Archive for June 5th, 2008

Is Multimedia Messaging A Hit?

Published by Babar Bhatti on June 5, 2008 under Telecommunications

Is multimedia messaging gaining in popularity or is it just another failed value-added service? MMS as it is called was supposed to be a big thing but it never took off on the scale of text messaging. Some startups are still betting that a new form of MMS will eventually win over users. Zannel for one is working on the idea of a multimedia twitter.

This blog post by Mr. Turner explains some of the reasons behind the unequal rise of MMS. I would like to hear about the popularity and ease of use of multimedia messaging in Pakistan.

Multi-Media messaging (MMS) has been very successful in some markets, e.g. the UK, while in others, like the US, it’s used only for sending photos. In other markets, it’s hardly used at all. Part of the problem is handset interoperability, especially when it comes to exchanging video clips. In some cases, there are handset-specific user interface issues and in some markets the problem is enabling MMS operation, e.g. roughly half of the MMS-capable handsets in the Philippines haven’t been “activated” (as the operator needs an SMS from the customer indicating their handset type). Finally, there are markets where MMS inter-connection between operators.doesn’t work, either technically or commercially.