AT&T unveils MMS

REDMOND, Washington: AT&T has announced that it began offering the so-called Multimedia Messaging Service after introducing picture messaging last year. Most European cell phone users have had access to similar services since last summer, but Redmond, Washington-based AT&T Wireless is the first operator to offer MMS in the United States.

MMS is an advanced version of Short Message Service (SMS), an increasingly popular service that allows cell phone users to send brief messages instantaneously to their friends and family.

SMS has been slow to take off in the United States where, until about a year ago, users were unable to send messages to networks other than their own. Operators are hoping that adoption of the service will boost revenue.

AT&T Wireless said MMS messages can be sent between Wireless customers with MMS-capable handsets by punching in the 10-digit phone number. Messages, minus the sound, can also be sent to any e-mail address.

Customers cannot send MMS messages to cell phone users on other operators' networks yet, a factor that analysts say will slow the adoption rate of the service.

Sending each MMS message costs 40 cents compared with 10 cents for sending a text message, the company said. Receiving a MMS message is free of charge.

AT&T Wireless customers can also send an MMS electronic greeting card for $1.99 or receive multimedia news, such as weather alerts with satellite images, for 35 cents to 50 cents a message.

The company said it currently offers two color phones, one by Sony Ericsson and the other by Nokia, that are capable of sending and receiving multimedia messages. It also has two black-and-white phones by Nokia that can receive multimedia messages.

© Reuters