October 3, 2002

India experiences the future of messaging with photos, color, sound and text

BPL Mobile, India’s premier mobilephone service provider today announced the launch of India’s first Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). With this launch, BPL Mobile will be the 3rd operator in Asia Pacific to commercially launch the MMS service. MMS will be the killer application on GPRS and BPL Mobile is the only operator in the country possessing a robust GPRS network to deliver a rich and true MMS experience to its subscribers. At an introductory pricing of Rs. 199 per month, BPL Mobile will offer 100 MMSs (outgoing – incoming will be free) besides unlimited Internet access to its subscribers on their mobilephones.

From Monday, October 7, 2002, BPL Mobile`s subscribers with MMS compatible mobile handsets (Nokia 7650 and Sony Ericsson T68i) will be able to send multimedia messages at the touch of a button, much like how SMS works. Recipients who do not have MMS-compatible mobile handsets can receive their multimedia messages either on their e-mails or as an SMS on their existing handsets. In addition, BPL Mobile will be creating a photo library on its website, where subscribers can compose MMS messages and send them to designated mobile phone numbers.

TeleDNA has developed the full suite of multimedia messaging software services for BPL Mobile. The systems includes deployment of TeleDNA’s Multimedia Messaging Service Centre (MMSC), which is the central store-and-forward facility that will accept, buffer, process and distribute all multimedia messages in BPL Mobile`s network. The suite of MMS solutions provided to BPL Mobile by TeleDNA includes the MMSC , AAA Server and the MMS Portal through which MMS subscribers can manage and send their multimedia messages. The TeleDNA solution provides content storage, voice messaging over MMS, intelligent connectivity to e-mail, and rich push/pull applications among other services.

"At TeleDNA, we are excited and pleased to partner with an innovative operator like BPL Mobile to bring India`s first commercial MMS service. We are proud to be the first vendor to offer a total end-to-end MMS solution in India with a world-class MMSC developed for the first time in India. TeleDNA is committed to constantly work with BPL Mobile to provide mobile subscribers with practical and fun to use MMS content and applications. With the right billing model, content and marketing strategies, operators are going to witness the first killer application for their GPRS network roll outs" said Mr. Praveen Nallapothula, President and CEO of TeleDNA Inc.

Commenting on TeleDNA as a technology partner, Mr. Cardoso said “In a very competitive market dominated by established big name MMSC vendors, BPL Mobile selected TeleDNA over several competitors due to the robustness, features and quality of the product, flexibility and lead response time in developing customized applications and excellent support.”

MMS has evolved from the Short Messaging Service (SMS), now mobile users will be able to use mobile phones with built-in cameras and sound-recording equipment to create their own multimedia messages, or retrieve ready-made graphics and sound from video-and-audio-banks either on-line or in their mobile phones. Given the phenomenal success of SMS, MMS is going the future of messaging. Riding on BPL Mobile’s GPRS network, MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) is the gigantic leap in messaging technology. A pre-requisite for delivering the real MMS experience, GPRS is today the corner stone of all new applications roll out plans of BPL Mobile.

Mr. F. B. Cardoso, President & CEO, BPL Mobile says, "SMS has taken the world by storm and we believe MMS, with its enhanced features, will enjoy similar success. As the saying goes, a photo speaks a thousand words. With the integration of the digital camera and the mobile phone, we expect to see high MMS usage from the forwarding of photo images. Self-generated content as well as content download, such as that of animated files and video clips in the near future, will also trigger a user`s desire to forward it to friends, thus creating a multiplier effect."

“The wide acceptance and usage of SMS has become so pervasive in our subscriber base, we are confident that MMS will bring greater value to mobile users, as well as a steady revenue stream for operators”, Mr. Cardoso added.

Built on open standards, TeleDNA's MMSC is easily integrated with existing applications and hardware on BPL Mobile`s infrastructure, allowing the operator to go to market in a short timeframe. Its architecture allows BPL Mobile to scale the system to meet the capacity, performance, reliability and budgetary requirements appropriate for each phase of the market life cycle, while it guarantees quality of service even at peak performance.

About TeleDNA Inc
TeleDNA is a focused mobile VAS (value added services) solutions provider based in Bangalore, India and USA. TeleDNA’s mission is to develop and market value added mobile applications like SMS, MMS, WAP, CBC, Welcome Messaging, Voice Mail and Video Mail solutions for mobile carriers and enterprises.

For further information, please contact:
sales@teledna.com

TeleDNA is a registered trademark of TeleDNA Inc.