMS Center. A network operator receiving quotations for a comparable volume and capacity found that CMG was the most expensive, followed by Sema, Logica Aldiscon and Nokia, who were priced comparably. CMG was around 50% more expensive in that case. The support cost was comparable among all the SMS Center vendors. However, the SMS Center suppliers are all skilled in understanding a network operator’s business and pricing accordingly- all gain ongoing revenues through upgrades as message volumes increase.
DEPLOYMENT: (DEPL). Denotes the extent to which SMS Center has been widely deployed and the size of the customer base using that SMS Center. Logica Aldiscon has the highest level of SMS Center deployments globally, with Nokia, Ericsson, Sema and CMG all having about 30 to 40 platform installations in total. ADC NewNet, a relatively recent entrant into the SMS Center market, has deployed about a dozen SMS Centers. CMG supplies many large European network operators with high SMS traffic volumes.
FLEXIBILITY: (FLEX). Denotes the flexibility and scalability of the SMS Center. By taking an interface rather than an integrated approach to their SMS Centers, both Sema and ADC NewNet score highly for flexibility in deploying new SMS-based services. Both companies also score highly for the ability to rapidly scale their SMS Centers to handle higher volumes of short messages.
FUTURE-PROOF: (FUT). Denotes the extent to which the SMS Center is future- proof, and therefore incorporates or is designed to incorporate new mobile data protocols, services and standards. Nokia, CMG and Sema have all taken a proactive stance towards future SMS-based standards such as the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). As a founder member of WAP, Nokia is particularly committed to developing
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 97 future-proof products and services. Ericsson was also a founding partner in WAP, but has not publicly announced support for this protocol by its MXE SMS Center. Logica Aldiscon has announced support for GSM Phase 2+ features and joined the WAP Forum. ADC NewNet has not joined the WAP Forum or made its position on supporting future standards clear, although it has already partnered with the likes of Orga to offer Over-The-Air SIM Application Toolkit applications.
GLOBAL: (GLOB). Denotes the extent to which the deployments of the SMS Center are dispersed globally. Logica Aldiscon has deployed its SMS Center globally on every continent- its Telepath platform also pioneered the implementation of SMS in markets such as Japan. CMG has been very successful in implementing SMS Centers for mobile network operators running analog NMT networks- in particular in Eastern Europe. But CMG has few deployments outside of continental and Eastern Europe, and those few it currently has were supplied through Ericsson. The Sema SMS Center has been widely deployed on every continent. ADC NewNet have some installations in major markets such as India and China, Europe and the US. Ericsson MXE customers are globally dispersed- but do tend to be concentrated in North and South America.
RELIABILITY: (RELIA). Denotes the reliability of the SMS Center. ADC NewNet, Sema and CMG have highly reliable SMS Centers which once deployed, are able to reliably handle significant volumes of short messages. Nokia’s SMS Center has adequate levels of reliability for standard short messaging purposes. The SC4 upgrade to the Nokia SMS Center should significantly enhance its reliability. Logica Aldiscon and Ericsson customers have complained about inconsistencies in the reliability of their SMS Centers- Logica Aldiscon’s System Release 2600 should assist in improving its reliability.
HARDWARE: (HARD). Both Sema and CMG use the high speed Digital Alpha Server, both Ericsson and ADC NewNet use Sun Sparc stations and both Nokia and Logica Aldiscon have built their SMS Center on a Hewlett-Packard 9000 server. The Sun approach has the advantage of being industry-standard hardware that is readily available at a low entry price. In mid-1988, Hewlett-Packard launched its “Service Guard” concept that improves platform availability and will be adopted by both Nokia and Logica Aldiscon.
Comparison of SMS Centers by Specific Features
X.25 TCP/IP UCS2 03:39 SMPP DEL DIST CONF LISTS Aldiscon Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes CMG Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes NewNet Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Nokia Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Sema Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Note: An entry of “Yes” denotes support for this feature, “No” indicates that the feature is not currently supported by the SMS Center.
Page 98 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham X.25: Denotes support of X.25 as a mechanism for accessing the SMS Center by external short message entities such as host SMS application software. All of the listed SMS Centers support X.25 connectivity.
TCP/IP: Denotes support of TCP/IP, the standard Internet communications protocol, as a mechanism for accessing the SMS Center by external short message entities such as host SMS application software. All of the listed SMS Centers support TCP/IP connectivity to the SMS Center except Sema.
UCS2: Denotes whether the SMS Center supports UCS2, i.e. non-Latin alphabets for GSM such as Chinese and Arabic. Because of its concentration of the SMS Center deployments in Europe, the CMG SMS Center does NOT support currently UCS2. The other SMS Center suppliers have widely dispersed global installations, and Nokia, Sema, Logica Aldiscon and ADC NewNet all do support UCS2.
GSM 03.39: Denotes whether the external interface to the SMS Center is officially incorporated as an appendix to GSM 03.39. The longer established SMS Center suppliers- Sema, CMG, Logica Aldiscon and Nokia have all registered their external interfaces with ETSI. The ADC NewNet SMS Center is NOT currently registered with ETSI, although it supports SMPP, which is.
SMPP: Denotes support of Short Message Peer to Peer Protocol (SMPP), the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center protocol widely implemented by SMS software suppliers and SMS Center suppliers. As well as Logica Aldiscon, CMG and ADC NewNet support SMPP. Nokia and Sema do not support SMPP.
CONFIRMATION OF MESSAGE DELIVERY: (DEL CONF). Denotes support of confirmation of delivery by the SMS Center. All of the listed SMS Centers support confirmation of message delivery. However, Logica Aldiscon have only implemented an interim version which returns part of the short message to the Originating Address to indicate delivery confirmation. Logica Aldiscon System Release 2600 will support full delivery confirmation.
DISTRIBUTION LISTS: (DIST LISTS). Denotes support by the SMS Centers of distribution lists- the ability to submit a short message once to the SMS Center and then have that short message broadcast to all of the listed destination Short Message Entities. All of the listed SMS Center providers support distribution lists.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 99 SMS Center Market Shares
The leading SMS Center vendors globally are Logica Aldiscon, Sema, Nokia and CMG. Logica Aldiscon’s market share has fallen quite sharply over time, as new entrants have entered the SMS Center market and network operators in North America and Europe in particular have migrated away from using Logica Aldiscon as the supplier of their second generation SMS Center.
These figures:
· state the number of network operators who use that SMS Center supplier as their primary supplier. As such, they do not account for number of subscribers using the SMS Centers- by this measurement, for example, CMG would easily have the highest share in the European Union, as its SMS Centers are installed at many of the largest GSM network operators in Europe.
EUROPEAN UNION
SMS Center Supplier Number of network Market Share operators CMG 16 37.2% Logica Aldiscon 12 27.9% Nokia 10 23.3% Sema 5 11.6% TOTAL 43 100%
As we can see, CMG is the market leading supplier of SMS Centers to mobile network operators in the European Union, with Logica Aldiscon and Nokia not that far behind. Nokia has increased its market share in Europe recently by adding new GSM 1800 operarors as its customers. In terms of market share growth, Logica Aldiscon has been falling over time, with CMG increasing its market share.
NORTH AMERICA
SMS Center Supplier Number of network Market Share operators Motorola 19 36.5% Logica Aldiscon 12 23% Sema 10 19.2% Ericsson MXE 4 7.7% CMG 3 5.8% ADC NewNet 2 3.9% Nokia 2 3.9% TOTAL 52 100%
As we can see, Motorola, Logica Aldiscon and Sema are well represented in the North American market.
Page 100 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham ASIA
SMS Center Supplier Number of network Market Share operators Logica Aldiscon 28 33.3% Unknown 15 17.9% Nokia 13 15.5% Sema 10 11.9% Ericsson MXE 8 9.5% ADC NewNet 7 8.3% Other (Centigram, 2 2.4% Motorola) CMG 1 1.2% TOTAL 84 100%
The table shows that Logica Aldiscon is far and away the leading supplier of SMS Centers in Asia. CMG, the European market leader, is scarcely even present in this region. ADC NewNet, Sema and Nokia all have a few installations in this region.
GLOBAL
SMS Center Supplier Number of network Market Share operators Logica Aldiscon 51 28.4% Sema 25 13.9% Nokia 25 13.9% CMG 20 11.1% Motorola 19 10.5% Unknown 17 9.4% Ericsson MXE 12 6.7% ADC NewNet 9 5% Other 2 1.1% Total 180 100%
These figures:
· Exclude Africa, South America, Middle East and India, where insufficient accurate data has so far been collected.
· Include European Union, Asia and North America.
It can be seen that Logica Aldiscon remains the leading supplier of SMS Centers globally.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 101 Overall Ranking of SMS Center Suppliers
As we have seen, currently, each SMS Center has advantages and its disadvantages. As such, the specific selection is highly dependent on the local market-specific factors including:
· which SMS Center suppliers have a local presence or already have installations locally
· the network standards the carrier is operating
· the existing and forecast short message volumes
· the availability of funds to purchase the equipment
· the popularity of communication networks such as TCP/IP and X.25 locally
However, the difference in performance and functionality between the SMS Centers is rapidly reducing as hardware performance improves and software releases (such as Nokia SC4 and Logica Aldiscon System Release 2600) are implemented commercially. Already, all the major SMS Centers support basic SMS functionality such as Mobile Originate, Mobile Terminate, connection to major voice mail systems, routing, barring, retry algorithms and so on.
This convergence between the SMS Centers means that in the future, it will not be as necessary to avoid choosing the same SMS Center supplier as competitors in national markets. As more network licenses are awarded in the same country, it is becoming more difficult to find an SMS Center not already in use in that local market. It will be much more common to see the sort of situation in Portugal, where the leading mobile network operators, Telecel and TMN, both use SMS Centers from CMG. In such an environment, applications and service content will eventually become the predominant critical success factor, rather than technology or service delivery mechanisms.
Comparison of Value-Added Service Modules from SMS Center Suppliers
NET EMAI SMA WAP OTA IVR FAX INFO CB CUST CMG Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes High
Aldis No Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Med (Pull) Sema No Yes No Yes Yes No No No No Med
Nokia No Yes Yes Yes No No No Yes No Med (Pull)
Page 102 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Note: An entry of “Yes” denotes support for this feature, “No” indicates that the feature is not currently supported.
Value-Added Service Modules add on to and connect to the SMS Center itself for the provision of extra value-added services that make use of the underlying Short Message Service capability.
The comparison criteria indicate:
INTERNET: (NET). Denotes support of access to the Internet by the platform for the purposes of Internet browsing. Only the CMG VASP supports this functionality.
EMAIL: (EMAI). Denotes support of Internet email services, such as email notifications by the platform. All of the platforms support Internet email services to varying degrees- see the SMS Center Supplier profiles for specific details.
SMART MESSAGING: (SMA). Denotes support of Nokia Smart Messaging by the platform. Naturally, Nokia supports its own Smart Messaging, as does CMG. Neither Sema nor Logica Aldiscon has incorporated support for Nokia Smart Messaging into their value-added services platforms.
WIRELESS APPLICATION PROTOCOL: (WAP). Denotes active intention and preliminary partnership formation and technical investigation of support of the Wireless Application Protocol by the platform vendor. Nokia was a founder member of the WAP Forum. Sema Group Telecoms quickly became a member of the WAP Forum. Both Sema and CMG signed agreements with Unwired Planet to develop WAP-ready services. Logica Aldiscon has joined the WAP Forum.
OVER-THE-AIR: (OTA). Denotes support within the platform for Over-The-Air services such as service activation, personalization and provisioning using the subscriber’s SimCard. Both CMG and Sema have Over-The-Air modules for their value-added services platforms. Neither Logica Aldiscon nor Nokia support OTA.
INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE: (IVR). Denotes support by the platform of Interactive Voice Response services, such that users can request services by electronic voice menu systems. Logica Aldiscon has a partnership to provide an IVR add-on to its SMS Center. CMG has developed an IVR module for its Value Added Services Platform. Neither Nokia nor Sema have an Interactive Voice Response module available for their platform.
FAX: (FAX). Denotes support by the platform of a SMS to Fax gateway service. CMG and Aldiscon have developed a SMS to Fax gateway, whilst Sema and Nokia have not.
INFORMATION SERVICES: (INFO). Denotes support by the platform of information services based on SMS. Sema does not have an information services capability of its own, although its USSD2000 module can be used to offer information services whereby end users request information using USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data, see the SmarTone Hong Kong case study above). Logica Aldiscon and Nokia both support pull-based information services- Nokia
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 103 through its Smart Messaging and Logica Aldiscon through its own keyword-driven solution. CMG has an Information Services module for its VASP.
CELL BROADCAST: (CB). Denotes support by the supplier of cell broadcast services. Logica Aldiscon has its “Telecast” Cell Broadcast platform and CMG has its own Cell Broadcast Center VASP module. Both were in the process of being commercially deployed by mobile network operators in the second half of 1998. Sema and Nokia do not have any known Cell Broadcast platforms or support. Ericsson is another supplier of Cell Broadcast platforms.
CUSTOMER DEPLOYMENTS: (CUST). Denotes an indication of the customer deployments of the value-added services platform. All of the platforms have been developed recently subsequent to the deployment of SMS Centers themselves. “Med” denotes a medium level of deployments of the value-added services platform, “High” denotes a large number of deployments. The various modules of the CMG VASP are each being used by a couple of mobile network operators. A few different network operators are using the Sema, Nokia and Logica Aldiscon value-added services modules.
It can be seen that the CMG VASP is the leading value-added services platform of those developed by the SMS Center providers themselves. However, the CMG VASP is relatively expensive. Mobile network operators should also consider getting the same level of functionality from SMS Software Suppliers (profiled in the next section), who have developed their own value-added services platforms that connect to the various different SMS Centers.
Whether the Value-Added Services Platform is sourced from an SMS Center vendor or another SMS Software Supplier, the architecture of the platform will resemble that shown in the “Value-Added Services Platform” diagram (See Diagram 9 in Appendix). The platform connects to the SMS Center and provides additional interfaces to the Short Message Service.
SMS Software Suppliers
Some of the leading suppliers of SMS software globally will now be profiled. The software reviewed is used for email, information services and vehicle positioning applications. These are some of the most popular SMS-based applications, generating the highest volumes of messages. The lists of suppliers is by no means exhaustive- the companies have been chosen because they are thought to have reliable, high quality product offerings that have been deployed successfully in more than one market around the globe. As such, these companies are likely to have a willingness and ability to supply their SMS-related products and services to mobile network carriers globally.
The email software providers profiled are Dialogue Communications (based in the UK), ISOCOR (Germany), Sendit (Sweden), Scandinavian Softline Technology (SST) (Finland) and TWS (USA).
Page 104 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham The suppliers of information services featured are AirMedia (based in the USA), GSM Information Network (GIN) (Netherlands), Intelligent Information Inc. (III) (USA) and Wireless Information Network (WIN) (UK).
The vehicle positioning suppliers are Crosland (UK) and Global Telematics (UK).
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 105 DIALOGUE COMMUNICATIONS http://www.dialogue.co.uk
Address: The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row Sheffield S1 2BX UK
Contacts: Hugh Spear, Paul Griffiths Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 114 281 5275 Fax: +44 114 296 0587
Products and services:
· PageMail: This is a single user software package for the generating short messages to be sent by GSM or PSTN modem. The software allows one-way short messaging when the PSTN fixed telephone network is used, because it is not possible to reply to a PSTN telephone number, and two-way messaging when used with a GSM data card. PageMail is Windows-based and features, for example, an address book and message log. PageMail also supports the ability for the same short message to be sent to different people on different mobile networks using. Such routing is handled by the software transparently to the user.
· Easy SMS: This is the international version of PageMail, available in six different languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish.
· PageMail IE: PageMail Internet Edition provides a gateway between Internet email and SMS. Users of PageMail IE are allocated an email address such as name/[email protected]. Dialogue then forward any emails sent to that address as a short message to the user’s mobile phone. Additionally, corporate customers can have a single corporate account with messaging charges for all users billed to a single account. Page IE is basically ExpressWay Enteprise Edition (E3, see below) running on Dialogue’s Internet site.
· PageMail ExpressWay: This is version of PageMail designed for corporate LAN email networks. PageMail ExpressWay is aimed at relatively small corporate customers with about 50 users. PageMail ExpressWay is a client server solution; the clients are PageMail and the Server queues short messages and transparently routes them to the appropriate SMS Center.
Two-way routing back to individual client is supported by PageMail ExpressWay. To reply back to an individual client on the corporate network, users key in the intended recipient in the message text itself, for example, “(griff)This is a reply” The message is routed to the Destination Address associated with the corporate LAN server which looks up the individual user in the message text and routes it to that person’s corporate email inbox.
Page 106 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham PageMail ExpressWay supports the so-called Application File Interface (AFI). This is a development kit for third parties to develop custom applications for ExpressWay. The development kit includes, for example, file formats so that client terminals can be customized but still work with the ExpressWay server.
· ExpressWay Enterprise Edition (E3). This provides an SMTP (Simple Message Transfer Protocol, the standard protocol for sending internet email) to SMS and paging interface. This idea is to allow corporate intranets and Internet Service Providers to be connected to the mobile messaging environment. E3 is aimed at large corporate customers. Dialogue Communications supply a single server (which can be bought outright or leased). No specific client software is required, users simply use their existing Internet browser or email client. E3 converts SMTP to SMS. As such, any SMTP email server or email client with SMTP gateway can use short messaging, for example, Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes.
· morocco. Available since the summer of 1998, morocco is a complete mobile messaging (Windows-based) software package that supports two-way send and receive SMS, email, fax, file transfer and phone book management (the ability to manage different contact data for the same person through a sophisticated address book). A user of morocco could, for example, use GSM Data to dial in and retrieve their email messages. The idea behind morocco is to maximize the utility and use of GSM Data cards or Data-enabled mobile phones. morocco also includes Dialogue’s Universal Communications Syntax (UCS) that easily allows the same message to be sent to different people using different communications media. For example, some people could receive the message by email, some by fax.
Customers:
· 200,000 pieces of software, primarily PageMail, have been shipped, primarily in the UK and Australia. In Australia, approximately 100 ExpressWay servers have been installed, primarily to corporate customers on the Vodafone GSM network. Dialogue Communications have a partnership with a mobile data services company called Hugh Symons, who install the product.
Several subsidiaries of major UK-based multinationals use solutions from Dialogue.
Advantages:
· Dialogue Communications are a long-established (1994) software company totally focused on GSM applications. Dialogue software is both excellent technically and designed with a friendly and intuitive client interface- with, for example, automatic routing of short messages to different SMS Centers depending on the mobile network the short message recipient is connected to.
· Dialogue Communications employ between 8 and 10 software developers. This is a relatively large resource that is focused on developing non-voice GSM applications. Dialogue focus on software development and manufacture- all of their software products apart from E3 are shrink-wrapped. They have reseller
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 107 partnerships with mobile data terminal companies such as Psion Dacom, Motorola and TDK/ Grey Cell.
Disadvantages:
· Most sales and activity has been concentrated in the UK.
· Dialogue do not offer a full Internet or corporate email solution to mobile network operators that competes with offerings from the likes of Sendit, ISOCOR or SST. For example, with PageMail Internet Edition, messages sent to a user’s email address result in a short message. However, there is no ability to access the rest of the email via Data, Internet page, concatenated SMS or other media.
ISOCOR http://www.isocor.com
Address: Katharinenstr. 17-18 10711 Berlin Germany
Contacts: Axel Schalt, Product Manager Terry Narey, UK, Tel +44 181 754 8115 Mark Owen, Technical Consultant, Ireland Email: [email protected], [email protected] Tel: +49 30 896600 Fax: +49 30 896609
Products and services:
Formerly known as NetCS, ISOCOR GmbH are experts in all types of electronic information exchange and messaging such as X.400, Microsoft Exchange, the Internet and so on. Only a small proportion of ISOCOR’s $26 million turnover in 1997 was accounted for by mobile messaging.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server is a value-added services platform. The Server offers a range of SMS-based services such as email notification, a two-way SMS to email gateway, an Internet page to SMS service, information services, SMS to Fax and a cross-network SMS gateway so that, for example, D2 subscribers in Germany can send to D1 users.
Customers:
· Omnitel, Italy have 3 or 4 N-PLEX Mobile servers running email, fax and information services
· Tele Danmark
· Comviq, Sweden for Internet email services
Page 108 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · Dresdner Bank customers can receive public and private information. Public information available includes currency exchange rates, international stock exchange indices and interest rates. Private personal data such as current account balances can also be received by sending a short message containing the account number and Personal Identification Number (PIN). Additionally, customers can request information at any time by originating a short message containing defined keywords such as “DEV” for exchange rates. Integration between the N-PLEX Mobile Server and the Dresdner Bank systems was carried out by G & H Bankensoftware, a Berlin-based company.
