T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 1 T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II Unified interfaces for messaging service Dan Silfvast

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 2 Introduction Messaging service –also known as Value Added Service (VAS) –provides content or information on a mobile network The problem of connecting a VAS to the mobile network Messaging Centre GSM/SS7 VAS

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 3 Agenda Technology –Message types –Message centre connectivity Business Problems Solutions Future trends

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 4 Message types - SMS Short message service currently the most popular message type up to 160 characters of 7bit text utilizes the SS7 signalling channel for delivery Non realtime Binary SMS –Smart messaging an open standard developed by Nokia supports picture messages, ring tones, business cards etc. Not fully compatible with SMS –Enhanced Messaging Service (EMS) open standard developed by 3GPP supported by Alcatel, Siemens, Motorola and Sony Ericsson provides text formatting, picture messages, sounds and animations backwards compatible with SMS –stores binary data in SMS headers

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 5 Message types – WAP Push For pushing WAP content to terminals –session initiated by content provider –allows interactive services Session initiation request sent over SMS –normal WAP access used for data transfer Part of WAP 1.2 spec. –supported by most new terminals

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 6 Message types – MMS Multimedia Messaging Service –the latest and ”most beautiful” messaging standard by 3GPP –supports rich multimedia content with presentation features –utilizes the data channel for transport allows large content size wide variety of content formats –uses WAP for transfer and WAP push over SMS for notifications

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 7 Message centre connectivity The connection between a VAS application and the message centre No standard for SMS –Four protocols approved by ETSI SMPP by Logica UCP/EMI by CMG CIMD by Nokia OIS by Sema PAP for Wap Push MM7 for MMS –implementation details not until release 6 –uses web service, i.e. SOAP over HTTP for message transfer –proprietary protocols implemented before rel 6 Nokia EAIF Ericsson SMTP Other protocols –operator specific wrappers, to increase management

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 8 Messaging business - VAS Value Added Service –external service providing information or content on request –for example, logos, ring tones, train timetables –usually accessed by sending a message containing a keyword to a specific short number –also push service (e.g. news ) Important business –8% of total traffic but 25% of total value of messaging in 2001 in Finland –expected to grow with advent of MMS services

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 9 Messagin business – VAS operation models Three basic models for providing value added service –Operator developed service –Third party service providers with direct connection –Service aggregators

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 10 Problems – the VASP viewpoint Focus on –a large as possible user base –easy service deployment Problem areas –protocol incompatibility a large number of different protocols to support –billing every network operator has its own way for billing –content conversion different terminal capabilities –traffic management routing, load balancing etc.?

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 11 Problems – the network operator viewpoint Focus on –traffic management –authentication and access control –billing based on content –billing on receiver pays basis Problems –the message centres and protocol do not provide enough management features –no way to secure network from buggy services –messaging centres not designed for receiver-pays billing

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 12 Solutions – protocol standardization Solves the interconnectivity problem MMAP –Mobile Message Access Protocol by SMS Forum –a web services based approach extended to SMS (and others) –currently at draft stage SMS over MM7 –MIME type for SMS content –no current standardization work done Proprietary APIs –a lot of messaging middleware provide unified interfaces –no standardization work done

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 13 Solutions – message gateways Middleware for network operator –management features –protocol conversion –billing –reliability and high availablity –message routing –content conversion and fetching –no multi-network functionality Available products Content Gateway by CCC Nokia Messaging Gateway

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 14 Solutions – message routers Middleware for service aggregators or operators with wide installations –same features as gateways –support for multi-network operation –advanced protocol conversion –load balancing –advanced message routing –billing interoperability Available products –Logica Open Messaging Gateway –First Hop Message Router –Empower Interactive Messaging Service Platform –UniqMinds PEAKm Platform

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 15 Future trends Protocol standardization –web services based standards –does not solve the management issues The role of messgaing middleware –focus on service and content management The future role of the network operator –the risk of becoming ”bit-pipe-provider” –focus on adding value to the services billing access to user data content conversion trust services

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 16 Conclusions Mobile network interconnectivity goes beyond protocol incompatibility –need for management and content conversion Protocol standardization will solve only part of the problem The role of messaging middleware will increase as the operators have to rethink their offerings

T Research Seminar on Telecommuncations Business II - Unified Interfaces for Messaging Services 17 Thanks!