STOCKHOLM, Sweden, Dec. 10, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- TeliaSonera (Nasdaq:TLSN):
Telia's 3.5 million mobile customers in Sweden now can send and receive multimedia messages with images, sound and text on their mobile phones. The only requirement is that they have a multimedia messaging service (MMS) enabled phone. The service will be free of charge until February 15, 2003.
MMS, a further development of the popular short message service (SMS), allows mobile users to enhance and broaden their messages in a more personal way. An MMS message can contain images, sound and text, which can be combined in different ways, as the user wants.
The service will be free of charge until February 15, 2003. After that date, MMS will cost SEK 3.80 per message, including Swedish VAT. There will be no charge for receiving a message.(1) Telia's subscribers can send MMS messages up to 50 kb in size, the equivalent of a few images combined with a sound clip and text.
"Our customers are very interested in SMS -- 357 million SMS messages were sent through our network from January to September this year. Now we can offer yet another way to communicate. By combining images, sound and text in an MMS, our customers can express themselves in a brand-new way that is more versatile than before," said Kelly Odell, head of Telia Mobile Sweden. "For example, they can send a Christmas card to their friends and relatives with a photo of their newly trimmed Christmas tree."
For further information about Telia's MMS service, visit www.telia.se/mobilt
(1) Messages will be charged at the current GPRS rate in other countries.
For further information journalists can contact:
Hakan Strom, PR & Communications, Telia Mobile in Sweden, +46 8 713 58 30
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