· Gries & Heissel, a private Berlin-based bank, provides private personal information to its customers such as account balances, last day account movements, notifications on transfers above a certain amount. The Short Message Service is used to notify customers about the success or failure (because of price limits) of stock purchases. This information is sent to and from Mannesmann D2 mobile phones via the ISOCOR N-PLEX Mobile Server.
· debitel MessageLine: ISOCOR worked with a cellular service provider (a company that buys wholesale airtime from a mobile network provider and resells it to its customers) to offer a full range of the services available through the N- PLEX Mobile Server.
Advantages:
· ISOCOR GmbH can tap the global resources and customer base of its parent company, although the author was unable to locate specific Short Message Service experts outside of Germany and Britain.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server connects via its Dispatcher module to SMS Center. Dispatcher modules are available for all of the main SMS Center interfaces, as well as pager interfaces such as TAP and ERMES. The same N-PLEX Mobile Server can support multiple Dispatcher modules, such that, for example, a bank can provide the same N-PLEX Mobile Server-based services to subscribers on different mobile networks.
· The email services are available with or without mailboxes- many mobile network operators choose to start offering simple notifications without any email retrieval, and can then offer full email services using the N-PLEX Global server- another ISOCOR product.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server is available in packages for up to 100 users, 5,000 users, 50,000 users and beyond, making its services available to everyone from corporate customers to mobile network operators.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server incorporates support for Nokia Smart Messaging.
· ISOCOR’s range of gateway solutions means that the Server can be connected to corporate messaging systems such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 109 Disadvantages:
· Most of ISOCOR’s Short Message Service solutions are deployed in Germany. However, in addition to the customers listed above, a large field trial of the N- PLEX Mobile Server was conducted between October 1995 and April 1996. This included processing and delivering over 1.5 million short messages to and from thousands of users on 44 GSM 900 and 1800 mobile networks and 3 paging networks in 25 countries.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server is more a technology platform for mobile network operators to build services on than a server with ready-to-deploy service modules. The Server has its own API called Short Message/ Advanced Service Interface (SM/ASI) for developing applications.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server does not support Interactive Voice Response (IVR).
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server does not support viewing the email messages on an Internet page.
· The N-PLEX Mobile Server does not support GSM or PSTN Data calls to allow users to dial in and collect the emails they get notified about.
SENDIT http://www.sendit.se
Address: Positionen 129 11574 Stockholm Sweden
Contacts: Edouard Mercier Hjalmar Winbladh, Managing Director Robert Ekstrom, Sales Director Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +46 8562 66000 Fax: +46 8562 66050 Locations: Seattle, USA, London, UK
Products and services:
Sendit was founded in 1994 and is quoted on the Stockholm stock exchange. Sendit focus on Internet services that are optimized for the mobile environment.
· Internet Cellular Smart Access (ICSA) is a server platform that allows users to receive, forward and send email using mobile terminals.
Page 110 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · The ICSA server solution supports optimized content delivery to a variety of SIM Application Toolkit, smart phones, handheld computers and so on. Alternatively, the ICSA server can be combined with SPICE, Sendit’s patented intelligent Short Message Service agent protocol for transmission of short messages.
Customers:
Mobile network operators using the Sendit ICSA platform include:
· Europolitan, Sweden
· Vodafone, UK
· Powertel, USA (Announced January 1998, not launched until the fourth quarter of 1998)
· Telenor Mobil, Norway. (Launched in April 1998).
· Hong Kong Telecom CSL on its One2Free mobile network. This service is delivered through a partnership between Alcatel with its One Touch Pro mobile phone, Schlumberger with its 16K Activa SimCard and Sendit’s ICSA. Users of the One2Free service have a specific email menu on their mobile phone with options such as Inbox, Outbox, Send Email and Services. Users select the option they require and move onto the next menu. They can view the first 160 characters of the email message (in the form of a short message, naturally) and select between actions such as “Get attachments”, “Forward the email”, “Reply” to it or “Delete” it.
Advantages:
· The Sendit Internet solution is flexible enough to allow mobile network carriers to offer escalating functionality sets. Mobile network operators can introduce the service with simple Internet email alerts, then add retrieve email functionality, then reply to emails and forward stored emails to other Internet email addresses or fax machines. Emails can also be viewed via an Internet page on any PC. This means that the same Sendit solution can be used for simple SMS-only services but also services using the full GSM Data service.
· Interworking with the ICSA server has been licensed for clients from Ericsson, Alcatel, Motorola, Psion Software, Schlumberger and De La Rue. Psion Software licensed Sendit’s client protocols so that they can be deployed to provide wireless email services via SMS on EPOC-based terminals such as the Psion Series 5 handheld computer. Ericsson have supplied the Sendit ICSA server to network operators- this has the advantage to operators that it is covered under their existing service agreements for other infrastructure supplied by Ericsson.
· Future-proof: Sendit are developing the ICSA solution beyond Internet email to work with emerging applications such as unified messaging and Wireless Application Protocol. Both Motorola and Ericsson have selected Sendit’s ICSA as
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 111 their Wireless Application Protocol servers (Nokia is using their Artus Messaging Platform).
Disadvantages:
· ICSA was slow to take off- with the USA, Norwegian and Hong Kong services all being launched in 1998, about three years after the initial platform deployment in Sweden. The Powertel service was announced in January 1998 but was still not launched by quarter four of that year.
· No information services or other offerings are available on the same platform, although Sendit are developing additional modules such as Unified Messaging.
SCANDINAVIAN SOFTLINE TECHNOLOGY (SST) http://mobilenet.softline.fi
Address: Tulkinkuja 3 02600 Espoo Finland
Contacts: Mr. Marko Kirjavainen Email: [email protected] Tel: +358 9 549 5600 Fax: +358 9 512 4629
Products and services:
SST MobileNet is a value-added services platform that facilitates a range of SMS- based value-added services, including information services, two-way corporate and Internet email services and conversion services such as SMS to Fax, Internet page to SMS and so on.
Customers:
Mobile network operators using the SST MobileNet platform include:
· Sunday, Hong Kong SAR
· Globtel, Slovakia
· Mobilkom, Austria
· Swisscom, Switzerland (3 SST platforms- one for internal use, one for GSM customers and one for their Internet Service Provider)
· Helsinki Telephone Corporation (Cityphone), Finland Cityphone needed to differentiate its new GSM 1800 network in a country where mobile phone penetration already exceeded 40% at the time of the network’s
Page 112 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham launch. The network used SST MobileNet to introduce a range of information services called “PPP” (Portable Phone Pages) which includes bus timetables, news and news headlines and jokes. Email services are also provided, using a different module on the same SST MobileNet platform.
· SST have also supplied their platform to Kone, a lift manufacturer who installed the platform in the UK connected to Vodafone GSM and integrated the SST technology to develop a service engineering application whereby lift alarms are escalated to engineers using SMS.
Advantages:
· The modular approach of SST MobileNet allows mobile network operators to build up and offer a range of SMS-based services, including both push and pull based information services.
· Single platform can be used to provide multiple services.
· Widely deployed in Europe, but also in Asia, connected to most different SMS Centers.
· Interesting features are supported such as the ability to send a short message which the SST server then distributes to a distribution list.
· The basic SST server software was written very early in 1989 and has been widely used by many network operators. It is now considered to be stable and reliable.
· An external interface exists which allows for third parties to develop applications using proprietary information feeds.
· SST is flexible in offering different network operators different technical approaches- they will integrate the information services feeds to their platform, but the network operator sources those feeds and agrees commercial terms.
· Scandinavian Softline Technology is a member of the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) Forum.
Disadvantages:
· The SST MobileNet server is a technology platform for mobile network operators to build services on. It is not a turnkey solution with ready-to-deploy service modules. The network operator buys the SST MobileNet platform and can then source information feeds locally.
· SST have concentrated on SMS- there is no support for GSM Data in the offering.
· SST is a privately-held company and therefore require network operators to pay 50% of the cost up-front and 50% on delivery. The entry-level platform cost is
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 113 about 100,000 US dollars in total. Transaction-based revenue models are not available.
TWS http://www.tws-inc.com http://www.bulletIN.net
Address: 1621 Windward Parkway Suite 200 Alpharetta GA 30005 USA
Contacts: Myles Naughton, Vice President- SMS Products Mike McCarthy, General Manager, TWS (UK) Limited Email: [email protected], [email protected] Tel: +1 770 752 7033 Fax: +1 770 752 7136 Locations: Atlanta, USA and London, England (TEL +44 171 253 4800)
Products and services:
Telecom Wireless Services, Inc. offer:
· BulletIN Gateway. A value-added services platform with the following features:
· Corporate email. Short messages can be generated from client LAN software and sent via the corporate LAN server to the BulletIN Gateway for onward delivery to the SMS Center. Replies and messages originated from the phone can be sent to the individual email client on the LAN.
· Internet email gateway. Each mobile phone user can automatically be assigned with an Internet email address such as [email protected] which any Internet user can send email messages to. The messages are then automatically routed to the BulletIN platform and notified using SMS to the user’s mobile phone. The subscriber gets the first 160 characters of the email message such as the sender, the subject line and the length of the message. The user can then download the full email message to any fax machine anywhere in the world.
· Internet email notifications via SMS for mobile users who already have an email address.
· Information Services. A wide range of information services can be subscribed to from an Internet page.
Customers:
· BellSouth New Zealand
Page 114 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · BellSouth Mobility PCS, USA
Several other trials are being held with mobile network operators and corporate customers around the world.
Advantages:
· Simple to use. A notification arrives on the mobile phone and the user can either reply or originate a short message containing the words “FX” and the fax number. The full email message can be downloaded to any fax machine anywhere in the world- using nothing but the mobile phone- no data card or modem or laptop is needed. No special software is needed to use the Internet email services, although client software is used for the corporate LAN email services. By the end of 1998, users will be able to request to receive more of the email using concatenated SMS.
· All information is automatically sent to the mobile phone user- who can use an Internet page to set up filtering options and information choices of interest.
· Messages are sent directly to the individual user’s Inbox on the LAN, rather than only to the LAN server.
· Single platform can be used to provide multiple services.
· The BulletIN Gateway has been commercially installed with mobile network operators for over two years and is proven to be robust and reliable.
· The information services are very flexible- an Internet content provider can be selected and signed up for a particular information service of interest. The content can then be very quickly and easily made available wirelessly using a software mediation tool that gathers the required information when needed and sends it to the BulletIN Gateway.
· A team of ten dedicated in-house SMS developers is continuously adding new features to the offering.
· TWS operate flexible purchase models including an outright purchase plan or transaction-based charging model, such that mobile network operators need invest little financial resources to get a wireless email service up and running. They also offer a bureau model whereby corporate customers in the UK and US can sign up with TWS who will install the software and provide all the elements of the corporate and Internet email solution. They also offer flexible trial plans for testing and benchmarking the platform.
Disadvantages:
· No Data support. Currently, there is no option for users to dial into the BulletIN Gateway and use PSTN or GSM Data to access their email electronically for forwarding to others, editing and sending back, lengthy replies etc. This can reduce operator revenues from the service because no Data calls are being made.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 115 AIRMEDIA http://www.airmedia.com
Address: 11 East 26th Street 16th Floor New York NY 10010-1402 USA
Contacts: Jerry Cohen, National Accounts Manager Bryan Parola, Vice President, Product Management Email: [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +1 212 843 0000 ext. 240 Fax: +1 212 545 7992 Locations: New York
Products and services:
Founded in 1988, AirMedia is a privately held, 40 employee company. Traditionally a software provider, more recently AirMedia has also become an information company, hence the name change from Ex Machina Inc.
· AirMedia Carrier Information Services (AMCIS). AirMedia has agreements with 60 plus major content providers such as CNN, Reuters, Sportsline, quote.com, Lottery World, The Weather Channel and Travelgram.
· The Notify! Range of software products encompasses Notify!, Notify! Lite and Reach Me! The later involves users configuring the software with their contact details and then creating and handing out software discs to their contacts who install the software and can then easily send the user a message.
Customers:
· AirMedia have supplied branded SMS software to all USA GSM 1900 operators as part of its Custom Software Services division.
· Network operators such as Sprint PCS and Ameritech use customized SMS Gateways developed by AirMedia.
Advantages:
· Support for CDMA, TMDA, GSM, as well as the analog POCSAG and ReFlex paging protocols.
· 50 commercial products delivered in over 10 years to 250,000 plus users.
Page 116 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · AirMedia have an attractive trial program offering a six month free trial for network operators to trial up to six different information services. Some conditions and restrictions apply.
Disadvantages:
· AirMedia signed a deal with Nokia to replace SMS Manager, some serial cable- based software in the USA. However, Nokia soon changed supplier to another company, Paragon Software (http://www.paragonsoftware.com)
· AirMedia signed an agreement to distribute the GSM Information Network (GIN, The Netherlands) information in the USA and Canada, but ended this arrangement to develop their in-house AirMedia Carrier Information Services (AMCIS) instead. This service includes Internet-based content profiling by customer and/ or network carrier. Available to all digital network operators, several trials of AMCIS are underway in the US.
· Primarily supply standard basic software.
· Primarily a US-based company- Chinese, French and Spanish versions of their software are available, but AirMedia have no offices and few contracts outside North America.
INTELLIGENT INFORMATION INC. (III) http://www.intelligentinfo.com
Address: One Dock Street Suite 500 Stamford, CT 06902 USA
Contacts: Stephen G. Maloney, President Michael Forbes, Marketing Director Chuck Feldman, Vice President, Business Development Email: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Tel: +1 203 969 0020 Fax: +1 203 969 0018
Products and services:
· A wireless information provider with a full set of feeds such as stocks, news, weather, travel, leisure and sports from content providers such as Reuters Health, Fox, The Weather Channel, Associated Press (AP). III has content distribution agreements with over 40 major information providers with thousands of different
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 117 news sources. The AP content is provided exclusively to Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) in pre-filtered format. ·
There is an Internet interface to the Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) platform such that users can quickly and easily add, setup, modify or stop their information preferences. They simply fill in an electronic form on an Internet page to update that customer’s records in the Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) platform. This system, called NetCare is real-time online provisioning and maintenance system for users or customer staff to use . Customers:
· Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) are the information provider for the Omnipoint two-way financial information service as well as Omnipoint’s suite of one-way services. Omnipoint is a GSM 1900 mobile network operator in the USA.
· PrimeCo PCS
· Southwestern Bell (including SWB Cellular One markets)
· Bell Mobility, Canada
Several other major carriers are preparing to launch III-based services by the end of 1998.
Advantages:
· Omnipoint offers a range of escalating services delivered by Intelligent Information Incorporated (III). The basic pull-based information services are bundled in with Omnipoint subscriptions. Users originate a short message with the stock ticker symbol and receive the current share price as an incoming short message by return. Other services include pushed on-demand information. Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) have also developed information packages for special events of a limited time period with Omnipoint, such as an offering linked to the 1998 Winter Olympics. They have also carried out affinity programs using SMS. For example, a branded New York Mets mobile phone was offered with specific New York Mets information from the team’s public relations department plus general information.
· Affinity programs are a specialty at III, which provides custom information services for various niche user groups, such as specialist sports. III offers services branded under its content provider’s brand (for example, Fox news services on Omnipoint) or the network operator’s brand, or a mix of the two. In all cases, carriers can participate in III’s “Powered by III” cooperative advertising program.
· III offers a complete turnkey information services solution- they will provide the platform capability and also source the required information feeds from their existing or new content providers.
Page 118 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · III’s contractual agreements to redistribute content give the network operator important legal protection against copyright infringement compared with information services companies who “scrape” the Internet for their content.
· III have wide range expertise in delivering information services. They been delivering personalized content to wireless devices since 1991 and now deliver about two million messages per month to GSM, TDMA, CDMA, CDPD and paging networks. Two-way SMS services have been commercially live for over two years.
Disadvantages:
· III’s current content and customers are centered exclusively in North America.
GSM INFORMATION NETWORK (GIN) http://www.gin.nl
Address: Stationsweg 39 4241 XH Arkel The Netherlands
Contacts: Kurt Roth, Managing Director Email: [email protected] Tel: +31 183 562 277 Fax: +31 183 561 049
Products and services:
· The GIN Value Added Services platform provides a wide range of information services, plus email notification services. There is an electronic voice (Interactive Voice Response (IVR)) front end to allow requests for information to be made via DTMF tone dialing. The GIN platform can also read out email messages through a text-to-speech facility. SMS to Fax is also supported.
Customers:
Mobile network operators that have deployed the GIN information services platform include:
· KPN Telecom, The Netherlands
· Libertel, The Netherlands
· Two new GSM 1800 operators in The Netherlands
· Omnitel Pronto Italia, Italy
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 119 · A mid-European network operator
· A South European network operator
· Two network operators in Japan- one launching in November 1998 and one in early 1999.
· Two banks in The Netherlands use the GIN platform for sending account-related information to mobile phones. Investigation of transacting and SIM Application Toolkit is underway.
By early 1999, GIN will therefore have nine network operators using its platform operationally.
Advantages:
· GIN is the longest established SMS information services company with the most mobile network operators signed up.
· GIN offers both system sales and full facility management options. The later involves using GIN’s platform at their offices in the Netherlands to offer information services. As such, mobile network operators do not need a GIN platform locally. This reduces installation and maintenance requirements for the mobile network operator. As such, GIN provides either a platform that facilitates SMS-based information services or a full facilities managed turnkey solution that includes the information feeds themselves.
· The GIN platform has a Internet interface, such that end users can subscribe for services and set up their profile online.
· GIN is a shareholder in Sapura Messaging, a company formed with Sapura Holdings in Malaysia. GIN has a partnership with Mitsui of Japan, which holds the exclusive rights to distribute the GIN platform in Japan and Chinese speaking countries. Mitsui is responsible for the two GIN platform deployments in Japan.
· GIN is a Nokia Business Partner, and as such, the GIN platform supports Nokia Smart Messaging and connects to the Nokia Artus platform and works on Nokia’s 9000 smartphone. GIN also intends to support the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) protocol. GIN cooperates with De La Rue Card Systems, Gemplus and Alcatel for implementing value-added services on Phase 2 mobile phones. In October 1998, a network operator launched SIM Application Toolkit-enabled information services from GIN, whereby users can select a range of information using the phone menus.
· GIN has an electronic voice (IVR) front end to its information services platform- this is an important service provisioning and information requesting mechanism, because the majority of mobile phone users do not have an Internet connection. GIN are the only information services supplier to offer this capability.
Page 120 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · GIN’s platform facilitates both push and pull-based information services. Users can send a keyword in to receive information back or information such as financial, weather, travel and traffic can be automatically delivered to users.
· GIN has a range of global information feeds in the English language such as stock exchanges, weather, sports, general news headlines, traffic and major airports. GIN offers the widest range of general information feeds of any supplier.
Disadvantages:
· GIN’s focus is exclusively information services- this has the advantage that they have the widest range of feeds and largest number of network operators, but means that multiple services cannot be offered from the same platform.
· The majority of GIN’s customers are based in Europe in general and The Netherlands in particular, however services have also been launched in Japan.
WIRELESS INFORMATION NETWORK (WIN) http://www.wirelessinphonet.com
Address: 9B Lancaster Court Cressex Business Park High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3TD UK
Contacts: Peter Norman, Commercial Director Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 (0) 1494 530222 Fax: +44 (0) 1494 530333
Products and services:
· Information services via SMS and paging to a range of wireless devices. WIN’s CustomCast wireless publishing platform allows high bandwidth content to be optimized for low bandwidth wireless devices. WIN source and process multiple feeds from different information providers into their platform. They then filter and customize that raw information feed to make it personal and useful for each individual subscriber. The packaged and prepared information is then passed from the WIN platform to the mobile network operator’s SMS Center. There is an Internet interface to the WIN platform, allowing information services to be set up and modified remotely.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 121 Customers:
· WIN has delivered financial information services via SMS such as share prices and financial news over the Vodafone, Cellnet and Orange UK digital mobile networks.
· WIN provided Centertel in Poland with a World Cup 98 information service that provided- in the Polish language- final scores, half-time scores and schedule messages detailing that particular day’s games.
· WIN delivered a World Cup service for Nokia and Vodafone, where customers used Smart Messaging to request information by SMS during the tournament.
· WIN has developed an SMS-based account enquiry service for Air Miles, a UK travel loyalty program.
· WIN is working with a major international airline to provide flight information via SMS.
· WIN will be delivering a soccer service covering the UK premier league and divisions and major European competitions. The service is being distributed in the UK by Carphone Warehouse, a major mobile phone retailer.
