ASIA : The future of mobile technology lies in the growing popularity of advanced mobile data services such as MMS (multi-media messaging service).

Inset is Marko Tiesmaki, Chairman of the Global Mobile Supplier's Association's (GSA) Asia Pacific Chapter - quoted below.

With MMS use catching on among mobile phone users, it has become clear that the issue of data traffic and speed will become more central in the near future, clearing the way for the deployment of advanced mobile network technologies such as EDGE and WCDMA.

A six-country study conducted early this year by a leading mobile supplier together with HPI Research Group, revealed that MMS technology, which enables mobile phone users to send graphics, and even audio and video clips to others, has a great chance of becoming as successful as SMS (short message service). The study noted that people would tend to increase their use of MMS without reducing spending on other services such as voice calls. This is good news for operators who are always on the lookout for increasing average revenue per user (ARPU).

According to Marko Tiesmaki, Chairman of the Global mobile Supplier's Association's (GSA) Asia Pacific Chapter, "Technologies like MMS, which are the next generation of the SMS, are both informing users of the possibilities of advanced data services and are creating demand for higher-capacity network technology such as EDGE and WCDMA."

Such news also bodes well for the market, which will likely see mobile data services like MMS paving the way for richer 3G content. "EDGE and WCDMA - both 3G technologies as defined by the International Telecommunications Union - are commercially available today, so the platform is already being developed to support richer mobile content and high volume usage. In Asia Pacific, we already have two commercial WCDMA networks, and GSA estimates there will be 93 WCDMA commercial networks in 34 countries globally by the end of 2005. Also, the first EDGE network was just recently launched in Hong Kong," Tiesmaki said.

EDGE, or Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, is a faster and higher capacity enhancement for GSM/GPRS. It is a simple, low-cost addition to GSM networks that enables enhanced data speeds of up to 160 kbps, thereby providing operators with better data transmission capacity and increased cost efficiencies for both data and voice.

EDGE is being tested by the leading operators in Thailand, and is already being deployed by dozens of operators worldwide. As of October 2003, 57 operators in 38 countries have committed to deploy EDGE in their GSM networks. EDGE has become the operator's logical next step for 3G because it uses existing infrastructure and cell arrangements, and can be deployed within existing GSM operators' licenses at a marginal cost. EDGE also makes the WCDMA (Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access) deployment easier and more economical, since operators can do the initial WCDMA deployment just in central areas and rely in other areas on the EDGE network. This combination enables the most economical and broadest 3G network coverage. WCDMA is a higher capacity network technology that represents the future of most operator networks.

In the Asia-Pacific region, EDGE was first launched in Hong Kong by CSL in September 2003. EDGE is also being deployed, is in trial or in planning in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. Operators include Optus (Australia), Sunday (Hong Kong), Peoples Telephone (Hong Kong), DTAC (Thailand), AIS (Thailand), TA Orange (Thailand), Digi (Malaysia), Globe (Philippines) and Smart (Philippines). Many more announcements are expected in more countries in the months ahead.

Both EDGE and WCDMA (along with GPRS) are mediums that allow transmission of wireless data, such as an MMS message. With the majority of GSM's 900 million users already familiar with text messaging, MMS offers operators the biggest single opportunity for delivering ARPU-enhancing services today.