Customers Now able to Send Text Messages to other Carrier Networks
Bellevue, Wash. — Mar. 1, 2002
VoiceStream Wireless today officially announced the availability of expanded text messaging services, allowing customers to send text messages to friends and family across the nation, no matter which wireless service provider they use. The service is available today to all VoiceStream customers, regardless of their wireless handset or service plan. VoiceStream began quietly testing its inter-carrier messaging service at the end of January and noticed a rapid adoption of the service available now to VoiceStream's seven million customers. The availability of cross carrier messaging is another example of how VoiceStream customers GET MORE FROM LIFE.
"We've made this new service as easy to use as placing a call," said Robert Dotson, VoiceStream's chief operating officer. "Customers simply type a message on their phone and then address it to a ten digit wireless phone number."
VoiceStream customers have a long history of using text messaging as a way to communicate, an inherent benefit of the company's GSM network. "VoiceStream customers have pioneered the use of interactive text messaging in the United States over the past five years," said Dotson. "We're excited to build on VoiceStream's existing text messaging services for our customers and expand the world of text messaging to the customers of other network providers, some of who have only recently experienced the joy of sending or receiving a text message on their wireless phone."
Since VoiceStream first launched their GSM based wireless service in 1996, every customer has had the ability to exchange text messages with other VoiceStream customers. With the introduction of VoiceStream's personal portal in May, 2000, every VoiceStream phone number automatically had a corresponding e-mail address (phonenumber@voicestream.net) allowing customers to pioneer text messaging using the Internet, to send, receive and respond to text messages back and forth between wireless phones and personal computers. And in 2001, text messaging and Internet functionality took on a new meaning for VoiceStream customers as VoiceStream, Nokia and AOL introduced the first wireless device that included a fully integrated version of the AOL® Instant Messenger™ (AIM®) service.
"With today's announcement, the proliferation of text messaging in the U.S. is only limited by the carriers who have yet to commercially deploy inter-carrier functionality in their network, which would enable their customers to respond to, as well as receive, VoiceStream text messages," Dotson said.
Consistent with VoiceStream's GET MORE® price plans, text messaging is an affordable option for communicating. For an additional $2.99 per month - or less than one cent per message - customers can add 500 text messages to their service which can be used for incoming or outgoing messages, regardless of carrier network.
VoiceStream worked with InphoMatch, Inc., to make the service available for customers. The firm's InphoXchange gateway offers a stress-tested, carrier-grade service, entailing no technology risk and delivering the highest level of availability, scalability, reliability, and security. Its functionality includes feature mapping between different network protocols, billing and usage reporting mechanisms and tools to protect against security breaches and spam. The InphoXchange technology has been operational for more than four years, routing in excess of 3 billion messages during that time.
Lindsay Morio
T-Mobile USA Media Relations
425-383-4002
About T-Mobile USA, Inc.
Based in Bellevue, Wash., T-Mobile USA, Inc. is the U.S. wireless operation of Deutsche Telekom AG. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, approximately 150 million mobile customers were served by the mobile communication segments of the Deutsche Telekom group - 33.7 million by T-Mobile USA - all via a common technology platform based on GSM and UMTS, the world's most widely used digital wireless standards. T-Mobile USA's innovative wireless products and services help empower people to connect to those who matter most. Multiple independent research studies continue to rank T-Mobile among the highest in numerous regions throughout the U.S. in wireless customer care and call quality. For more information, please visit http://www.T-Mobile.com. T-Mobile is a federally registered trademark of Deutsche Telekom AG.
About InphoMatch
InphoMatch designs and develops interactive messaging solutions for the wireless marketplace. The company's patented technology eliminates the cross-carrier barrier for more than 700 million mobile devices on more than 400 wireless carriers worldwide. Delivering economic value to carriers and enterprises and convenience to consumers, InphoMatch sets the standard in messaging technology.