Advantages:
· WIN concentrate on high quality information feeds, with licensing agreements with Bridge (formerly Dow Jones Telerate) for financial information, Clubcall for sports information and so on. WIN’s contractual agreements to redistribute content give the network operator important legal protection against copyright infringement compared with information services companies who “scrape” the Internet for their content.
· The company’s personnel have spent over ten years developing and managing wireless information services for all parts of the world.
· WIN has global reach, with experience deploying services in local language variants such as Swedish and Polish.
· WIN have a feature-rich and flexible platform which includes features such as formatting the information depending on which mobile phone screen size the user has and an integrated billing system.
· The WIN platform has an Internet interface that allows network operator staff (or end users) to quickly and easily add, set-up, modify or stop their information preferences. They simply fill in a Internet form and these changes immediately and automatically update that customer’s records in the WIN platform.
· WIN’s platform is based at their offices in the UK. This receives and processes the content feeds and dispatches the information. As such, mobile network operators do not need local infrastructure such as information servers- all of the processing
Page 122 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham and packaging of information is carried out locally and prepared short messages are then dispatched to the mobile network operator’s SMS Center. This reduces installation and maintenance requirements for the mobile network operator.
· WIN offers a complete turnkey information services solution- they will provide the platform capability and also source the required information feeds. They use their existing relationships and knowledge of the content providers market to achieve this.
Disadvantages:
· WIN is under-resourced. As such, customers pay much of the service development costs in advance. However, WIN can rapidly develop a commercial service- the World Cup projects for Centertel and Vodafone were delivered within four weeks of commissioning.
· WIN’s core Internet platform is based on having a Java applet (mini-application) for each SMS-based information service. These Java applets require a suitable advanced Internet browser such as Microsoft Internet Explorer version 4. However, bespoke HTML development is undertaken for customers who require this.
· The company’s experience is primarily based on financial information services, with a narrower range of other feeds than other SMS information services suppliers. However, the range of information services has expanded into sports and flight information, and continues to expand.
CROSLAND http://www.crosland.co.uk
Address: 140 Battersea Park Road London SW11 4NB UK
Contacts: David Cargill, Managing Director Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 171 498 5450 Fax: +44 171 498 5489
Products and services:
Crosland develops and supplies mobile data communications and vehicle tracking systems, integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) with SMS.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 123 Crosland’s main two products are:
· The Crosland GPS Workstation which includes a cab-mounted (4 character by 14 line LCD) display and backlit keypad, as well as an intelligent data controller and a 12 channel GPS receiver.
· The Crosland GPS Communicator which includes an intelligent data controller and a 12 channel GPS receiver.
Customers:
Crosland’s customers are primarily UK-based corporate customers, many of whom have operations that involve travelling throughout Europe.
Transportation is Crosland’s main market with their systems being used primarily for data communications, enabling the office to send and receive messages to and from the vehicle on the road and determine their positions.
Reliance Custodial Services use Crosland’s solution to track their 85 reinforced security vans which transport prisoners between courts, police stations and prisons in the South Wales and South West area of the UK. This application combines a Nokia mobile phone fixed in the vehicle with Aplicom mobile data terminals in the vans and customized mapping at Reliance’s control center.
The Irish Post office is installing the Crosland system to be used for a combination of security and logistics purposes.
Advantages:
· Modular hardware and system, such that the in-vehicle equipment can range from solely a mobile phone to a full mobile data terminal with screen, key entry pad and so on. The host mapping can range from off-the-shelf packages to customized detail.
· A Vodafone UK Business Partner, with a Vodafone accredited implementation of the Sema SMS Center interface.
· Crosland have implemented long-running, successful SMS-based applications such as that for Reliance Custodial Services which generates in excess of half a million short messages per year.
Disadvantages:
· Crosland is a small company with less than ten employees.
Page 124 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham GLOBAL TELEMATICS http://www.global-telematics.com
Address: Compass House Davis Road Chessington Surrey KT9 1TP UK
Contacts: Nigel Porter Edward Belgeonne, Managing Director Email: [email protected], [email protected] Tel: +44 181 974 1100 Fax: +44 181 974 1133 Locations: UK, South Africa (Cape Town and Johannesburg)
Products and services:
Global Telematics is a supplier of vehicle positioning solutions integrating the Global Positioning System (GPS) with SMS.
Global Telematics is a 50/50 joint venture between Racal Survey and European Telecom, formed to develop and market in-vehicle services such as mobile telephony, vehicle tracking, navigation, information services and emergency assistance under the brand name “Orchid”.
Customers:
· Global Telematic’s UK service combines Vodafone’s Short Message Service, Racal’s Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) and the Automobile Association’s bureau and customer care resources.
· The Global Telematics solution is also available in South Africa over the Vodacom GSM network.
Orchid Customers in the UK include:
- Anglian Construction Forklifts, Construction plant hire - Baan Software, computer logistics - CJ International, General freight haulier - The Comet Group, Electrical retailer - CPG Logistics, General freight haulier - DERA Defence Research Agency – Eurocouriers, UK/European courier - In Time Movements, Collection and dispatch services - Response Maintenance, Property maintenance contractor
Orchid Customers in South Africa include:
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 125 - Buffels Hoek, General haulage - Craig Young Carriers, General haulage - CTS Vehicle carriers, car delivery - Hyundai Vehicle carriers, car delivery - MJ Reinecke, Abnormal load haulage – Mooketsi, General haulage – Rontrans, General haulage
Orchid is currently is aimed initially at vertical markets rather than the general public.
Advantages:
· Uses the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS), a more accurate form of GPS which allows location within one meter of the vehicle, thus providing pinpoint location accuracy.
· Orchid was the first vehicle navigation system to be tested under the Motor Insurance Repair Research Centre in Thatcham, UK’s new category for vehicle accessories.
Disadvantages:
· Global Telematics is a new company formed in July 1997 as a joint venture between Racal, a slow-moving hierarchical company and European Telecom, a distributor of mobile phones with little expertise in value-added services.
Comparison of SMS Software Suppliers by Selection Criteria
Connect Cost Deploy Flexible Future Global Dialogue Medium High High High Low Medium ISOCOR High Low Medium High High Medium Sendit High High High High High High SST High Low High High High Medium TWS Medium High Medium Medium Medium Medium AirMedia High High Low Low Low Low GIN High Medium Medium High Medium Medium III Medium Medium Low High Low Low WIN Medium Medium Medium High Medium Medium Crosland Low High Low High Low Low Global Low Medium Low Medium Low Low Telematics
Note: A rating of “High” denotes a better ranking than a rating of “Medium” and so on. Hence, for example, solutions with “High” in the “Cost” field are in fact low cost, and therefore highly attractive options for mobile network operators and corporate customers looking to select a supplier.
Page 126 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham CONNECTIVITY: (Connect). Denotes the connectivity of SMS software supplier’s solution. Several SMS solutions suppliers have developed platforms that can already connect to several different SMS Centers. SMS software suppliers with high connectivity include ISOCOR, Sendit, Scandinavian Softline Technology and GIN. Both Dialogue Communications, TWS, III and WIN have products that connect to a couple of different SMS Centers. Because they are running applications over the Vodafone UK GSM network, both Global Telematics and Crosland have focused on implementing the Sema SMS Center interface. AirMedia have implemented primarily a PSTN dial-up interface, although they have also worked with Motorola closely on its Message Register SMS Center.
COST: (Cost). Denotes the cost of deploying the platform. Some SMS software suppliers have flexible pricing models that often include a transaction-based or platform lease option that reduces the up-front cost of deploying the service. Suppliers of low-cost SMS software packages designed for entry-level message origination include Dialogue Communications and AirMedia. Sendit and TWS offer transaction- oriented pricing models. WIN is keen to offer mobile network operators information services that are priced for widespread usage. In partnership with companies such as Brightpoint, they have offered purely ongoing charging model, although in most instances, they charge the network operator the cost of developing the service up- front. SST do not offer a transaction-based model.
DEPLOYMENT: (Deploy). Denotes the extent to which SMS supplier’s solution has been widely deployed and the size of the customer base using that solution. GIN, Sendit, and SST all have solutions that are being used by several mobile network operators. Dialogue’s software has a strong foothold in UK, with a large number of installations of its products. WIN and Crosland’s customers are also mainly in the UK. Global Telematics have customers in the UK and South Africa.
FLEXIBILITY: (Flexi). Denotes the flexibility and scalability of SMS supplier’s solution, to offer, for example, multiple services from a single platform. Both TWS and AirMedia have solutions which are primarily designed for linking to a particular network operator’s SMS Center, rather than being aimed at end users who may want to send short messages to different people on different networks. TWS’s solutions can only be linked to one SMS Center at a time. Crosland and Global Telematics have medium flexibility and scalability because their solution has been designed for certain hardware and certain networks. The other solutions are easily scaleable and flexible- usually via platform software upgrades for the likes of Sendit and SST, and by adding new information feeds for the likes of WIN and GIN.
FUTURE-PROOF: (Futur). Denotes the extent to which SMS supplier’s offering is future-proof, and therefore incorporates or is designed to incorporate new mobile data protocols, services and standards. The two profiled vehicle positioning solution providers- Crosland and Global Telematics- both have solutions which do not rely upon support of future SMS-based standards. As such, this criteria is not as important for rating them. TWS and III have not made any specific announcements or commitments to future standards, whilst AirMedia is attempting to develop its own proprietary information services platform. Dialogue has developed proprietary phone book management software and features. WIN has its own proprietary information services and has not announced plans for supporting standards beyond Nokia Smart
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 127 Messaging. GIN supports SIM Application Toolkit. ISOCOR, Sendit and SST have all made public commitments to support emerging SMS-based standards, with Sendit and SST members of the WAP Forum.
GLOBAL: (Glob). Denotes the extent to which the deployments of SMS software supplier’s solution are dispersed globally. Most of the suppliers profiled have deployed solutions on more than one continent.
Comparison of Wireless Email Suppliers
DATA TWO- IVR WEB FAX SMSCs WAY Dialogue No Yes No No No Yes ISOCOR No Yes No No No Yes Sendit Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes SST No Yes No Yes Yes Yes TWS No Yes No No Yes No
Note: An entry of “Yes” denotes support for this feature, “No” indicates that the feature is not currently supported by the SMS Center.
DATA: Denotes support of the GSM Data service- such that, for example, upon receiving a notification through SMS that they have a new email message waiting, the user can dial in using GSM (or PSTN) Data and collect the entire email message. Only the Sendit platform allow users to dial in using Data and collect their email messages once they have received a notification via SMS that they have a new email message waiting.
TWO-WAY: Denotes whether the email platform provides a two-way service or not, i.e. the ability to both send and receive, and reply to, email messages in a mobile environment. All of the email solutions suppliers profiled here have platforms that support two-way interactive messaging. However, Dialogue’s two-way capability is less sophisticated and limited to certain products in its range.
IVR: Denotes whether there is a IVR (Interactive Voice Response) module to allow speech to text services, such that emails can be read out to the user. None of the platforms support IVR, although Dialogue Communications have been working with a partner company to develop such capability.
INTERNET PAGE: (WEB). Denotes whether the email platform has an Internet interface such that users can access the full email message through an Internet electronic form from any Internet connection. Again, Sendit and SST are alone in offering this functionality.
FAX: Denotes whether the email platform allows the full email messages to be sent to a fax machine, such that once a notification has been received using SMS, the full email can be sent to a fax machine. Sendit, SST and TWS support this fax capability.
Page 128 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham MULTIPLE SMS CENTERS: (SMSCs). Denotes whether the same email platform can provide email services to more than one SMS Center from more than one SMS Center supplier. For example, imagine a network operator migrating from a first generation to a second generation SMS Center. To provide the same email service to all customers, the email platform must support multiple SMS Centers. All of the solutions apart from that of TWS support simultaneous connectivity with more than one SMS Center.
Comparison of Information Services Suppliers
WEB RANG GLOB LANG IVR FUT FILT PUSH AirMedia High High Low Low Low Low High High GIN High High Med High High Med High High III High High Low Low Low Low High High WIN High Low Med Med Low Med High High
Note: “Med” denotes “Medium”. A rating of “High” denotes a better ranking than a rating of “Med” and so on.
INTERNET INTERFACE: (WEB). Denotes whether there is an Internet interface to the information services platform, such that services can be administered through the Internet. All of the listed information services platforms incorporate an Internet interface.
RANGE OF CONTENT: (RANG). Denotes the extent to which the information services supplier currently uses a range of different content types for the provision of a range of different information services. Both AirMedia and Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) have a wide range of existing alliances with data providers supplying a wide range of content. GIN also provides a full range of different global information services. WIN have access to global financial information, but no other existing feeds apart from sports information.
GLOBAL DEPLOYMENTS: (GLOB). Denotes the extent to which the information services provider supplies services to network operators globally. Both AirMedia and Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) concentrate on providing SMS-based information services primarily in North America. GIN has many customers in Europe plus a couple in Japan. WIN provides a range of services via SMS and paging to network operators around the world.
MULTIPLE LANGUAGES: (LANG). Denotes the extent to which the information services platform supports multiple language alphabets. Both GIN and WIN have specifically incorporated support for multiple languages into their platforms- both support all Latin alphabets and could support non-Latin languages. GIN has installations in Japan. AirMedia and Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) are providing information in the English language.
INTERACTIVE VOICE RESPONSE: (IVR). Denotes the extent to which the information services platform supports Interactive Voice Response (IVR) electronic
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 129 voice modules, such that services can be provisioned and information requested via voice. Only GIN currently actively supports an IVR module.
FUTURE-PROOF: (FUT). Denotes the extent to which the information services platform is future-proof, and therefore incorporates or is designed to incorporate new mobile data protocols, services and standards. AirMedia is focused on its proprietary protocol, Intelligent Information Incorporated (III) is looking at supporting the emerging standards. Both WIN and GIN already support Nokia Smart Messaging. None of the companies are known members of the WAP Forum.
FILTERING: (FILT). Denotes the extent to which the information services platform is designed to customize and tailor the information that arrives on the mobile phone specifically for the individual user’s requirements and interests. All of the suppliers offer push and pull-based services based on user commands or selections.
PUSH-BASED: (PUSH). Denotes the extent to which the information services platform supports push-based information services, in other words, those that automatically send information to a user when a certain event occurs or at a certain time. All of the suppliers proactively deliver specific information to mobile phones.
In sum, there are several highly functional information services platforms.
Comparison of Vehicle Positioning Suppliers
ACCURACY DEPLOY MODULAR SERVICES Crosland Medium Medium High Low Global Telematics High Low Low High
Note: A rating of “High” denotes a better ranking than a rating of “Medium” and so on.
ACCURACY: (ACCURACY). Denotes the extent to which the vehicle positioning solution incorporates mechanisms to ensure high levels of location accuracy. The Global Telematics solution rates highly in this criteria because it uses the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) that provides accuracy to less than one meter, compared with the 50-100 meter accuracy conferred by the standard Global Positioning System (GPS) which Crosland uses.
DEPLOYMENT: (DEPLOY). Denotes the extent to the vehicle positioning solution is widely deployed. Crosland’s vehicle positioning solution has been running commercially for over two years. The Global Telematics solution is a more recent arrival in this market, but has a larger customer list than that of Crosland.
MODULAR: (MODULAR). Denotes the extent to which the vehicle positioning solution is modular and is therefore flexible enough to meet the specific requirements of different vehicle positioning applications. The solution from Crosland is highly modular in both hardware and software terms and can be configured to range from simply a mobile phone and off-the-shelf mapping at the host through to a full mobile data terminal and mobile phone in the vehicles and custom mapping at the host. The
Page 130 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Global Telematics solution is less modular as it is designed to be used a standard package.
SERVICES: (SERVICES). Denotes the extent to which the vehicle positioning solution incorporates multiple services and is therefore flexible enough to meet the specific requirements of differing location applications. The vehicle positioning solution from Global Telematics incorporates the widest range of services. In addition to the core vehicle positioning service, Global Telematics’s Orchid has been designed to include information services and so on. The Crosland solution is designed explicitly for corporate usage and therefore has fewer additional services.
In sum, there are some good vehicle positioning solutions available, although none of them have established themselves as the global leader.
Part 4- SMS Market Development
SMS volume market forecasts
Various market forecasts for non-voice services such as Data and SMS have come and gone over the years, and with few if any exceptions, all have overestimated the usage of and revenues from such services. As such, the following forecasts should be treated with caution.
TOTAL EUROPEAN MARKET FORECAST FOR SMS
Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 SMS Subscribers 175.3 726.7 1682.0 3361.8 5640.7 8178.8 SMS Penetration* 2.0% 4.1% 5.7% 7.8% 10.2% 12.4%
* Penetration (%) refers to the total number of GSM (combined 900 and 1800) mobile phone users who actively use SMS.
SOURCE: SMS IMPLEMENTATION AND DEVELOPMENT IN EUROPE, OCTOBER 1996, A REPORT BY STRATEGY ANALYTICS LIMITED, UK
The above forecasts show the expected growth of the digital Short Message Service user base in Europe to over 8 million users by the end of the year 2000, or over 12% of the total digital installed base of mobile phones. “Users” refers here to active users who send or receive short messages rather than occasional users. Active users are those that receive information or email alerts but exclude those subscribers who merely receive new voice mail notifications.
SMS REVENUE IN THE USA AND CANADA
Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 SMS $178m $611m $1.24bn $2.16bn $2.38bn $2.22bn Revenue
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 131 SOURCE: TECHNOLOGY MARKET SERVICES, AS QUOTED IN “WIRELESS BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY” MAGAZINE, SEPTEMBER 1997
As you can see, revenues from SMS in the USA and Canada were predicted to climb from $180 million in 1997 to more than $2.2 billion annually by the year 2002. These figures are calculated on an additional airtime only basis.
SMS Availability on different Network Types
Since its inclusion in the GSM standard, SMS has also been incorporated into many other mobile phone network standards, including Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) in Japan. Each of these standards implements SMS in slightly different ways and message lengths do vary. Lets now take a look at the availability and characteristics of SMS on different mobile network standards:
Mobile network Type SMS Message Deployment Standard Availability Length GSM 900 Digital Yes 160¨ Widely GSM 1800 Digital Yes 160¨ Widely GSM 1900 Digital Yes 160¨ North America TACS/ ETACS Analog No N/A N/A NMT Analog Yes Eastern Europe TDMA/ Digital Yes (MT North America D-AMPS only) NAMPS Analog Yes 14 North America alphanumeric 32 numeric CDMA Digital Yes (MT 256 North America only) PHS Digital No N/A Japan PDC Digital Yes Japan IDEN/NEXTEL Digital Yes 140 North and South America TETRA/ Dolphin Digital Yes 256 Parts of Europe Iridium Satellite Paging 200/ 20 Truly global Globalstar Satellite Yes 160 Truly global
¨ The message length within GSM for short messages using non-European alphabets is shorter. (See the “Support for different alphabets” section in the “General SMS Features” section).
GSM: The Global System for Mobiles is a digital mobile phone standard defined by ETSI and widely adopted throughput Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, but not so widely in The Americas. As we have seen throughout this book, the GSM Short Message Service is extensively available. The same GSM standard has been deployed at three different frequency bands: 900, 1800 and 1900. GSM 1900 is primarily deployed in North America.
Page 132 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham NMT: The Nordic Mobile Telecommunications (NMT) 450/ 900 analog standard introduced Short Message Service as part of its “Plus features”, announced in early 1998, which also includes features such as caller line identity and voice mail indication.
NMT Short Message Service is dependent upon the Mobile Station supporting the Message Waiting Indicator (MWI), another NMT Plus feature. In early 1998, none of the installed base of NMT phones supported MWI. As such subscribers want into use NMT SMS must subscribe to a mobile network that has an NMT-compliant SMS Center such as that from CMG and obtain a mobile phone that supports Message Waiting Indicator from the likes of Benefon and Nokia.
When a short message is being sent to an NMT subscriber, the Mobile Station is located and the Message Waiting Indicator is forwarded to the Mobile Station. The MWI is sent by means of a normal voice call that is cleared before the mobile phone rings. The Mobile Station then fetches the short message(s) by an automatic or semi- automatic call to the SMS Center. NMT SMS calls use a radio channel just like a GSM voice or Data call would, as opposed to using the signaling channel as is the case with GSM Short Message Service.
Centertel in Poland was the first mobile network to launch SMS over NMT commercially.
PERSONAL HANDYPHONE SYSTEM (PHS): SMS is not currently supported on the Japanese Personal Handyphone System (PHS) standard. (See the “Country Case Study: SMS in Japan”).
PERSONAL DIGITAL CELLULAR (PDC): SMS is supported by the Japanese Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) standard. (See the “Country Case Study: SMS in Japan”).
