[Sonera aims to be the first to launch the new multimedia messaging services ]

Nokia and the Finnish operator Sonera have signed a contract for the delivery of Nokia's multimedia messaging solution, including the Nokia Artuse Multimedia Messaging Service Center (MMSC). The solution will enable Sonera to offer new, richer messaging services to its customers.

Multimedia messaging service will be the first 3G type of service widely adopted by mobile users. Messages including text, digital images and voice can be sent and received with mobile phones as multimedia messages, bringing messaging to a completely new level. Multimedia Messaging is an open standard specified by 3GPP and the WAP Forum.

The Nokia Artuse(TM) MMSC is a high-capacity platform, which enables the sending of multimedia messages from mobile terminal to mobile terminal and supports messaging between mobile handset and Internet applications, such as e-mail.

In addition to the Nokia Artuse(TM) MMSC, Nokia will deliver the Nokia Artuse(TM) Profile Directory as well as the Nokia Multimedia Terminal Gateway. The Nokia Multimedia Terminal Gateway allows mobile users to participate in multimedia messaging right from the commercial start of services, regardless of the terminal type they use. Users of legacy phones can retrieve their messages via a web browser.

"We aim at bringing multimedia messaging services to the market first in the world during first half of 2002. We believe Finnish customers, who are forerunners in text messaging (SMS), to eagerly adopt these new services. The users of multimedia messaging service will be able to create content themselves by combining voice, pictures and messages. This will also create new opportunities for content producers," said Janne Vainio, Vice President, Sonera.

"We strongly believe that multimedia messages will in the future be at least as important a part of the operators' business as text messages are today," said Timo Koistinen, Account Director at Nokia Networks. "Nokia is strongly committed to bringing multimedia messaging to the market and thus enabling a whole new communications culture. We see the future of person-to-person messaging to be based dominantly on multimedia messaging, and are now proud to start in this new area with such an innovative operator as Sonera," he adds.

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