Nokia has signed a contract with Russian operator North-West Branch of OJSC "MegaFon" to be the sole supplier of its multimedia messaging service (MMS) and high-speed GPRS wireless data network for St. Petersburg and the surrounding region, covering approximately 1,250,000 subscribers. The exciting next-generation multimedia messaging service enables people to send pictures and multimedia messages to each other using their mobile terminals.
Commercial MMS services include person-to-person MMS, which is a greatly enriched version of SMS with the capability of sending photographs, pictures and voice or sounds together with text messages. Also available is a range of content-download services allowing users to deliver ready-made color postcard type of messages to friends with their favorite pictures or animated cartoons.
"With MMS over high-speed GPRS, our service offering will be greatly expanded, providing enriched experience to all of our customers in the near future. We are pleased to work closely with such a leading player in MMS as Nokia and continue our long cooperation,” says Vadim Konevskiy, Director of New Technologies Department North-West Branch OJSC MegaFon.
"MMS will be a key to the future of mobile services, making it a very important service for operators' business and giving them a head-start as we move to future mobile services," says Denis Malyshev, Senior Account Manager, Nokia Networks.
"We see the future of person-to-person messaging to be based dominantly on multimedia messaging, and are proud to supply GPRS and MMS solutions to North-West Branch of OJSC "MegaFon" enabling them to be one of the first operators in Russia to offer these services," adds Mr. Malyshev.
Under the agreement, Nokia will supply its complete GPRS core network that addresses the growing demand for data traffic in today's mobile networks. In addition Nokia is delivering its end-to-end MMS solution, including the Nokia Multimedia Messaging Center (MMSC), the Nokia Terminal Gateway, the Nokia Terminal Management Server, the Nokia WAP Gateway, and other gateway products.
The Nokia Terminal Gateway allows users of non-MMS legacy phones to enjoy MMS as well. When multimedia messages are sent to legacy phones, their users receive an SMS notification directing them to a Web site where they can access their MMS message.
Nokia will also provide system implementation, integration and care services to maintain the competitiveness of the MMS solution. Deliveries are due to commence during third quarter 2002.
The Nokia MMS is a complete end-to-end solution fully standardized to provide full interoperability between different GSM/GPRS networks. An integral part of the Nokia MMS solution is its support for legacy phones, allowing all network subscribers to enjoy multimedia service as soon as network service is available. Nokia has extensive experience in MMS, having been piloting commercial systems since third quarter 2001 and delivering to customers since December that year.
MegaFon is the first Pan-Russian mobile operator. The main shareholders of MegaFon are Sonera (Finland), Telia (Sweden), Telecominvest (Russia) and CT-Mobile (Russia). MegaFon is the only company to have a Pan-Russian GSM license coverage, which embraces 89 subjects of the Russian Federation with a population of 147 million. Customer base of the company exceeds 2.2 million.
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Contact information:
Global Communications Department, Nokia Networks
Tel. + 358 (0) 7180 38195
Email nokia.networks@nokia.com
www.nokia.com
MegaFon
Andrei Klimov
Tel. +7 095 7302915
E-mail aklimov@megafon.ru
www.megafon.ru