NORTH AMERICA
The United States tried to agree upon one air interface that all network carriers would deploy, but never came to a consensus on which one to use. The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) held tests in 1989 to identify the practicality of multiple submittals for different system architectures. The FCC adopted a consistent pattern of allowing the industry and the marketplace to dictate what standard was to be used, and gave operators and manufacturers the right to choose their preferred system. Support by different operators and equipment manufacturers resulted in the deployment of Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”) and Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”). The main supporters of TDMA were in favor of time to market with a digital offering, while the CDMA supporters were in favor of increased network efficiencies and voice quality. The first US TDMA system went commercial in Chicago in 1993 by Southwestern Bell’s Cellular One. The first US CDMA system went commercial in Los Angeles in 1996 by AirTouch Communications. The introduction of new PCS licenses in the US allowed new operators to choose from CDMA, TDMA, and from the US derivative of GSM at
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 133 1900 MHz.. These new PCS systems have been commercial since late in 1995, American Personal Communications offering service first.
There are three main types of digital mobile networks in North America, shown in the table below with approximate indications of their adoption by PCS license holders:
Mobile network Standard Code Adoption Type Rate TDMA/ D-AMPS IS-136 20%
CDMA IS-95 (digital) 50%
IS-637 (digital CDMA)
IS-91A / analog CDMA 14 characters GSM 1900 GSM 1900 30%
Because of the use of three different network standards, the whole mobile market in the USA is complicated and splintered, and SMS does not survive unscathed in such an environment. Only GSM supports two-way SMS commercially- SMS Mobile Originate is being tested on TDMA in the final quarter of 1998 and will not be available commercially on CDMA until the end of 1999. SMS national interconnects, allowing short messages to be sent between different networks, are patchy, although the GSM Alliance, an industry association set up to develop GSM in North America, has driven the introduction of national SMS roaming. (See http://www.gsm-pcs.org).
NAMPS: The analog Narrowband Advanced Mobile Phone System supports short messages of up to 14 alphanumeric characters in length or 32 numeric characters.
TDMA/ D-AMPS: The Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)/ Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS) standard supports SMS. TDMA is also known as D-AMPS and is defined in the IS-136 standard.
CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) is an air interface technology that was developed by the US military and commercialized by a US company called Qualcomm. (See http://www.cdg.org).
CDMA supports SMS Mobile Terminate with a message length of 120 characters. The CDMA standards incorporate support for SMS Mobile Originate, however, the phones and SMS Centers do not currently support this functionality and SMS MO is not expected to be available commercially until the end of 1999. There are plans to incorporate message lengths of 256 characters in a future revision of the CDMA SMS specifications.
Qualcomm is extremely skeptical about the benefits of SMS. The general company view is that SMS confuses the market for non-voice services, although SMS client software was shown on the working prototypes of Qualcomm’s pdQ PalmPilot-based smartphone in September 1998. Qualcomm are focused primarily on existing and future High Speed Data services on CDMA networks. Current CDMA Data rates are
Page 134 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham 14.4 kbps, expanding to medium data rates of up to 115 kbps in 1999 and to greater than 1.5 Mbps in third generation systems around the turn of the millennium.
There are several CDMA standards- the air interface is marketed as cdmaOne, with cdma2000 the name given to the CDMA Development Group’s preferred choice for third generation (UMTS-like) mobile standards. IS-95 is a digital CDMA standard, as is IS-637. IS-95 was the first standard to use CDMA technology. The ANSI standard J-STD-008 defines CDMA Personal Communications Services at 1900 MHz. CDMA has been primarily deployed in North America and parts of Asia (especially South Korea).
IS-95 has been designed for compatibility with the US analog mobile phone system NAMPS. This support is known as IS-95A which has been defined by a Telecommunications Industry Association/ Electronics Industry Association (TIA/ EIA) Interim Standard. This analog CDMA standard IS-91A only supports short messages of 14 characters in length.
Additionally, the IS-41 standard incorporates both IS-41C for CDMA mobile networks and IS-41T for TDMA mobile networks. TDMA and CDMA were grouped together as this one standard to differentiate these offerings against GSM 1900, which conform fully and exactly to the GSM standards at 900 and 1800 frequencies, as defined throughout this book.
IDEN/ NEXTEL: Motorola iDEN (integrated Digital Enhanced Network) is a TDMA-based digital network standard that is used by networks such as Nextel in the US. iDEN features group and private call services, Caller Identity, data transmission at 4,800 or 9,600 bps and text messages of up to 140 characters per message, with 16 alphanumeric message slots per iDEN phone. (See http://www.motorola.com/iden). Text messaging is a store and forward service- with Logica Aldiscon and ADC NewNet SMS Centers used. Nextel had two million customers in the US by October 1998 and is aggressively expanding its coverage to encompass areas of South America. (See http://www.nextel.com).
TETRA/ DOLPHIN: An ETSI standard, Terrestrial Trunk Radio (TETRA) is digital Private Mobile Radio, designed for the European emergency services and scheduled for launch around the turn of the millennium. Like IDEN/ Nextel in the North America, TETRA, which is branded as “Dolphin”, offers broadcast voice services, whereby the user can talk to more than one fellow team member at the same time. Tetra’s Short Data Service (SDS) is the equivalent of GSM SMS, which allows 2087 bits (about 256 characters) to be sent either on traffic or control channels. All SDS messages are automatically acknowledged. (See http://www.dolphin-telecom.co.uk).
IRIDIUM: A global satellite mobile network, which launched towards the end of 1998, offers it Iridium WorldPage service that is a stand-alone pager without a voice phone. WorldPage offers messages of up to 20 numerals or 200 characters in length. Iridium also offers a FollowMe paging service such that if a mobile phone cannot receive calls, the call is diverted and a message is taken. The Iridium mobile phone is then notified that there are new messages. Iridium only charge a fixed monthly fee for both the stand-alone and FollowMe paging services. (See http://www.iridium.com).
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 135 GLOBALSTAR: Along with Iridium, Globalstar is one of the leading global mobile satellite system suppliers. Globalstar has been very sensible in adopting many of the features of GSM such as SimCards. It will also offer SMS to the GSM specifications. This means that a user with a dual mode GSM/ Globalstar mobile phone will be able to receive short messages even when they are outside of GSM coverage. If the user has a dual mode CDMA/ Globalstar mobile phone, then they will be able to receive the CDMA equivalent of SMS wherever they are in the world. Unlike Iridium, Globalstar will have no paging-only service or terminals. (See http://www.globalstar.com)
Regional Guide to SMS network support and market development
EUROPEAN UNION
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Austria Mobilkom Logica Aldiscon Austria max.mobil Logica Aldiscon Austria Connect Nokia Belgium Belgacom Logica Aldiscon Belgium Mobistar CMG Belgium KPN Orange CMG Denmark Mobilix Nokia Denmark Sonofon Logica Aldiscon Denmark Tele Danmark Mobil CMG Denmark Telia Denmark CMG Finland Alands Mobiltelefon Finland Finnet Group (Cityphone) Logica Aldiscon Finland Radiolinja Nokia Finland Telia Finland Nokia Finland Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland) CMG Finland Oulun Puhelin Oyj Nokia Finland Turun Puhelin Nokia France Bougyues Telecom Sema France FTMS Cap France Cegetel (SFR) Sema, CMG Germany E-Plus Logica Aldiscon Germany Mannesmann Mobilfunk D2 CMG Germany T-Mobil D1 Logica Aldiscon to CMG Greece Cosmote Nokia Greece Panafon Sema Greece Stet Hellas CMG Ireland ESAT Digifone Logica Aldiscon Ireland Eircell Logica Aldiscon Italy Omnitel Pronto Italia Nokia Italy Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM) CMG Luxembourg Luxembourg P&T Logica Aldiscon Netherlands Libertel Sema Netherlands KPN Telecom CMG Netherlands Proximus Nokia
Page 136 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Portugal TMN CMG Portugal Telecel CMG UK Cellnet Logica Aldiscon UK One2One CMG UK Orange Logica Aldiscon UK Vodafone Sema Spain Airtel From Logica Aldiscon to Sema Spain Telefónica Móviles CMG and ADC NewNet Sweden Comviq Logica Aldiscon Sweden Europolitan Nokia Sweden Telia Mobile CMG
EUROPE, OTHER
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Albania Andorra STA Logica Aldiscon Cyprus Cyprus Telecoms Authority Gibraltar Gibtel Guernsey Guernsey Telecom No SMS Center Iceland Telecom Iceland Iceland Postur og Simi CMG Isle of Man Manx Telecom Jersey Jersey Telecoms Norway Telenor Mobil CMG Norway NetCom Logica Aldiscon Malta Telecell Logica Aldiscon Monaco Office des Telephones Switzerland Swisscom CMG Switzerland diAx Nokia Switzerland Orange Nokia Turkey Telsim ADC NewNet Turkey Turkcell CMG
EASTERN EUROPE
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Armenia ArmenTel Azerbaijan Azercell Telecom Bosnia Herzegovina Public Enterprise PTT Ericsson MXE Bulgaria MobilTel Croatia HPT CRONET Logica Aldiscon Czech Republic EuroTel Nokia Czech Republic RadioMobil (Paegas) CMG Estonia Ritabell Logica Aldiscon
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 137 Estonia Radiolinja Estonia Estonia Eesti Mobiiltelefon (EMT) CMG Hungary Pannon GSM Nokia Hungary Westel 900 Logica Aldiscon Georgia Geocell Georgia Magticom Georgia Superphone Latvia Baltcom GSM Latvia Latvia Mobile Telephone Co. Nokia Lithuania Omnitel Nokia Lithuania UAB Bite GSM Macedonia Macedonian Telecoms Ericsson MXE Poland Centertel CMG Poland Era Sema Poland Polkomtel (Plus) Nokia Romania MobiFon Sema, CMG Romania Mobil Rom Russia Don Telecom Russia TAIF Ericsson MXE Russia/ Izeuvesk Umdurtia Digital Ericsson MXE Russia Ermat RMS Russia Extel Russia/ Moscow KB Impuls (Bee Line 1800) Sema and Moscow Oblast Russia Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) CMG Russia North West GSM Nokia Russia Siberian Cellular Systems Russia United Telecom Russia Uraltel Russia/ Central and VimpelCom (Bee Line 1800) Sema Central Chernozem Regions Serbia Mobile Telecommunications Ericsson MXE Slovakia Globtel Unisys Slovakia EuroTel Slovenia Mobitel CMG Ukraine Kyivstar Sema Ukraine Ukrainian Mobile Comms Ukraine Ukrainian Radio Systems Ukraine Bancomsvyaz (Golden Telecom) ADC Newnet Uzbekistan Buztel Uzbekistan Coscom Uzbekistan Daewoo Central Paging Ericsson MXE Uzbekistan Uzmacom Yugoslavia Mobile Telecommunications Yugoslavia Pro Monte GSM
Page 138 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham MIDDLE EAST AND INDIA
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Bahrain BATELCO Egypt Telecom Egypt (Formerly Arento) Sema Egypt ECMS (MobiNil) Sema Kuwait Mobile Telecommunications Logica Aldiscon Company Lebanon FTML Logica Aldiscon Lebanon Libancell Logica Aldiscon India/ Bihar Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone) Sema India/ Orissa Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone) Sema India/ Uttar-Pradesh Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone) Sema West India/ Uttar-Pradesh Koshika Telecom (Ushaphone) Sema East India (Hyderabad) Tata Communications Nokia India Skycell Nokia India Fascel Nokia India Evergrowth Nokia India BPL US West Nokia India BPL Logica Aldiscon India Sterling Logica Aldiscon India Aircell Digilink Logica Aldiscon India Bharti Cellular Ltd. Ericsson MXE India RPG Cellular Services Ltd. Ericsson MXE India Cellular Communications India Ltd. Ericsson MXE (CCIL) India Reliance Telecom Ericsson MXE Iran Celcom Iran KIFZO Iran TCI Israel Pele-Phone Communications Motorola Jordan JMTS (Fastlink) No SMS Center- precluded from providing SMS as part of its license agreement to protect local paging business. Libya EL MADAR Morocco NPT Oman Pakistan Mobilink PMCL Qatar Q-Tel No SMS Center Saudi Arabia EAE-ALJAWWAL Saudi Arabia PTT Al Jawwal Syria Syrian Telecommunication United Arab Emirates Telecom Corp- Etisalat Emirates
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 139 NORTH AMERICA
Mobile network operators in North America use the following SMS Centers:
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Canada/ON ClearNet Logica Aldiscon and ADC NewNet Canada/QE Microcell Connexions (Fido) Logica Aldiscon Canada/ BC BCTel Sema Canada/ Ontario Bell Mobility Sema Canada/ Alberta Telus Mobility Sema USA/AL Southern Companies Logica Aldiscon USA/AZ Iridium Logica Aldiscon USA Nextel Logica Aldiscon, NewNet USA/Pheonix, AZ GTE/ Bell Atlantic Mobile Motorola USA/El Paso, TX GTE/ Bell Atlantic Mobile Motorola USA/Charlotte, N. GTE/ Bell Atlantic Mobile Motorola Carolina USA/GA Powertel CMG USA/GA GTE Logica Aldiscon USA/GA BellSouth Cellular Logica Aldiscon USA/GA BellSouth Mobility Logica Aldiscon USA Mobile Tri-States LP 130 Sema (DigiPH PCS) USA/NY Omnipoint CMG USA/DC APC CMG USA/TX AT&T Mobile Logica Aldiscon USA/VI CSW Motorola USA/TX Southwestern Bell Logica Aldiscon USA/LA AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Seattle AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Pheonix AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Denver AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Minneapolis AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Atlanta AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/Sacramento AirTouch Communications Motorola USA/ Las Vegas, Alltel/360 Motorola Nevada USA/ Lynchberg, Alltel/360 Motorola VA USA/ Little Rock, Alltel/360 Motorola Arkansas USA/7 areas PrimeCo Personal Communications Motorola L.P., USA/IL Ameritech Logica Aldiscon USA/NJ Bell Atlantic Mobile Logica Aldiscon USA/UT AirTouch Logica Aldiscon USA/Minneapolis Pacific Bell Mobile Services Ericsson MXE, Sema, CMG
Page 140 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham USA AT&T Wireless Sema USA Vanguard Cellular Sema USA APC/ Sprint Spectrum Sema USA/Great Lakes AirTouch Sema USA Western Wireless Sema USA US Unwired ADC NewNet USA/ Waynesboro CFW Motorola VA USA/ Seattle WA GTE PCS Motorola USA/ Lubuck Poka Lambro Motorola Texas USA Aliant Cellular Motorola USA Iowa Wireless Nokia USA Aerial Communications Nokia USA Hawaiian Wireless (D-AMPS, Ericsson MXE SMR) USA PRTC (Puerto Rico) (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE USA Airadigm Communications (GSM) Ericsson MXE USA MacTel (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE
SOUTH AMERICA
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Argentina Movicomm Logica Aldiscon Argentina CRM Motorola Argentina Telefonica Communications Ericsson MXE (D-AMPS) Personales SA (TCP, UNIFON) Brazil Ceterp Motorola Brazil Telesp Motorola Brazil CRT- Port Alegre (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE Brazil ATL Algar (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE Chile Entel PCS CMG Chile TelCom Motorola Dominican Motorola Republic El Salvador Telemovil (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE Guatemala Comcel Motorola Jamaica Cable & Wireless Ericsson MXE Mexico Red Nacional Amcel Motorola Mexico Telcel (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE Peru (North) Telefonica del Peru Lima Motorola Peru (South) Telefonica del Peru Lima Motorola Venezuela TelCel Motorola Venezuela/ Caracas Motorola Venezuela Digitel Nokia Venezuela Movilnet (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 141 The telecommunications market in Brazil was transformed in 1998 through a process of privatization and the awarding of new mobile licenses. In 1998, Brazil awarded 10 licenses for ‘B-band’ cellular services which will compete with ‘A-band’ services offered by companies such as Telesp (AMPS) which were privatized in 1998. Some ‘B-band’ licensees will run D-AMPS IS-136 mobile networks.
Motorola and Ericsson have many installations of SMS Centers in the South American region.
AFRICA
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Botswana Mascom Cellular CMG Burkina Faso Onatel Cameroon P&T Cameroon Democratic African Telecomm Network Republic of Congo Cote D’Ivorie Comstar Cote D’Ivorie Loteny Telecom Cote D’Ivorie Societe Ivorienne de Mobiles (SIM) Sema Ethiopia Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority Ghana Scancom Ericsson MXE Guinea Sotelgui Sema Guinea Spacetel Guniee Kenya Kenya P&T Lesotho Vodacom Madagascar Madacom Madagascar Sacel Malawi Telekom Network Mauritius Cellplus Mozambique Mozambique Cellular Sema Namibia Mobile Communications Company (MTC) Reunion Societe Reunionnaise De Radiotelephone Senegal SONATEL Seychelles Cable and Wireless South Africa MTN Logica Aldiscon South Africa Vodacom Sema Sudan Mobitel Tanzania TRI Uganda CelTel Zaire TelCel Motorola Zimbabwe Net.One
Page 142 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham ASIA
Country Network Operator SMS Center Supplier Australia Vodafone Sema Australia Optus Logica Aldiscon Australia Telstra Logica Aldiscon Bangladesh Grameen Phone Bangladesh TM International (AKTel) Sema Bangladesh Telekom Malaysia International Brunei Darussalam DataStream Technology Logica Aldiscon Cambodia Cam GSM Company Ltd China/ Beijing Beijing Telecommunications Nokia Administration China Zhejiang PTA Nokia China Shanxi PTA Nokia China Fujian PTA Nokia China Henan PTA Nokia China Ningxia PTA Nokia China/ Hunan, MPT Centigram Yunan, Liaoning, Suzhou and Guizhou Provinces. China/ Beijing Beijing Unicom Logica Aldiscon China/ Guangxi Guangxi \Unicom Logica Aldiscon China/ Guangdong Guangzhou PTA Logica Aldiscon, Sema China/ Guangdong Guangdong Mobile Communications Ericsson MXE Corporation (GMCC) China/ Jiangxi Jiujiang PTA Sema China/ Jilin Jilin City PTA Sema China HPTA Hebei Ericsson MXE, Logica Aldiscon China Lianoning Province Mobile Ericsson MXE Communication Ltd. (Shenyang) China Shandong (Jinan) Ericsson MXE China Jiangsu (Wuxi & Suzhou) Ericsson MXE China Harbin PTA (Heilongjiang) Ericsson MXE China Tong liao PTB Ericsson MXE Fiji Vodafone Fiji Sema Hong Kong Hongkong Telecom CSL Logica Aldiscon, Nokia Hong Kong Hutchison Telecom Logica Aldiscon, Motorola Hong Kong Mandarin Communications (Sunday) Logica Aldiscon Hong Kong New World PCS Nokia Hong Kong P Plus Communications Hong Kong Pacific Link Logica Aldiscon Hong Kong People’s Telecom Logica Aldiscon Hong Kong SmarTone Mobile Communications Sema, Nokia Indonesia Excelcom, (GSM-XL), Logica Aldiscon
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 143 Indonesia Komselindo Logica Aldiscon Indonesia PT Satelindo Logica Aldiscon, Sema Indonesia Telkomsal Logica Aldiscon Lao Shinawatra Telecom New Zealand BellSouth Logica Aldiscon New Zealand Telecom New Zealand (D-AMPS) Ericsson MXE Macau CTM Logica Aldiscon Malaysia Binariang Communications (Maxis) Sema Malaysia Celcom Logica Aldiscon Malaysia Mutiara CMG Malaysia Time Wireless (formerly Sapura Nokia Digital) Malaysia Telecom Cellular Sdn Bhd Malaysia TMTouch Logica Aldiscon New Caledonia Telecom NC (Mobilis) Mongolia MobiCom Papua New Guinea Pacific Mobile Communications Philippines Globe Telecom Nokia Philippines PilTel Motorola Philippines Islacom Logica Aldiscon Singapore Singapore Telecom Mobile Logica Aldiscon Singapore MobileOne Nokia, Motorola Sri Lanka MTN Networks Taiwan Chungwa Telecom Taiwan Digital Phone Co Taiwan FarEasTone Telecommunications Sema Taiwan KG Telecom Logica Aldiscon Taiwan MobiTai Taiwan Pacific Communications Services Taiwan TransAsia Telecommunications Logica Aldiscon Taiwan TUNTEX Logica Aldiscon Thailand Total Access Communications Nokia South Korea Korea Mobile Telecom Logica Aldiscon South Korea KTRC Logica Aldiscon South Korea LGT Logica Aldiscon South Korea SKTelecom Logica Aldiscon South Korea Hansol PCS ADC NewNet South Korea Korea Telecom Freetel ADC NewNet South Korea Shinsegi Telecom ADC NewNet
Page 144 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Network Case Study: Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland) in Finland
INTRODUCTION
Sonera (formerly Telecom Finland) in Finland is almost certainly the world’s leading mobile network operator for SMS. Finland has the highest penetration of mobile phones in the world- about 50% of the population, i.e. one in every two people, has a mobile phone. Sonera’s customers send and receive the highest quantity of short messages in total- a relatively small user base of about 1.2 million customers were apparently transmitting approximately 20 million short messages per month by August 1998. SMS usage has been growing at a far faster rate than voice usage- an annual SMS growth rate of 800% was seen from 1997 to 1998. Many Sonera customers spend more each month on SMS than they do on voice calls. So what are the success factors that have led to this high usage of SMS and what can the rest of the mobile world learn from Sonera’s success?
SONERA TEXTUS BRANDED SERVICES
Sonera’s SMS services fall into two broad categories- “Textus” services that were launched in March 1998 and are branded by Sonera, and other SMS services which are not branded by Sonera. The Textus services include general information services such as jokes, the lottery, weather and information from teletext. All of this information is available from other sources such as the Internet- the idea is to use SMS to make that information available in a timely and convenient form for mobile users. The only major category of general information services that is not currently available is horoscopes.
PREMIUM RATE INFORMATION SERVICES
The information services that are not branded Sonera are premium rate information services offered by content providers such as banks and supermarkets who use Sonera’s network to transmit information to their customers. (In the next cast study, Vodafone in the UK have a similar range of premium rate information services).
These premium rate information services include:
· a weather service covering 450 domestic towns and cities and 60 international cities offered by Weather Services Finland
· banking services including both information provision and transacting from the OKO bank
· railway timetables from the Finnish Railways company
· SOK, a major retailer, offers a loyalty program using SMS. Information such as bonus balances and credit balances are communicated using SMS.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 145 · In the Oulo region of Finland, a pilot project allows people to carry out their daily grocery shopping using an SMS-based service. They order their goods using SMS which are later delivered to their home. This is sort of like an electronic shopping list!
UNIQUE FINNISH CHARACTERISTICS
The Finnish market does have some unique characteristics that make it unlike other GSM markets. For example:
· DEBT-FREE. Despite its 50% penetration, very few of these users subscribe to prepayment tariffs. There is minimal bad debt in Finland compared with other markets.
· PULL. Most of the SMS-based services are driven by pull mechanisms- in other words, they rely on mobile phone users originating short messages from their mobile phones. This high willingness to manually request information is also the case in other Nordic markets such as Norway. In other countries, pushed information services and electronic voice (IVR) platforms to request information are seen as being essential to the success of the service.
Despite its current trend towards pull-based services, Sonera does have many successful push services using IVR. It does see the case for push services in the future, but sees the activation method as being a choice between IVR, SMS, WAP, the Internet or something else.
For example, Sonera offer an account enquiry service through which its customers can find out how much they had spent that month on their mobile phone. This service was initially offered only as an electronic voice (IVR) service- but was completely free of charge. In 1998, Sonera extended this account enquiry service to SMS- and charged for the short message. The SMS-based service was an immediate success and receives about the same amount of usage as the IVR-based offering.
Building on this success, in May 1998, Sonera launched its GSM Account Reminder service using SMS- customers can choose and set a limit to their spending on GSM calls, such as 100 or 300 Finnish Marks. The system automatically sends a short message to the user when they exceed their limit- but does not prevent the customer from making further calls! The service is available in Finnish, Swedish and English.
Despite the high usage of pull-based services, Sonera does not make much use of SIM Application Toolkit-enabled applications such as customized menus on phones. They are however an active participant in the Wireless Application Protocol Forum. The reason for this is that services based on mobile phone protocols such as Nokia Smart Messaging and SIM Application Toolkit are not supported by all mobile phone users. This limits the service accessibility. WAP however, due to its wide support from the majority of mobile phone manufacturers, is likely to mean that more interactive services are available to all new users and those who upgrade to WAP compliant phones. The provision of
Page 146 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham phone-driven services is however simplified in Finland by the fact that Nokia and Ericsson account between them for 90% of all mobile phones. In many other markets, there are vast numbers of different phone manufacturers and models being used- each with a different interface for SMS.
In September 1998, Sonera signed an agreement with Nokia for a High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) solution. Sonera was one of the first network operators to adopt HSCSD.
· COMPLICATED. I was surprised to see the level of information included in the short message when using Sonera’s information services. When you request the weather in a certain town, the data received includes the direction of the wind, wind speed and other specialist information. When you request the train times, you get the alternative possibilities included in the same short message! In other markets, the rule is to keep it simple!
The other factor complicating the use of such pull-based services is the fact that the Sonera customer has to remember the Destination Address to send the short message to. Each premium rate information service has a different short code. This allows Sonera to distinguish services per price group for barring and other reasons. However, the services should where billing flexibilities and so on allow, be external rather than internal-facing and as user friendly as possible.
· LOW USE OF MOBILE EMAIL SERVICES. Email-related services are not as popular as you might think in Finland- despite world-leading penetration rates of Internet access, Sonera have not pushed the use of SMS as a notification for Internet email. Indeed, budget-conscious IT and telecoms managers have shown themselves in some cases reluctant to see SMS traffic increase further. Corporate email gateways such as X.400 to SMS are however widely established. In July 1998, Sonera did launch its “Mailis” service that sends Internet email messages from home or office systems to mobile phones using SMS and in August 1998, it offered SMS notifications to Sonera’s “iNet” subscribers who use Sonera as their Internet Service Provider.
SONERA SMS SUCCESS FACTORS
The Sonera SMS Success factors are:
· YOUTH. Teenagers are a significant user of SMS in Finland. They tend to be more cost conscious and willing to learn how to use the SMS features of their mobile phones than older people who are more likely to make voice calls to communicate. Young people would rather arrange or change meeting their friends using SMS rather than voice. Use of mobile phones in schools in Finland is also an issue- for example, exchanging message during classes and exams. Mobile phones are now routinely banned from examination halls in Finland. Young people also use SMS instead of making voice calls and simply for personal chat.
· INTER-NETWORK NATIONAL SMS ROAMING. Well over half of all short messages are sent to people on other mobile networks in Finland. Short messages are sent from Sonera customers to people on the competing Radiolinja network,
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 147 and vice versa. Other markets do not allow users to send short messages between competing mobile networks (See the “National SMS Roaming” section for more detail). Sonera consider it natural to offer such a service, because after all, voice calls between the networks are commonplace and taken for granted. Sonera certainly fear uproar and a consumer backlash if they ever switched off the national SMS interconnect. Standard messages can be billed for when sent between networks, however premium rate information services cannot be charged for.
· PENETRATION. The overall high levels of penetration in the Finnish market create a greater willingness amongst parties such as supermarkets, libraries and car park operators to develop mobile-based services. These services are available to the broad mainstream of customers rather than being seen as a sophisticated add-on for a technologically savvy group of high flyers. Certainly, the higher the penetration the more potential recipients of short messages are available- and the greater the potential user base for SMS-based services. SMS, as with other forms of communication, becomes more and more valuable as the user base increases, and this in turn stimulates the development of SMS-based applications, building the momentum still further.
· EXPERIMENTATION. The Sonera practice is to “soft launch” new mobile network services such as prepaid and information services and incorporate user feedback into the final product. Services and products that are soft launched are not offered free of charge, rather they are made available at standard rather than premium rates. Mobile phone users in Finland have, like Japanese customers, a high willingness to trial new services.
Some of the applications such as the ability to purchase a soft drink or pay for a car wash using your mobile phone explore early electronic commerce applications. Calling Sonera’s automatic service number not only starts the car wash, but automatically adds the charge to the user’s mobile phone bill!
Sonera do not believe that there is any one critical success factor in achieving their high SMS success- rather it has been a question of offering its customers a wide range of different SMS-based services and allowing them to decide which services they will use heavily. Translation services have not proven popular, but the directory enquiries service has- this is not always easy to predict in advance of service launch. Directory enquiries information such as addresses and telephone numbers are available as short messages for customers dialing Sonera’s 020204 service. Mobile users can find every telephone number listed in Finland using Sonera’s Telefinder database.
CONCLUSION
Sonera conclude their discussion of SMS services by saying that information services are 10% technology and 90% markets. Successful services can take a year or more to establish. Considerable marketing expenditure and ongoing customer education is required from the content provider or network operator. Prototyping is easy but launching a robust commercial service is slow and expensive. The conclusion is to
Page 148 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham “Start early, make lots of mistakes (especially in pilot phase) and take many small steps”. Given their ongoing success, this advice is well worth taking.
Case Study: Vodafone in the UK
To see how a leading mobile network operator in Europe has leveraged SMS throughout its portfolio of value-added services, let us take a look at Vodafone in the UK. (See also http://www.vodafone.co.uk). Vodafone pioneered non-voice services through a 50-person strong dedicated subsidiary called Vodafone Value Added Services (formerly Vodata). Vodafone co-developed the Sema SMS Center, which they naturally therefore use.
Vodafone used to brand their Short Message Services as “Telenote”, saying, for example, instead of “short message”, “telenote message”, but eliminated the term and switched to “Vodafone Short Message Services” and “text messages” in mid 1998. The services were known by their (long and complicated) technical names such as “Vodafone Short Message Services- Enhanced X.25 Radio Access”).
MOBILE ACCESS
This is the core underlying SMS Mobile Originate service. Vodafone have tried to encourage SMS MO usage, for example, in 1998, the network ran a promotion where customers sending their name and contact number to a special short code could win a free holiday. Entrants then received a short message by return thanking them for entering.
MOBILE ORIGINATE- PC/ PDA
A Vodafone-branded package for Psion handheld computers (developed by Palmtop in The Netherlands (See http://www.palmtop.nl)) combining a software package with a serial cable to link the certain Psion models to certain mobile phones for originating short messages using the keyboard on the Psion.
RECALL
This is Vodafone’s voice mail service. All new Vodafone customers are automatically assigned a Recall mailbox. Recall users have a choice between three different methods of receiving notification that they have new voice mail messages waiting:
1. The default alert mechanism for notifying subscribers that they have new voice mail messages waiting in their Recall mailbox is an automated voice call. The mobile phone rings as normal and the caller is prompted by an electronic voice with a message similar to the following: “This is the Vodafone Recall service. You have n new messages. Please dial 121 to listen to your messages”. The user can then dial 121 at their convenience to listen to their voice mail messages.
2. An alternative but similar alert mechanism for notifying subscribers about new voice mail messages is an automated voice call. The mobile phone rings as normal and the caller is prompted by an electronic voice with a message similar to the
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 149 following: “This is the Vodafone Recall service. You have n new messages. Your messages are…”. Instead of being alerted and then having to dial 121 to listen to the messages, this alert mechanism automatically delivers the voice mail messages to the subscriber as part of the same call as the notification.
3. The third message notification option with the Recall voice mail service is through SMS. The Recall customer receives a new short message in the normal manner (the short message is not immediately displayed on the phone display), and having read the short message saying “Recall has n new messages”, the user can dial 121 to retrieve them.
In addition to being an option for Vodafone UK customers using their mobile phone in the UK, SMS is the default and sole Recall voice mail alert mechanism for Vodafone customers who are roaming overseas. The origination address of the Recall short message is automatically set as the subscriber’s complete Recall voice mailbox number because the short code (121) does not work when users are roaming away from the Vodafone mobile network.
TRAVELFAX
TravelFax is a fax mailbox service whereby faxes are sent to a fax mailbox. Every time a new fax is received, a short message is sent to alert the user who can then dial in and retrieve their faxes. TravelFax users are assigned a unique fax mailbox number- faxes are stored in their personal fax mailbox. Users then dial their personal fax retrieval number to access their faxes.
RESPOND
The Respond user dials an electronic voice (Interactive Voice Response (IVR)) system and follows some voice prompts, entering the mobile number they wish to send a short message to. This is not a freeform short message, instead the user appends a canned short message saying something like “Please call me urgently”, Please call me when convenient” and so on. The Vodafone Respond service is marketed as a service for sending a short message to a Vodafone user without needing anything other than a commonplace fixed telephone.
RESPOND PLUS
The RespondPlus service is a SMS bureau service. Subscribers divert all calls unconditionally to the RespondPlus bureau where a human operator takes the short message and sends it. The RespondPlus service uses USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) to set up and cancel the unconditional divert to the service.
MINUTE MANAGER
Some Vodafone tariffs include bundles of airtime such as 50 or 100 minutes per month. This service allows subscribers to such tariffs to find out how many minutes they have used up. Users make a voice call to an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) electronic voice response system. The user’s mobile telephone number is
Page 150 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham automatically pulled through. The user finishes the call and quickly receives a short message that also lists the time and date of the last call.
DIAL UP MESSAGING
This is a one-way SMS send service accessed via modem dial-up (or X.25). It allows the user to dial in and send up to two freeform short messages per call. This service is dialog driven such that the user follows interactive prompts. The service can be accessed by dumb terminal hosts such as terminal emulators. Alternatively, the dial- up script has been automated by many basic short message submission software packages such as Dialogue PageMail and AirMedia Notify! It is not possible for the host to receive short messages or confirmation of short message delivery using this service.
ENHANCED X.25 RADIO ACCESS
This is Vodafone’s two-way SMS that supports the full capability of the Sema SMS Center by offering users access via X.25 to primary features such as SMS send, SMS receive and confirmation of short message delivery. Secondary features are also supported such as enquiries to the SMS Center about the delivery status of submitted short messages, replace or delete undelivered short messages. Mobile phones can originate short messages to software applications by setting the Destination Address as a full X.25 address associated with the host. The majority of corporate applications make use of this service.
FONEMAIL
A two-way SMS package based on Enhanced X.25 Radio Access (developed by Paragon Software (http://www.paragonsoftware.com)) that combines Windows 95 software with a X.25 wireless Pad supplied by another Vodafone Group company called Vodafone Data Networks (formerly Paknet).
FoneMail is a user-friendly piece of software with an Inbox, Outbox and Sent messages folder, with icons depicting the status of the short messages, which automatically move between these different folders as the status of the short message changes. When a significant event occurs, such as short messages are successfully delivered or a short message expires, a window is opened on the screen informing the FoneMail user of this fact. vodafone:m@ail
This is Vodafone’s Internet email service (developed by Sendit (http://www.sendit.se). Subscribers get an email address in the form [email protected] which they can optionally personalize. When emails are sent to those addresses, a short message is sent to alert users who then use proprietary client software to download their full emails using PSTN or GSM Data.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 151 FAX MESSAGING
This is a SMS to fax gateway service. Users originate short messages either in free- format or in a pre-defined format listing who the fax is to, who its from and what its on, delimited by hash symbols. The Destination Address is 9741 followed by the full UK fax number. The Fax Messaging Server builds the short message into a single page fax which includes the Vodafone logo and also the sender’s mobile phone number, time and data and so on. The user also gets a short message back notifying them of successful/ unsuccessful delivery of the fax message.
BUSINESS PARTNERS PROGRAMME
Vodafone has a Business Partners Programme that encourages and supports independent SMS software providers to develop software applications and solutions for Vodafone’s corporate customers using the Short Message Service. Companies such as WIN and Crosland profiled in this document are Vodafone Business Partners. Some of these applications use the one-way dial-up service, many use Enhanced X.25 Radio Access.
Vodafone’s approach is very much to encourage all application developers to port their software and solutions to Vodafone’s SMS Center. They do so by providing the Sema external specification, detailed application implementation guides, free access to a test SMS Center whilst the application is being developed and so on. Once the application has been developed and successfully deployed in at least one live commercial customer, software developers can become full Vodafone Business Partners- listed in a Business Partners Directory, with space on Vodafone exhibition stands, case studies and publicity, recommendations to other Vodafone corporate customers and so on. The partnership is based on mutual gain- the Business Partners need a reliable mobile network and Business Partner applications tend to generate large messaging volumes for Vodafone.
Corporate applications such as the vehicle positioning solution that Crosland provide to Reliance Custodial Services for allocating jobs and tracking vehicles, and a British Gas services application, account for heavily SMS and Data traffic respectively. The British Gas Services application is the largest mobile data application in the UK. Over 5,000 field-based service engineers were equipped with laptop computers and send and receive over 100,000 Data calls per day including service calls, work progress, stock requirements and technical data.
See http://www.vodafone.co.uk/data/partners.html for a complete listing of the Vodafone Business Partners and their contact data.
PREMIUM RATE INFORMATION SERVICES
Vodafone have extended the idea of premium rate information services by voice to SMS. Vodafone offers a range of different information services that can be configured as Interactive Voice Response (IVR) voice call in, SMS out or SMS send to SMS receive. Vodafone offer a reverse charge tariff, such that the recipient of the short message is charged 10 pence, 15 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence or one pound per short message (the inbound voice call or short message may also be charged for). Vodafone
Page 152 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham actively encourage independent information providers to develop and deliver information services by SMS. The information provider receives a percentage of the retail charge. For example, if the user is charged one pound, the information provider receives 58 pence.
Some of the many services available from independent information providers include football (soccer) and cricket, plus financial information services at various different prices have been developed and deployed by the likes of Wireless Information Network. None of these services are branded by Vodafone. Another information service is that branded Scoot and offered by a company called Freepages. Customers dialing 333 (a free call) can request directory and events information, and ask to have these contact telephone numbers sent to them via short message for free.
The Cooperative Bank launched a mobile banking service in 1996. Co-operative Bank customers can request via an IVR (electronic voice) prompt system their last four transactions, overdraft amount, account balance and so on. Vodafone also worked with another bank Lloyds TSB to develop a more sophisticated mobile banking service that involves transactions such as paying bills as well as information provision. The service will be available by March 1999. A customized menu of mobile services will be sent to user’s mobile phones using SIM Application Toolkit.
DATA-ONLY AND HIGH VOLUME TARIFFS
In addition to offering a full range of SMS-based services, Vodafone in the UK also offers a range of tariffs for its value-added network services. All Vodafone customers are automatically enabled to send and receive short messages and GSM Data and Fax, whether or not their mobile phone supports these services. Additionally, many Vodafone customers are subscribed to tariff plans that include a certain quantity of inclusive airtime, such as 30 minutes of included minutes every month. This call credit can be used to make either voice, Data or Fax calls.
Vodafone also offer an SMS-only tariff where the subscriber is barred from making any other kinds of calls. Such a tariff is designed for vertical market applications such as remote monitoring. The SMS-only tariff is available at a significant discount to standard monthly subscription packages that include voice and other types of calls. There is also a tariff available for Data, Fax and short messages, from which voice calls are barred.
Additionally, Vodafone have introduced some high volume SMS tariffs which allows corporate customers to purchase 1000, 2500 or 5000 short messages per mobile subscription per month. The average per message price of each of these short messages is substantially lower than the standard Vodafone price for a mobile originated short message. Some restrictions do apply, such as the requirement for the messages to sent within a closed user group.
As we can therefore see, Vodafone deploy the Short Message Service extensively both as a core service and as a supplementary notification mechanism. For more information on these and Vodafone’s other value-added services, see: http://www.vodafone.co.uk/data/vodata.html
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 153 Case Study: Value-Added Services in Hungary
PANNON GSM
See http://www.pgsm.hu
Pannon GSM groups its value-added services into the following categories:
CALL HANDLING INFORMATION · Call Waiting · Exact Time · Call Hold · PannonIndex · Call Forwarding · Caller Identification · Caller Identification Restriction · Multi Party · Barrings MESSAGE TRANSFERRING MOBILE DATA · Voice Mail · PannonData · Pannon Fax Store · PannonFax · Pannon Mobile Post · Internet Mail Address · SMS
Pannon offers its customers three different levels of Voice Mail services with different functionality sets. Private Voice Mail is free of charge but allows fewer, shorter voice messages that are stored for shorter periods. Business Voice Mail has larger capacity, more and longer messages can be stored in the voice mail boxes as at Private Voice Mail. The flagship Business Plus Voice Mail service offers additional voice mail features such as distribution lists and message transfer and reply. The different Voice Mail levels include different number of free of charge short messages (currently Private includes 20, Business 40, Business Plus has 60 free of charge short messages). From the beginning of this year Pannon GSM offers SMS service free of monthly fee to anyone taking Voice Mail. This includes 20 free MO SMS messages per month, thereafter HUF 25 is charged for each additional message sent. SMS must be activated by Pannon Customer Care before it can be used. (Each Voice Mail levels include different number of free messages).
PannonData and PannonFax are both subscription-based services which Pannon customers opt into. By subscribing to PannonFax, customers also get Fax Store and Itemized Bills. PannonFax, Fax Store, Itemized Bill and Internet Access services are included with a PannonData subscription. If PannonData subscribers require use of the transparent mode and/ or extra speeds besides the two default speeds of 4800 and 9600 bits per second, this is available for them for an additional monthly fee.
Pannon Fax Store is a fax mailbox service where users get a fax number for faxes to be sent to and a fax retrieval password. SMS is used to notify users of new faxes.
Page 154 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham The Internet Mail address service allows, for a monthly fee, Internet email messages to be sent and received. This service is only available with simultaneous subscription to PannonData.
Pannon Mobile Post is an SMS-based service which allows Internet email messages to be sent and received without an Internet subscription. Users can write messages and include within the body of the short message the email address to send the message to. Messages are sent to a special short code for onward delivery to that Internet address. Pannon Mobile Post users are also allocated an email address: “number@sms.pgsms.hu” which emails can be sent to and appear on the mobile phone in the form of a short message.
Information services available to Pannon GSM customers are “Exact Time”, based on a voice call, and “PannonIndex”, an SMS-based service for financial information and exchange rates which any customer with a subscription to SMS can use. The PannonIndex service is pull-based, requiring users to originate a short message in a special format to receive that information back in the form of an incoming short message.
It is fairly complicated for Pannon users to work out which services they have subscribed to- services are bundled together with other services, subscriptions are needed for the underlying services before other services can be used, and so on. Most of these services need to be pre-activated too.
As such, Pannon GSM has a range of value-added services available for its customers- it has the basic range of services such as messaging and Data and Fax in place, along with some attempts to build content services on the underlying transmission services. It is therefore following a fairly typical value-added services development path- and will probably look to add more information services and so on in the future.
WESTEL 900
See http://www.westel900.hu
By mid 1998, Westel 900 had introduced 38 value-added services, which accounted for 4% of its total revenue. Its plan was to extend the proportion of revenues accounted by value-added services to 15% by 2000. (Westel’s definition of value- added services was anything above the basic services of coverage, service and voice quality, repair and customer service). These value-added services were grouped by Westel 900 into four categories:
STANDARD INFORMATION · Call Waiting · SMS Broadcasting · Call Hold · Company Information · Call Forward · Reuters News · Voice Mail · Reuters GSM Terminal · Internet/ Internet Rental INTERACTIVE DATA · Audiotext · Mobile Internet
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 155 · MegaPress 900 · Mobile Data · Mobile Fax
The Audiotext service gives callers the opportunity to make a voice call and follow a touch tone menu system to hear pre-recorded information. This serves as a telemarketing department for small businesses- allowing callers to find out product information, shop opening hours, promotions and so on by following a menu system until they find the information they are seeking. MegaPress 900 is an audio magazine, offering up-to-date information by voice on the stock exchange, sports, weather, traffic and horoscopes.
Some of these value-added services were developed in-house by Westel, others were developed in partnership with external companies. Partners included Reuters for the English language Reuters News and Reuters GSM Terminal services, Westel Press and Pesti Est for the MegaPress 900 service and Microsec offering information on companies.
To encourage and facilitate usage of its value-added services, Westel offers its customers free of charge access to the Internet via their mobile phone- there is no subscription or monthly fee, users simply pay for the Data calls they make, when they make them. Westel has also packaged different bundles of value-added services- for example, its “Business” tariff includes Business Voicemail, Caller Identification, SMS Mobile Originate and access to MegaPress 900. Its “GSM+” tariff includes Business Voicemail, SMS Mobile Originate and Caller Identification.
Westel 900 has pushed ahead with developing both the underlying value-added services and content services too. Westel was one of the fist mobile network operators to offer mobile banking services- its service with the Inter-Europe Bank was launched as early as May 1996. It is probably further ahead in offering content-based services providing information to its customers than Pannon GSM is. Like Pannon, it bundles services into packages, rather than allowing customers to decide which services they want and subscribe to them on an individual basis. As an article in the Wall Street Journal Europe in June 1998 was rightly headed “Westel Pushes Nonvoice Services- Firm Sells Phone As ‘Tool’ in Hungary”.
Network Case Study: Mutiara Telecom (DiGi 1800) Malaysia
Mutiara is perceived as an innovative cellular operator in Malaysia, where the market is very competitive with six active licensed network operators. Mutiara pioneered services such as:
· Dual-band International Roaming
· DiGi Prepaid, which uses the Swisscom SICAP SimCard-based prepaid platform
· DiGi Guarantees
The DiGi Guarantees offer the following customer-oriented benefits:-
Page 156 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham - 16-Day-Buy-Back-Guarantee – if new Mutiara customers are not satisfied with the network, Mutiara will refund their money as long as the new phones are returned within 16 days of purchase.
- 7-Day Replacement Guarantee - Replacement with similar models when faulty new phones are returned within 7 days of purchase.
- Loan-A-Phone Programme - Loan of a phone when a customer’s faulty phone is sent to Mutiara for repairs.
- Phone Upgrade Programme - Special rebates off new models with the option to trade in their existing model at current prices - the longer the customer has been on the DiGi network, the better the rebate.
- Lost and Stolen Programme - special discount off any replacement mobile phone.
· Call Programmes
The Call Programmes (http://www.mutiara.com.my/call/index.htm) were designed to cater to different subscribers with different needs.
The Call Classic, Call 60 and Call Global programmes are the basic call packages which customers choose between. Customers on any of these basic call packages can optionally add on Call Select and/or the Value Plan.
- Call Classic is the basic call package.
- Call 60 subscribers enjoy free local calls (i.e. calls within the same charging area) for the first 60 minutes every month. Under the Call 60 programme, this first 60 free minutes monthly are calculated on a per-second basis (rates are normally charged in 20 second blocks).
- Call Global subscribers receive a 25% discount on Mutiara’s standard tariffs for International Directly Dialed calls.
- Call Select subscribers receive 30% off calls to three telephone numbers (including international numbers) of their choice.
Mutiara was the first network operator in Asia to use the CMG SMS Center and currently offers the following Data and SMS-related services:
· SMS Mobile Terminate and Mobile Originate. SMS Mobile Originate is charged at RM0.10 per message, SMS MT is free-of-charge.
· Email alert. This email notification service is offered in partnership with Malaysia Online (MOL), an Internet service provider. The short message details the sender's name (if defined), the sender's email address and the subject matter. Users can also customize their alert facility so that they get notified only of high priority emails or emails from a particular sender (up to five). These filters are set up from a special Internet page hosted by MOL. More information can be found at
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 157 http://www.mol.net.my/frame/e-alert.html
· Mutiara works closely with partners such as MOL and Putra.net (http://www.putra.net) to develop Data and SMS applications and promotions such as bundling the Nokia 9000 with an Internet account that offers special subscription rates.
· Mobile Data & Fax. There is a one-time activation fee of RM5.00 plus a monthly fee of RM2.00 for these services. All Data/Fax calls are charged as per normal airtime rates.
· Operator Assisted SMS. Anyone who wishes to send a short message to a DiGi 1800 subscriber can call the SMS operator at 016-110 (24 hours) from a DiGi or PSTN phone and dictate a message to the operator which is then immediately sent. All calls to the SMS operator are charged at local rate from anywhere in Malaysia.
This service is particularly useful as there is no national interconnect for SMS between the various network operators at the moment. Non-Mutiara customers can use it to contact Mutiara customers. Successful tests have taken place between Mutiara, Celcom and Adam. However, some network operators in Malaysia such as Maxis do not have SS7 in their interconnect links which significantly hinders an SMS interconnect.
· SMS is offered as part of Mutiara’s Value Plan (See http://www.mutiara.com.my/call/ValuePlan.htm). The Value Plan is a bundle of value-added services, designed to offer DiGi subscribers value for money. The Value Plan offers :-
*Voicemail *Calling Line Identification-Presentation (CLIP) *Short Message Service (Sending & Receiving) *Call Divert *Multi-Party Conferencing *Call Waiting *Call Hold
Whilst some value-added services such as Mobile Data & Fax, Caller Line Identification Restriction and Itemised Billing can be subscribed to individually, Mutiara customers have to subscribe to all of the services in the Value Plan. These means that they must subscribe to the Value Plan to use CLIP or SMS. The only service that is in the Value Plan and also available as an individual service is Voicemail. This means that a Mutiara customer who simply wants to send a short message has to sign up for SMS as well as several other services and pay a monthly fee. Those customers who would be willing to pay for SMS on a message by message basis or who would pay a lower monthly fee for SMS only, are precluded from using SMS.
SMS is one service that has been relatively untapped in Malaysia and Mutiara Telecom is planning to develop its portfolio of services to include information and affinity programs which use SMS to deliver private and public
Page 158 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham content to its customers. Mutiara Telecom already offers a voice-based information service called Stock Services whereby customers dial into hear current share prices. An additional feature of the service is Stock Alert, which automatically notifies subscribers of changes in a particular stock price via a voice call to the customer’s phone or a fax. Cell Broadcast (the ability to broadcast the same message to many customers in a particular geographic area) is also currently being tested within Mutiara with applications such as information services and advertising planned. Mutiara’s Cell Broadcast supplier is Ericsson (who also supply their Switch, Base Station Controllers and Radio Base Stations).
In sum, by the summer of 1998, Mutiara had introduced a full range of underlying SMS-based services. They are now looking to build more content-based services.
Case study: SMS in Japan
Japan was the only country in Asia that did not adopt GSM as a digital mobile phone standard. Instead, telecommunications companies in Japan opted to develop their own standards that are not compatible with GSM. In Japan, there are two competing digital mobile phone standards- Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) and Personal Handyphone System (PHS). PHS is a cheaper and more restricted form of mobile communications compared with digital cellular. When the two competing standards were introduced, PHS enjoyed a cost advantage. However, this has been eroded as mobile phone and call costs have fallen generally. Whereas PHS is perceived to have lower voice quality, it has the advantage of high speed mobile data services at 64 kilobits per second. Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) meanwhile is, like GSM, limited to transmitting data at 9,600 bits per second. There is no support for SMS on Personal Handyphone System (PHS) mobile networks. However, the Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) standard incorporates support for SMS by making use of the ISDN User Part (ISUP) rather than the Transaction Capability Application Part (TCAP).
Logica Aldiscon pioneered and developed support for SMS over Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) mobile networks in their Telepath SMS Center, with network operators such as CDP and KDP in Japan purchasing the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center. They have been rewarded with three installations of their SMS Center in Tokyo, Kansai and central Japan for Digital Phone Group (DPG), a consortium of three Japanese mobile carriers. In addition, Logica Aldiscon won a contract with the Digital Tuka Group to install Telepath in six cities in south west Japan and signed a new reseller agreement with NEC.
Let us now look at two specific case studies of how network operators in Japan are deploying non-voice services such as SMS.
TOKYO DIGITAL PHONE (J-PHONE)
Toyko Digital Phone (http://www.tdp.co.jp) operates under the brand name of J-Phone and launched its store and forward Short Message Services in November 1997. J- Phone operates under the Personal Digital Cellular (PDC) digital cellular standard (at a frequency of 1.5 GHz). J-Phone uses the Logica Aldiscon SMS Center and its range
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 159 of SMS services is called “Sky Walker” and encompassed at September 1998 the following six services:
· Skymail -costs 5 yen to send a short message -supports Chinese language characters -each short message can have a maximum length of 64 whole characters (e.g. Chinese characters) or a maximum 128 half characters (such as Latin alphabets).
· Email -monthly fee is 1000 yen -costs 5 yen to send a short message -users do not need a laptop or mobile data terminal -it is not necessary to be registered with an Internet Service Provider -the J-Phone telephone number becomes the email address, for example, if the mobile number was 010-xyz-4567, then the email address would be 010-xyz- [email protected] -supports short messages with a maximum length of 128 characters when sending -supports short messages with a maximum length of 384 characters when receiving (i.e. 3 concatenated short messages) -short messages can be sent to J-Phone users from the J-Phone Internet home page
· Coordinator -allows you to send a short message to multiple recipients -costs 5 yen for each recipient of the short message -costs 5 yen to receive a reply -for example, users can send an invitation to a party with the date and time and then receive replies about whether the message recipients can attend or not
· Relay Mail -costs 5 yen to send -costs 5 yen to receive -allows users to send a short message from one recipient to another -each recipient can add comments to the short message -allows SMS to be used for the typical Japanese decision making process called “ringi”. This is a collective, team-based decision making system in which an idea or suggestion is sent from one colleague to another until it arrives several short messages later back with the originator. Each person receiving the idea short message can endorse it with effectively an electronic stamp and optionally append a comment to the end of the short message.
· Hotline -8 yen to send short message
· Greeting -5 yen to send a short message -users can schedule messages to be sent in advance. The time and date of when the short message can be set, for example, to wish someone happy birthday or to congratulate someone.
Page 160 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham IDO
IDO is another operator of a Personal Digital cellular (PDC) mobile network in Japan (See http://www.ido.co.jp). It is also planning to introduce a cmdaOne network in 1999.
IDO has joined the WAP Forum and partnered in May 1998 with Unwired Planet to use the UP.Link Server Suite to provide Internet email and information services. To use these services, IDO’s customers will need to have compatible WAP microbrowser-enabled mobile phones.
IDO has launched a fascinating and unique network service called ‘PUCHI MERU’ (which translates as ‘Petite Mail’). This service is very similar to SMS but in fact uses the Service 1 of the User-to-User Signaling supplementary service within the PDC standard. This service allows an ISDN user to send and receive a limited amount of information to or from another ISDN user over the signaling channel in association with a call to another ISDN user. (This service is detailed in ITU Recommendation I.257.1, Integrated Service Digital Network (ISDN), General Structure and Service Capabilities User-to-User Signaling). No SMS Center is used to deliver the ‘PUCHI MERU’ service.
Petite Mail contains a number of features:
- Monthly fee: free. Transmission cost: 5 yen per message. Users do not need to register and can therefore use the service immediately.
- Real-time communication: messages can be sent and received in real-time. When an IDO customer has received a Petite mail, they are immediately informed.
- The maximum message length of a single message is 128 characters when half characters (for example, English alphabets, numbers) are used. When whole characters (for example, Chinese characters) are used, the maximum supported message length is 64 characters.
- The service supports Chinese characters, as long as both the sender and the recipient of the message have mobile phones that support such character sets.
- Users of the service can chose between two methods of calling and sending:
- ‘poke-bell’. (‘pocket bell’, meaning a pager). This service provides a way of sending text messages just like a traditional pager. As soon as users send a message, the mobile phone returns to ‘ call receiving’ mode.
- ‘Greeting’. Before telephoning an IDO customer, a text-based message can be sent. Whilst you are calling, a text message is sent simultaneously. If the recipient answers, the caller and called party can start the conversation.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 161 Note:
- Chinese characters can be used so long as both parties have mobile phones that supports these characters
- the cost is incurred by the sender of Petite Mail
- if the recipient of the message has the Petite Mail service switched off, the sending cost is not incurred and a ‘Cannot Transmit’ message is displayed on the sender’s mobile phone
- if users are in ‘Greeting Mode’, and then switch to a conversation mode or phone call, the cost of a phone call is incurred
- even in ‘Pager’ mode, you might be able to switch to a phone call
- users cannot transmit Petite Mail messages in the ‘cellular’ and ‘DOKOMO- ROMINGU AREA’ (NTT DoCoMo Personal Handyphone System (PHS) roaming) locations.
Case Study Central
This section supplements the case studies throughout the book with details of SMS- based applications, promotions, partnerships and services from around the world.
· CZECH REPUBLIC: EuroTel offer their GSM InfoText push-based financial information services in conjunction with TANGER (http://www.ohkbrno.cz/tanger).
· CZECH REPUBLIC: RadioMobil’s Paegus GSM service introduced in 1998 offered its Internet-based international calling services. Users simply dial an extra two digit code before dialling the international number.
· CZECH REPUBLIC: RadioMobil offer a mobile banking service in conjunction with Expandia Bank. From the summer of 1998, the SIM Application Toolkit- based service allowed deposits and withdrawals, as well as providing account information.
· FRANCE: Schlumberger supplied SFR of France with its “Gestion d’Access” Windows software package that allows corporate customers to manage mobile phone usage and control mobile costs. This software is a tailored version of Schlumberger’s EasyFleet software for managing functions such as SMS, fixed and abbreviated number dialling and PIN codes.
· FRANCE: Motorola, Renault and France Telecom Mobiles partnered in 1998 to provide Renault car drivers with roadside assistance and emergency services. The optional system will enable drivers to press a single button for connection to a control center that can locate the vehicle’s location, driver’s identity and direction of travel.
Page 162 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham · ITALY: WIND, the third GSM network operator in Italy enters the market with a strategy of lower call prices, fixed and mobile convergence and a range of SMS- based information services from horoscopes, banking, financial, email and airline information. To try to counter its differentiation advantage, existing network operator Omnitel Pronto Italia decided to launch its mobile email service from Unwired Planet three months earlier than planned.
· JAPAN: NTT DoCoMo launched in December 1998 a mobile banking service in conjunction with six large Japanese banks which enables information access and transfers between accounts. A proprietary protocol, terminal and software has been developed for the service. Packet data at 9,600 bits per second is being used to transmit the information.
· MACAU: CTM in Macau introduced SMS in April 1998 with a trial SMS MO service called SMSnote. All mobile originated messages in the trial period were free of charge.
· MALAYSIA: Time Wireless (formerly Sapura Digital) has a Nokia Artus Messaging Platform which they use to provide customers on their Adam GSM 1800 mobile network with SMS-based information services such as travel information (called “Adam Smart Info”) and stock market data (“AdamStock”).
· PORTUGAL: Telecel and Reuters teamed up in March 1998 to offer its Reuters Telecel financial information service.
· SPAIN: Telefonica Moviles offers financial information services in conjunction with Reuters.
· UK: European Telecom, a UK-based mobile phone distributor and the National Westminster Bank jointly formed in 1998 a company called Lifestyle Communications to develop mobile banking services for NatWest’s customers.
· UK: Cellnet developed its Genie service to allow Cellnet customers convenient access to information services through an Internet page (http://www.genie.co.uk). Developed in conjunction with Hyperion (http://www.hyperion.co.uk). The interface is simple and intuitive enough for end users to go and register as a Genie customer and then subscribe to services. The range of information services offered by Genie has gradually expanded over time and now covers most of the popular categories of information services. The short messages are delivered free-of-charge, however, at the end of the short message, a premium rate telephone number is included for customers to call to receive more information.
A guide for network operators to maximize returns from SMS
The past few years have failed to see the realization of the full potential of value- added non-voice mobile network services such as Data and Short Message Service (SMS). Many of the predictions about the rapid and high growth in usage of such services have failed to materialize.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 163 Based on best practice from around the world, one approach by mobile network operators to realizing the full potential of existing and future non-voice based mobile services such as the Short Message Service, involves the following steps:
FOCUS ON REVENUE PER SUBSCRIBER AS WELL AS MARKET SHARE
Too many network operators have focused their efforts on customer acquisition- on getting the customer to sign to their network rather than that of a competitor. To acquire customers, they have used price-driven measures such as subsidizing the cost of entry (the mobile phone), reducing airtime charges and so on. Clearly, price reductions cannot go on forever. However, revenue per subscriber is also an important issue- the average expenditure on mobile services can be increased by providing value-added network services.
It is necessary for mobile network operators to both acquire customers and increase revenue spend. The fixed costs of developing value-added services are relatively independent of the number of customers on the network- it may about cost as much to develop a service for a million customers as a thousand. This is one of the advantages of outsourcing value-added services development if you are a small network operator.
Success requires both customers and services.
FOCUS ON SERVICES NOT TECHNOLOGY
The under-deployment of SMS has less to do with its usefulness and more to do with the way it has (and has not) been marketed and the way that future services have been over-hyped. False promises about "imminent" product and service innovations hold the entire market back as corporate customers and other users wait for the next generation of technology, despite the fact that today’s technology is often adequate to meet the requirements of their application. Mobile consultants and infrastructure providers who provide the mobile network components such as base stations and call switches have been peddling the potential of new high speed Data services such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) for a number of years now. (See the “Future Mobile Data Services” section for more information on the characteristics of these future services). It is of course understandable why infrastructure providers lobby the standards committees and hype such vaporware services in industry publications- they have an imperative to find new sources of revenue long into the future- they are looking to sell more products and services to the mobile network operators. The technology standards must be incorporated into the mobile network infrastructure supplier's products. Mobile network operators then have to decide whether to implement the new services. For a mobile network operator to commit to upgrading its network technology, the incremental service benefits have got to exceed the cost of deployment. Sufficient customers have to have a requirement that cannot be met without that new technology. Once that has happened, support for the new services needs to be rolled out into mobile networks (this often involves software or hardware upgrades), marketed and used by customers. Network-wide deployment can easily take a further 18 months to two years. Even those network operators that had actually decided in
Page 164 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham 1998 to introduce services such as GPRS did not expect the service to be commercially available to its customers until the year 2001 at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the existing services are neglected. The Short Message Service is a useful technology that allows 160 characters of information to be sent to and from mobile phones. This is often all the user needs. A single short message can contain a full address, share price portfolio information or whatever. The standard GSM Data communications rate of 9,600 bits per second- only a quarter of the speed of typical fixed communications modems, is too slow for picking up anything but short emails and surfing the net with images switched off. But it suffices for typical usage out in the field for vertical market applications such as service engineering and job form/ work sheet transfer.
One of the most significant reasons for the slow growth of non-voice mobile services is the focus on technology rather than customer applications. Mobile network operators try to be the first to implement technologies such as Nokia Smart Messaging that are neither necessary for customers nor easy-to-use. Too often, the hype surrounding potential new applications enabled by these new underlying services such as mobile videophones and mobile multimedia is of unknown and dubious value to the user. Too often, the mobile industry hypes technologies when there are no services available that use that technology in an innovative way, or hypes services when the underlying technologies are unreliable. Technology is a means to an end and not an end in itself. The mobile industry must modify its marketing messages, and realize the undeveloped use and revenues streams associated with existing technologies. Mobile network operators should use existing technology to meet customer requirements rather than creating new customer problems such as technology choices.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT SMS CENTER
Mobile network operators need to select the appropriate underlying technology platform to ensure that they have the infrastructure in place to reliably offer services. The essential SMS platform is the SMS Center. As we have seen in this book, all short messages pass through the SMS Center without exception, and the selection and deployment of a reliable SMS Center is therefore an essential starting point and building block, upon which innovative and useful services can be built.
The technology is necessary but not sufficient for realizing the full potential of SMS- the right services delivered in the right way is also essential.
CHOOSE POPULAR APPLICATIONS AND SERVICES
There is clearly an incentive for mobile network operators that have few live SMS services to initially focus on those SMS applications that deliver the greatest return in the shortest time period. These services are those that are most popular amongst mobile phone users.
In general around the world, the popular SMS-based services have been identified as vehicle positioning, Internet email services and information services such as customized weather, news, sports and banking information. Specific markets will have unique customer requirements for information services. For instance, lottery
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 165 results are popular in Bulgaria where the chance to earn a significant income is a valid dream for many people- whereas in Hong Kong, lotteries are not popular because they are purely related to luck- instead racing, where skill in selecting horses helps, is popular. In the Middle East, short messages for prayer reminders and alerting people about the sighting of the moon and therefore when public religious holidays have begun are a unique application for SMS. As we have seen, in Japan, SMS is used for the unique Japanese collective decision making system called “ringi”.
Find out how you can make your customer’s lives easier, and then develop those services.
REMEMBER SIMPLICITY
It is important to make sure that SMS-based services are simple and easy for customers to use. For example, it may be appropriate for financial information services aimed at stock market traders to use a sophisticated Internet interface involving selection of stocks and other instruments, trigger levels and so on. However, the end user looking to receive the scores of their favorite sports team will expect and demand a simpler method of subscribing and receiving that information.
The idea is to reduce the entry barriers to using value-added services by making it as simple and straightforward as possible for customers to subscribe to and use the services they are interested in.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT SMS SOFTWARE SUPPLIER
Once the underlying technology platform is in place and the popular services have been identified, the next step is to decide how to develop them and where to source them from.
There is usually a choice between buying in a solution from an outside supplier or developing a solution internally. They can:
SOURCE A SOLUTION THROUGH SMS CENTER SUPPLIER
In addition to the specific advantages and disadvantages of the value-added service platforms listed above, the following factors should also be taken into account:
Advantages:
If the service supplier is the same company as the SMS Center supplier, then the network operator is ensured of support between the two entities.
If the service supplier is an existing supplier, then a working relation has already been established. This reduces the likelihood of a selecting a company with a different corporate culture.
Page 166 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Disadvantages:
Solutions from SMS Center vendors tend to be significantly more expensive than similar services from independent software suppliers.
SOURCE AN EXISTING SOLUTION FROM, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE OF SMS SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS PROFILED IN THIS BOOK.
Advantages:
Already developed and deployed, allowing more rapid and reliable use.
Disadvantages:
Not a unique product which may already be available in the same market. May not be localized for the specific requirements of the local market.
SOURCE AN EXISTING SOLUTION FROM A LOCAL SUPPLIER
Advantages:
Localization of the product features and support is incorporated, allowing close working relation between the network operators and the supplier.
Disadvantages:
Few economies of scale from multiple implementations of a similar solution can be gained.
SPECIFY AND FUND DEVELOPMENT OF A SOLUTION IN-HOUSE
Advantages:
Uniquely designed for the specific network operating scenario. Intellectual property rights remain under the control of the network operator- who may be able to supply the same solution to other affiliated network operators in other markets.
Disadvantages:
Developing the service afresh is likely to take a long time and cost a lot, especially if such services do pre-exist and have been deployed by other companies in other markets.
Resource-intensive means of developing services- requiring human resources in particular- which are often scarce in the mobile industry.
The service sourcing decision is usually made on the basis of differing costs and benefits for each route. The decision will be made depending on the circumstances of the local network operator. If it is aware of an offering that is available that closely
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 167 meets the perceived requirements of its customers, then it may be highly disposed to source externally rather than internally. For services that are of strategic importance to the network operator, the tendency is to keep the service development and control in- house. Certainly, the SMS-based applications market has matured to the stage where existing solutions are available from different suppliers- whereas initially, pioneering network operators had little choice but to develop the services themselves.
PRICE THEM CORRECTLY
Pricing is an essential factor in maximizing the potential success of non-voice services such as SMS. Pricing decisions affect everything from a customer’s perception of the service to the allocation and management of the SMS Center capacity and revenues streams flowing to the network operator.
Ideally, the network operator should not price the SMS-based services a too high a level or too low a level.
By giving the value-added service away free-of-charge or close to free, the network operator may create a low value perception in the mind of many users and a commodity-like association with that service. Free-of-charge services also generate widespread usage as customers attempt to minimize their overall mobile expenditure by maximizing their usage of the free-of-charge services. This can lead to network infrastructure becoming flooded- and of course, SMS Centers are not free-of-charge- they require significant expenditure that can only be financed from SMS revenue streams or cross-subsidization from other parts of the network operator’s operations.
Let us hear two examples of how free-of-charge pricing can hinder rather than help the use of SMS. Firstly, a network operator made available a free-of-charge email notification service. Within days, the service was being used so widely that it had to be switched off because the SMS Center could not cope with the quantities of short message volumes being generated. The trouble with free-of-charge “pilot” services is that too often, the pilots crash the plane. A “trial” services can often lead to the network operator being convicted. In another case, a mobile network operator introduced its short messaging service “free-of-charge for a limited time” when it first launched its network. It then later wrote to its subscribers informing them that it would soon begin charging for short messaging. The user outcry and protest was so great that the network operator was forced to retract its intention to price and leave SMS free-of-charge. Customers had become so used to free-of-charge messaging that they were unwilling to pay. The network operator has now successfully introduced per message charging for its Short Message Services.
Neither should the non-voice services such as SMS be priced at too high a level- because that would discourage the part of the market that would derive a benefit from using SMS but is not willing to pay the cost of it.
In fact, alongside technical issues such as transit delays, per message prices are an essential factor in determining the usage levels of SMS. These two issues are important determinants of the take-up of applications such as those described earlier in this book. To maximize the revenue streams flowing from SMS, network operators such as Vodafone in the UK have cleverly differentiated between different users of
Page 168 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham SMS. Clearly, the value of the content in different short messages differs. By having a standard tariff for SMS for occasional and casual users of SMS, coupled with a high volume tariff incorporating significant discounts for frequent users, Vodafone meet the requirements of general users without hindering the cost-effectiveness of using SMS for high volume corporate applications such as vehicle positioning.
ENABLE ALL POTENTIAL USERS
Mobile network operators should make it as easy as possible for any of their customers to access and use non-voice services. Non-voice services such as SMS are difficult enough to find out about and use, without creating more entry barriers.
The decision to automatically enable all potential users clearly has revenue implications and is closely related to the network operator’s pricing decisions. If it decides to charge for the service on a monthly basis, then it may be necessary to require registration prior to service use. However, unless the network operator has some other purpose such as gathering data about their users for market research purposes, users should generally not have to pre-register.
Enabling all users also has the technical advantage of maximizing the performance of the SMS Center because storing data on every valid subscriber in the SMS Center significantly reduces the performance of the SMS Center performance, due to the requirement to validate customers on a message by message basis.
EDUCATE CUSTOMERS
The mobile network operator should invest in educating customers about the potential financial benefits from using services such as vehicle positioning to manage vehicle fleets. It is not as straightforward for customers to use value-added services initially and on an ongoing basis as it is for simple voice calls.
Providing this education involves a mobile network operator establishing various functions and initiatives, such as:
· an adequate customer support function with trained experts
· a dedicated department or company responsible for developing and deploying value-added services
· training initiatives, roadshows and workshops
The aim is for all parties in the value-added services sales and support function from retailers to customers to be knowledgeable and confident about using these services. Many of these functions are dedicated and specialist, because of the relatively low usage and high complexity of the non-voice mobile services. Companies such as Wireless Data Services (http://www.wds.org) specialize in understanding the issues and applications relating to Data and SMS.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 169 EDUCATE THE MOBILE WORKERS
Teleworkers tend to work from home- and may replicate the desk and computer infrastructure that they would have in an office. But there is another form of working away from the office- mobile working which involves using mobile technologies such as mobile phones and laptop computers to work from wherever you are- be that on the train, in a hotel, overseas or wherever. People have been working at home for centuries, but mobile working has only really become possible over the last few years.
The computing and communications technologies have evolved to the stage where the battery life, size and weight and price of the equipment needed is good enough for mobile working to be a viable option. There are still some limitations with mobile technologies- laptop computers do have short battery lives and mobile data communication speeds are very slow compared with the fixed telephone networks that teleworkers and office workers routinely use. However, these technology constraints have been falling, and will continue to do so.
At any one time during the working day, about half of the workforce is likely to be away from their desks- be that because of meetings, lunch, vacation, out-of-the-office visits or whatever. There is therefore a requirement for people who are in the office to keep in contact with people who are away from their desks. At the same time, people who are out of the office need to communicate with their office and access the information that is being sent to and generated in their office. Some jobs involve routine mobile activity- field sales and service management are good examples- everyone from couriers to lorry drivers to merchandising representatives to taxi drivers to bus conductors to cabin service staff are routinely away from a fixed environment, and would therefore be likely to benefit from mobile working.
Mobile working requires different attributes to teleworking or office working. Mobile workers need to have all the information that they require to do their job locally where the customer is. This means that the mobile worker cannot afford to be disorganized- they need to have some idea of what the job is, who the customer is and what the customer wants in advance of arrival at the remote location. Hence, the key to mobile working is making sure that the information flows between people- wherever they may be- so that the right person is in the right place with the right skills to do the job right. Because of the narrow bandwidth of mobile communications data transfer, it is important that mobile workers have a lot of the information they need with them locally- in their head, customer and product information stored on laptop computers, spare parts in their vehicle and so on. The best way to configure a mobile application is for the unchanging data such as product specifications to be stored locally with the mobile worker (on say CD-ROMs), whilst the changing information, such as job status, is communicated using mobile data communications.
Mobile workers also need to be resilient- in addition to the constraints of the mobile technologies themselves, the mobile working environment is likely to be much less convivial and convenient for work than an office or home environment. Working in a mobile place- such as a moving, vibrating, noisy train- or in a forest or with a laptop set up on your lap- is a more difficult and less comfortable working environment. Mobile workers therefore have to be able to transcend that environment and get the job done anyway.
Page 170 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham The ideal situation is that the nature and form of work changes little when the work environment does- that is to say, the person can get straight down to productive business wherever they may be. Unfortunately, different modem connectors and so on hinder this smooth changeover in working environments. As such, mobile working requires people who have at least some technical proficiency, because the support staff such as Information Technology (IT) staff that are available in offices are not readily available to physically configure equipment and so on whilst employees are on the road.
Knowing about these attributes of mobile working and limitations of mobile working helps to maximize the chances that the mobile application will be successful.
SET UP A BUSINESS PARTNERS PROGRAM
If they tried to manage the development and deployment of a wide range of value- added services and applications in-house, network operators would need to allocate a large amount of resources.
A network operator’s customers will be using a wide range of different computing and communications technologies and have a wide range of different operating methods and requirements. To provide suitable solutions that satisfy these customers, network operators should partner with independent companies such as software developers, systems integrators, hardware suppliers and so on. In keeping with a philosophy of focusing on a company’s “core competences”; the things it excels at, mobile network operators should set up a business partners program to team up with independent companies who have developed specific applications. When a customer has a specific problem that mobile communications can solve, the business partner can be introduced to by the network operator to the customer. When a solution is delivered, everyone benefits- the network operator has a satisfied customer using their mobile phone as an integral part of their business activities, the application developer has another installation of their solution and the associated revenues from that, and the customer has a solution to their problem. The network operator’s job is to build the partnerships and understand and evaluate the different offerings and companies in the mobile data marketplace, introduce customers with problems to partners with solutions, and monitor the implementation of the solution.
The Mobile Value Chain
To summarize my discussion, I would like to make one point- applications are everything! If we look at the mobile value chain shown in the “The Mobile Value Chain” diagram (See Diagram 10 in Appendix), we see that everything other than the application is a means to an end- it is only the application that is an end in itself. It is important to the success of the Short Message Service that we do not get too distracted by factors such as terminals, protocols, technologies and services. These elements all have an impact on the application- but only matter in so far as they hinder the successful deployment of that application. If the right technologies and terminals and so on are NOT in place, then the application may be too costly or simply not feasible.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 171 TERMINALS
Different applications require different terminals- interactive services such as home banking and ticket distribution require smart phones. Applications such as vehicle positioning and remote monitoring require data only equipment. Mass market voice and SMS-based information services require simple, easy-to-use mobile phones. If the right terminal does not exist, then the solution to the problem may become too expensive. For example, about 120 Data Card cables have to be replaced every week by British Gas Services engineers using Vodafone GSM Data to maintain gas boilers.
PROTOCOLS
Another means to an end. An absence of standardized mobile data protocols may make it too expensive or slow to develop, customize and deploy applications. The protocols serve to facilitate the effective delivery of the application.
TECHNOLOGIES
The technologies have to be in place such as the support of the Short Message Service by both mobile phones and the mobile network. Platforms such as the SMS Center must be in place before applications can be deployed on the mobile telephone network.
SERVICES
The underlying services such as SMS Mobile Originate and SMS Mobile Terminate also need to be in place as a pre-requisite for the deployment of applications that build on and use those underlying services.
APPLICATIONS
Applications are the end that will generate high usage of SMS. They will generate regular and ongoing use of the non-voice mobile services. Even given standardized elements in the other parts of the mobile value chain, there is still likely to be some systems integration necessary to deploy the application, such as integration with the host systems. However, once deployed, these applications will rapidly become an indispensable part of the daily life of the user that they will be loath to give up and keen to use frequently. Because they will make that person’s life easier- they will help that person get their job done well and keep in touch with their family, friends, colleagues and customers.
Summary
For a relatively simple messaging service, there certainly are a lot of elements that need to be taken into account when developing and deploying SMS! Hopefully, by supplying some comprehensive and accurate information and analysis about the service, this book will contribute to that process.
Page 172 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham This book has a related Internet site at http://www.mobilesms.com to keep readers up-to- date with the very latest developments in the world of mobile communications in general and SMS in particular. The site is intended to supplement the detailed information in this book with updates and any corrections. All comments, clarifications and discussions regarding the contents of this book in particular or SMS in general are welcomed by the author Simon Buckingham. Additionally, to assist you in maximizing your benefits from using SMS, the author offers consulting, publication, research and speaking services. He can be contacted via any of the methods listed below:
Internet site: http://www.mobilesms.com
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +44 7000 366366
Fax: +44 7000 366367
Postal Address: 6 Goldwell Drive Newbury Berkshire RG14 1HZ ENGLAND
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 173 APPENDIX
CONTENTS
DIAGRAM 1 - “Evolution of non-voice mobile services”
DIAGRAM 2 - “Corporate email”
DIAGRAM 3 - “Vehicle Positioning”
DIAGRAM 4 - “Information Services”
DIAGRAM 5 - “Infrastructure”
DIAGRAM 6 - “Basic Message Transfer”
DIAGRAM 7 - “Evolution of non-voice mobile protocols”
DIAGRAM 8 - “Advanced Message Transfer”
DIAGRAM 9 - “Value-Added Services Platform”
DIAGRAM 10 - “The Mobile Value Chain”
Page 174 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Evolution of non-voice Mobile Services
TIME
1993 SMS
Data 1998 9.6 / 14.4 Kbps
HSCSD 1999 57.6 Kbps
GPRS 2000 115 Kbps
Bluetooth 2000 720 Kbps - 1 Mbps
EDGE 2001/2 384 Kbps
UMTS 2002 384 Kbps - 2 Mbps
Quality and Speed
DIAGRAM 1 - “Evolution of non-voice mobile services
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 175 n o i t a c i 4 f i t o N k
r o M w S t G e N L I A ” M E
E r e S t T n M A e S C
R O P R l O e a c P . n D P a S r f P g I r . C e M t N C e e O U t C x S DIAGRAM 2 - “Corporate email n E I R
L E I N V A A R M L E E S s
t N n A e i L l C
Page 176 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham e r a
g w t n f i o n S n
u g r
n i C p P p a M r G e S t ” N n M I e S C
N O I T I S O P k
r o E M w S L t G e C N I l H a DIAGRAM 3 - “Vehicle Positioning E n i
e n M V m r o S e h 4 G T P
a t a D
e l i b e o t
i l S M l
P l r e t a e G
a v n S i S o P e i t c G p e O R
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 177 4 4 4 A C B
k k k r r r M M M S o o o S S S T w w w G G G t t t U e e e N N P N T U A C B O
r r r S S S e e e t t t M M M n n n S S S e e e C C C
S ” E C 5 I 2 r . e X
v . V g O . p e u
- l a R i P d I
r / e N P r v T E e C B O S v T
P . O
. e g S . g . e c
e
i
S v S r N e E S C O I O R T A C
P e e A c c i i v v r r M e e S S R O F DIAGRAM 4 - “Information Services N I S T U P e N t I i 5 l P l 2 I . / e X P t C a T S
Page 178 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham S M C R S L V M ” E R U T C C C S S M M U R W G L I - - H R S S M M T S S S A R F DIAGRAM 5 - “Infrastructure N I R E S T M N S E C E M S
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 179 g e n t g i y r t v a i i o t s e h n s c S e E e M R R E F S ” N A R T
r E e S t n G M e S A C
S S E M
C DIAGRAM 6 - “Basic Message Transfer I S g A e n i t g t y r t a B a i o t s n i h n s g S e E i r M O
Page 180 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Evolution of non-voice mobile protocols
TIME
1995
Standard SIM card
1998 SIM Application Toolkit
1999 WAP
MExE2000
Quality and Speed
DIAGRAM 7 - “Evolution of non-voice mobile protocols”
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 181 E E L N I E I B L H I K K O C B R R L M A I
O O O C C A S M M P
W W 4
P A M X T T E E E E E A S M F N N R O E H V O T E P L I I / N N M M 5 P A T R S S R 2 C . S E M G G T X P T E N E I F S ” N A R T
E G r A e S t S n M e S S C
E M
D E C N A V L O DIAGRAM 8 - “Advanced Message Transfer L D I O A P
5 R M A P 2 M I . V / E I E X P C D I C O O T V M N N T C T C C S P S P P P P
Page 182 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham 4 S k M
r o M R w S t G O e N F ” T A L P
E C r I e S t n V M e S C R
E S
D E l e a c P . n D P a r S f P g I D r . C e M t N e e O U t C x S n E I D A DIAGRAM 9 - “Value-Added Services Platform
e m d r e c E i e u o l v f d t r a d a U e l V e A S P g L n a h A c x V E
, s e t o N
, S 0 e t M 0 a t t 4 S r .
l e l e / i i o
X n N n a W
a p r r a . M r T t x e e m g m W t o S t a S - . a - n n C e e I e P F G D
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 183 N I A ” H C
E U L A V
s s E e n i s s l s l L o g i I e o a t o l n c c B a i i o o v c O t i r n m l r o e h p r M e S
c P T p e E A T H DIAGRAM 10 - “The Mobile Value Chain T
Page 184 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham Links to Related Internet sites
A comprehensive set of links to Internet sites related to SMS in particular, and mobile communications in general, are listed below (and available live on http://www.mobileSMS.com) . I have personally checked all of these links, which should all work. Please send additional suggestions to Simon Buckingham at [email protected]
GENERAL MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS SITES http://www.totaltele.com http://www.wirelessoutpost.com A US-based site with a lot of information about PCS networks and services. http://www.wirelesstoday.com The Internet site for “Wireless Business and Technology” magazine. http://www.mobilecomms.com The Internet site for “Mobile Communications International” magazine. http://www.globalwirelessnews.com The Internet site for “Global Wireless” magazine. http://www.pmn.co.uk The handheld computing home page. http://www.pnewire.com The Internet site for “Public Network Europe” magazine. http://www.globaltelephony.com The Internet site for “Global Telephony” magazine. http://www.teledotcom.com The Internet site for “tele.com” magazine.
INDUSTRY ASSOCIATIONS http://www.etsi.org The site for the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the GSM standards body. http://www.gsmworld.com The official GSM site, with links to mobile network operators globally. http://www.cdg.org CDMA Development Group, an industry association.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 185 http://www.gsmdata.com The Internet site for the Mobile Data Initiative, full of interesting current and future Data related developments. http://www.pcsdata.com The US site for the Mobile Data Initiative.
INFORMATION SERVICES http://www.airmedia.com The Internet site for AirMedia, a US–based supplier of wireless information services. http://www.intelligentinfo.com The Internet site for Intelligent Information Incorporated (III), a US–based supplier of wireless information services. http://www.gin.nl The Internet site for GSM Information Network (GIN), a Netherlands–based supplier of information services. http://www.innolink.fi Innolink of Finland offer SMS-based information services solutions for the Nokia 9000. http://www.wirelessinphonet.com The Internet site for Wireless Information Network (WIN), a UK–based supplier of wireless information services. http://www.brainstorm.co.uk The Internet site for Brainstorm, a UK–based supplier of wireless information services. http://www.airmail.co.uk http://www.smsgate.com Sites for a UK-based supplier of SMS gateways services such as SMS to Fax, SMS to email and so on. http://www.wsg.co.za/pages/position/sms.htm Worldwide Solutions Gateway, a South Africa-based developing of a range of SMS information services based on Nokia Smart Messaging. http://www.scoot.co.uk A directory enquiries service in the UK and Netherlands that provides information via SMS. http://www.dialog.com Financial information provision to mobile phones. http://www.conduit.ie/software An information services gateway solution provider. http://www.multichart.de A Germany-based supplier of mobile banking and financial information services.
Page 186 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham http://www.splitxpress.com A US-based provider of financial information to wireless terminals. http://www.multimap.com A UK-based supplier of mapping solutions for mobile terminals. http://www.univercell.com Wireless Location services from Canada. http://www.weatherlabs.com SMS-based customizable weather information and weather warning systems from the US. http://www.thewirelessgroup.com A range of SMS software solutions such as email and monitoring, from Canada. http://www.mapquest.com An interactive driving directions application from the US for mobile computers.
GENERAL SMS SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS http://www.dialogue.co.uk The Internet site for Dialogue Communications, a UK–based supplier of SMS software. http://www.isocor.com The Internet site for ISOCOR GmbH, a supplier of a value-added services platform based in Germany. http://www.sendit.se The Internet site for Sendit, a Sweden–based supplier of wireless Internet email solutions. http://wwww.esms.com Simwood International have developed this site which allocates an “@esms.com” Internet email address to people who then receive a short message which they can reply to. http://mobilenet.softline.fi The Internet site for Scandinavian Softline Technology (SST), a Finland–based supplier of SMS server and software solutions. http://www.tws-inc.com The Internet site for TWS, a US–based supplier of wireless email software. http://www.jinny.com.lb A Lebanon-based supplier of a wide range of SMS software solutions. http://www.winsms.com GPA Technology, developers of the “SMS Gateway” software application.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 187 http://www.winsinc.com WINS is a US-based developer of SMS solutions, which are deployed in markets such as China. http://www.intouch.co.za InTouch Information Systems, a South Africa-based supplier of SMS-based Internet email solutions. http://www.paragonsoftware.com Paragon Software, a-UK based SMS and phone book management software developer. http://www.synentia.com Synentia, a UK-based supplier of SMS and Information Technology software solutions. http://www.byedesk.com A US-based subsidiary of Fujitsu, developing mobile and teleworking solutions. http://www.materna.de Dr. Materna, an Information Technology software company based in Germany. http://www.fastforward.co.uk Fast Forward Data Systems, a UK-based supplier of a full range of SMS and Data based solutions. http://www.interpage.net Internet Network Services, a US-based supplier of Internet email notification services in the UK and the US. http://www.inforad.com A US-based supplier of SMS connectivity software and wireless messaging software. http://www.trio.se A supplier of a mobile communications software suite for use with GSM Data, SMS and Fax. http://www.cyclelogic.com SMS messaging software. http://www.silverlake2000.com Wireless messaging software from the US. http://www.palmtop.nl Palmtop, a Netherlands-based supplier of SMS and other solutions for Psion handheld computers. http://www.yellow.de Yellow Computing, a supplier of SMS software solutions for Psion handheld computers.
Page 188 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham http://www.cyclops.de A Germany-based supplier of software for mobile data terminals, such as the (now discontinued) Apple Newton MessagePad. http://www.lunatech.com A Netherlands-based supplier of mobile software for the (now discontinued) Apple Newton MessagePad. http://www.radiomail.net A US-based supplier of wireless solutions including Internet access, faxing, paging, stock quotes and news.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE SUPPLIERS http://www.physix.com A US-based supplier of electronic medical record and clinical information systems on handheld computers. Products include “PocketChart for Windows CE”. http://www.datacrit.com/products/mobileview/default.asp Remote ECG hospital machine monitoring via mobile terminals such as MobileView for the Nokia 9000. http://www.globalmedic.com Wireless patient Self-Care solutions available from this Canadian company. http://www.wrightstrat.com US-based supplier of FormLogic for replacing field-based paper processes with handheld computers. http://www.sms-it.com A Belgian company with an SMS software tool for connecting to applications such as email to SMS. http://www.solidtech.com/market/products/mobile/index.htm A Finland-based supplier of remote relational database access systems. http://www.cxa.com.au CXA Communications Limited, a supplier of SMS solutions for applications such as remote monitoring and job dispatch. http://www.danet.com Billing and customer care solutions for the mobile industry, based in the US. http://www.teamw.com TeamWARE Group of Finland offer software solutions for the Nokia 9000. http://www.derdack.com A Germany-based supplier of SMS gateway and messaging software.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 189 http://www.md-co.com Mobile data software including data dispatching and messaging applications and software development for Windows CE terminals. Member of the WAP Forum, based in Belgium. http:///www.celestatools.com This Finland-based company offers Celesta Smart Tools sends job dispatch information as one or more short messages for the Nokia 9000. http://www.crosland.co.uk The Internet site for The Crosland Company, a UK–based supplier of vehicle positioning solutions. http://www.global-telematics.com The Internet site for Global Telematics, a UK–based supplier of vehicle positioning solutions. http://www.tbssystems.co.uk A supplier of solutions using GSM Data such as TrackMaster for GPS navigation and TaskMaster for remote dispatch applications. http://www.racotek.com A US-based supplier of remote access and customer service solutions. http://www.pumatech.com A US-based supplier of mobile software solutions. http://www.teleca.com A UK-based supplier of remote access and email solutions, particularly for the Psion handheld computer. http://www.crosscom.com A US-based supplier of wireless monitoring and message dispatch solutions. http://www.thorcom.co.uk A UK-based supplier of vehicle positioning solutions. http://www.teletype.com A US-based provider of Global Positioning Systems for Windows CE terminals. http://www.roving.com Roving Software of the US offers Roving Reporter, a personal information service which allows users to automatically receive tailored Internet or LAN-based information. http://www.inquisit.com Personalized business information services to wireless terminals. http://www.ixos.de Remote connection to SAP R/3 by SMS.
Page 190 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham http://www.infowave.com A North American Company Infowave offers its Office Enabler product that allows mobile users to connect with Microsoft Exchange LAN servers. http://www.brandcomms.com A UK-based supplier of remote access solutions. http://www.apdcomms.co.uk A supplier of mobile solutions for the emergency services market. http://www.clissmann.com/sms/smsoff/index.htm Office to mobile communications from this Ireland-based company. http://www.homeusers.prestel.co.uk/qsf/ The Quality Software Foundation of the UK develops custom SMS interfaces and applications. http://www.tecnomen.fi Intelligent Network and multiple messaging platforms. http://www.apion-TSS.com Telecommunications infrastructure software developers and members of the WAP Forum. http://www.event.jyu.fi/ajatuspaja/ Ajatuspaja are a Finland-based supplier of mobile work application software.
HARDWARE SUPPLIERS http://www.brightpoint.com Brightpoint is the world’s largest distributor of mobile phones, and a supplier of SMS and Prepay services. http://www.symbian.com A developer of smart software and terminals which includes Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola and Psion. http://www.stnc.com Specializing in the development of operating systems for mobile computing terminals such as smart phones. http://www.optimay.com A mobile software application developer owned by Lucent Technologies. http://www.access.co.jp/english/index.html The Japanese developers of Compact HTML. http://www.microsoft.com/windowsce/ The Internet site for Windows CE, a Microsoft-led handheld computing operating system and hardware specification. http://www.psion.com A UK-based supplier of handheld computers.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 191 http://www.psiondacom.com A UK-based supplier of GSM data PC Cards. http://www.aplicom.fi A provider of rugged mobile data terminals. http://www.norand.com A supplier of rugged mobile date terminals. http://www.husky.com A supplier of rugged mobile data terminals. http://www.telxon.com A supplier of rugged mobile data terminals. http://www.symbol.com A supplier of rugged mobile data terminals. http://www.telepad.com A supplier of rugged mobile data terminals and field force automation solutions in the US and the UK. http://www.verifone.com A US-based supplier of mobile credit card terminals. http://www.moneyline.fr A France-based supplier of mobile credit card terminals. http://www.sysinno.se System Innovation, a supplier of innovative hardware terminals for mobile working. http://www.portable.co.uk Portable Add-Ons, a UK-based distributor of mobile computing and communications hardware. http://www.teleadapt.com A UK and US-based supplier of global mobile connectivity solutions. http://www.qualcomm.com The US-based developer of both CDMA and Globalstar. http://www.greycell.com A UK-based developer of GSM PC Data Cards and software solutions, owned by TDK. http://www.tdksystems.com A US-based supplier of PC Card modems. http://www.lucent.com A global supplier of GSM network infrastructure, including Data solutions.
Page 192 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham http://www.audible.com An interesting piece of kit called the Audible MobilePlayer. http://www.uniden.com A US-based developer of mobile phones for various North American mobile phone standards, such as the CDPD Internet phone. http://www.paratech.co.uk Paradigm Technology, a UK-based supplier of mobile computing hardware and software, especially for Psion.
SMS CENTER SUPPLIERS http://www.cmg.nl http://www.aldiscon.com http://www.nokia.com http://www.mot.com/cig http://www.sema.com/telecoms http://www.NewNet.com http://www.ericsson.se/US/messaging http://www.unisys.com http://www.comversens.com http://www.glenayre.com http://www.centigram.com http://www.dsccc.com http://www.spatch.com A company claiming to offer a complete SMS Center, as well as SMS and paging software.
UNIFIED MESSAGING AND ELECTRONIC ASSISTANTS http://www.digitalmail.com A UK-based supplier of Unified Messaging services. http://www.2communicate.com A Netherlands-based supplier of Unified Messaging services. http://www.virtualplus.com A UK-based supplier of Unified Messaging services.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 193 http://www.wildfire.com/carrier/index.html Unified messaging and electronic assistant services. http://www.genmagic.com/portico/portico.html Unified messaging and electronic assistant services. http://www.starfish.com Software solutions for handheld computers. Owned by Motorola. Synchronization between desktop and mobile device. http://www.spyglass.com US-based supplier of wireless Internet solutions and member of WAP Forum.
SMART CARD AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE SOLUTIONS http://www.slb.com Supplier of Smart Cards http://www.delarue.com/cards/java/index.html Supplier of Java-based Over-The-Air solutions and smart cards. http://www.orga.com A German company supplying SimCards and Over-The-Air solutions. http://www.gemplus.com A French-based company supplying SimCards and Over-The-Air solutions. http://www.ausys.com/sim/default.htm AU-System, a supplier of Over-The-Air solutions and SMS software which runs on Apple platforms. http://www.mondex.com An electronic purse solution. http://www.mobilecommerce.com The web site for Logica, a systems consultancy. http://www.mobilecommerce.com/global The Global Mobile Commerce Forum web site. http://www.certicom.com Secure cryptography solutions for wireless terminals and smart cards and a member of the WAP Forum. http://www.rsa.com RASA Data Security, a developer of secure electronic data transmission solutions and member of the WAP Forum. http://www.newcom.com.au A MultiSIM device called CardSwitch.
Page 194 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham INTERESTING MOBILE NETWORK OPERATOR SITES http://www.vodafone.co.uk/data/partners.html A list of the Vodafone GSM network in the UK’s SMS and Data business partners. http://www.genie.co.uk Cellnet of the UK offering a range of information services via SMS. http://www.dof.se/english The Department of the Future network from Telia in Sweden offers some interesting value-added network services such as Unified Messaging. http://www.aladdin.co.za A venture between MTN in South Africa and The Internet Solution to securely charge for access to Internet pages using SimCards.
MISCELLANEOUS http://www.hughsym.co.uk Hugh Symons, a UK-based distributor of a full range of mobile data software and hardware. http://www.wds.org Wireless Data Services, a subsidiary of Hugh Symons Group plc, providing wireless data support services in the UK and Australia. http://www.apis.se APIS Technical Training of Sweden offers “Data Over GSM” training courses. http://www.tegic.com A supplier of software to simplify sending short messages from mobile phones. http://www.zicorp.com A supplier of software to simplify sending short messages from mobile phones. http://www.bluetooth.com The next generation of high speed Data transmission, from Toshiba, IBM, Nokia, Motorola and Ericsson. http://www.wapforum.org The Internet site for people interested in the Wireless Application Protocol. http://www.uplanet.com The Internet site for Unwired Planet, a supplier of mobile data client-server solutions. http://www.geoworks.com Developer of the GEOS mobile operating system, used by, for example, the Nokia 9000. http://ds.dial.pipex.com/benw/ A GSM Data site from Ben Wood, with good general GSM links.
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 195 Index of Contents
A J ADC, vii, 72, 73, 88, 89, 90, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, Japan, xi, 3, 9, 14, 62, 77, 79, 80, 98, 120, 121, 129, 101, 135, 137, 140, 141, 144 132, 133, 159, 161, 166 ADC NEWNET, 88 Advanced Message Transfer, 72. See DIAGRAM 8 AFFINITY PROGRAMS, iv, 32 L ALPHABETS, v, 43 Logica Aldiscon, 39, 66, 72, 73, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, APPENDIX, 174 81, 83, 89, 90, 93, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, B 143, 144, 159 LOGICA ALDISCON, 77 Basic Message Transfer, 35. See DIAGRAM 6 BLUETOOTH, iv, 16 Brightpoint, 2, 3, 33, 127, 191 M MExE, vi, 3, 59, 65, 66, 67, 68 C Microsoft, 22, 23, 51, 107, 108, 109, 123, 191 mobile banking, 33, 34, 42, 62, 64, 153, 156, 162, Calling Party Pays, 8 163, 186 CDMA, ix, 3, 10, 63, 64, 66, 75, 87, 89, 94, 95, 96, Mobile Originate, 29, 47, 70, 74, 102, 134, 149, 116, 119, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 185, 192 156, 157, 172 Cell Broadcast, 40, 61, 74, 75, 77, 79, 104, 159 Motorola, 7, 10, 16, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 63, 64, 66, CMG, 39, 62, 66, 70, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 80, 83, 90, 73, 89, 94, 95, 96, 100, 101, 108, 111, 127, 135, 91, 93, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 133, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 162, 191, 194, 195 136, 137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 144, 157 MOTOROLA, 94 COMPRESSION, v, 41 MXE, 20, 91, 93, 98 CONCATENATION, v, 41 confirmation, 4, 8, 46, 55, 58, 99, 151 Corporate email, 22. See DIAGRAM 2 N NMT, ix, 3, 72, 75, 98, 132, 133 E Nokia, 1, 3, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25, 29, 39, 42, 47, 48, 50, 51, 54, 55, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 72, 73, 74, Ericsson, 15, 16, 17, 20, 25, 27, 48, 51, 63, 64, 66, 76, 81, 82, 83, 84, 89, 90, 93, 97, 98, 99, 100, 73, 75, 87, 91, 93, 97, 98, 104, 111, 142, 147, 101, 102, 103, 104, 109, 112, 117, 120, 122, 124, 159, 191, 195 127, 130, 133, 136, 137, 138, 139, 143, 144, 146, ERICSSON, 91 147, 158, 163, 165, 186, 189, 190, 191, 195 ETSI, v, 15, 38, 39, 40, 54, 55, 66, 67, 84, 99, 132, 135, 185 Evolution of non-voice mobile protocols, 59. See O DIAGRAM 7 Over-The-Air, 28, 29, 60, 65, 67, 74, 85, 88, 98, Evolution of non-voice mobile services, 14. See 103, 194 DIAGRAM 1 P G Paging, iii, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 80, 132, 138 GPRS, iv, 15, 164 PalmPilot, 51, 134 GPS, 23, 25, 48, 52, 123, 124, 125, 126, 130, 190 Psion, 16, 51, 66, 108, 111, 149, 188, 190, 191, 193
H Q HSCSD, iv, 15, 18, 147, 164 Qualcomm, 16, 66, 134
I R Index of Contents, 196 ROAMING, iii, v, x, 9, 44, 45, 147 Information Services, 29. See DIAGRAM 4 INFORMATION SERVICES, iv, viii, x, xi, 29, 31, 32, 103, 145, 152, 186 S Infrastructure, 35. See DIAGRAM 5 INTERNET, iv, vii, ix, 21, 103, 128, 129 Sema, 35, 39, 66, 69, 70, 73, 80, 83, 85, 86, 87, 88, IVR, ix, 28, 29, 33, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 96, 102, 103, 90, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 124, 127, 110, 119, 120, 128, 129, 146, 150, 152, 153 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 149, 151, 152
Page 196 www.mobileSMS.com Simon Buckingham SEMA, 85 UMTS, iv, 16, 17, 18, 63, 66, 135 Sendit, 64, 66, 67, 104, 108, 110, 111, 112, 126, UNIFIED MESSAGING, iv, 20, 193 127, 128, 151, 187 Unwired Planet, 63, 64, 66, 76, 87, 103, 161, 163, SENDIT, viii, 110 195 SIM Application Toolkit, 27, 28, 29, 33, 40, 50, 59, USSD, 61, 63, 85, 88, 103, 150 60, 62, 65, 66, 67, 68, 74, 87, 98, 111, 120, 128, 146, 153, 162 SIM APPLICATION TOOLKIT, vi, 59 V SMPP, vii, 39, 40, 72, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 87, 89, 96, Value-Added Services Platform, 104. See 98, 99 DIAGRAM 9 Sonera, x, 1, 3, 15, 19, 34, 45, 67, 74, 136, 145, 146, vehicle positioning, viii, 20, 23, 24, 25, 104, 105, 147, 148 125, 127, 130, 131, 152, 165, 169, 172, 190 Vehicle Positioning, 23. See DIAGRAM 3 T Vodafone, x, 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 28, 45, 46, 56, 57, 67, 86, 87, 93, 107, 111, 113, 122, 123, 124, 125, 127, TCP/IP, vii, 13, 72, 75, 80, 83, 87, 96, 97, 98, 99, 137, 143, 145, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 168, 172, 102 195 Tegic, 47, 66 voice mail, 20, 21, 38, 56, 57, 69, 70, 75, 80, 85, 88, The Mobile Value Chain, 171. See DIAGRAM 10 93, 95, 96, 102, 131, 133, 149, 150, 154 third generation, 17, 84, 135 W U WAP, vi, 3, 59, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 84, 87, 97, 102, UCS2, vii, 43, 44, 48, 76, 98, 99 103, 113, 120, 128, 130, 146, 161, 190, 191, 194
Simon Buckingham www.mobileSMS.com Page 197