Archive for the ‘Carriers’ Category

US Wireless subscriber connections have now reached 104.7%.  That’s more than 1 per person, thus exceeding the USA population, according to research released by CTIA.  There are now a total of 331.6 million mobile phones in the USA.

CTIA study shows a 12% increase in text messaging last year.

Total use of text messaging increased by 12% over the previous year.

Other highlights of the report are:

•  Wireless network data traffic more than doubled in the past year going from 866.7 billion megabytes (+ 123% over the previous year).
• Active smartphones and wireless-enabled PDAs: 111.5 million (+43%).
• Wireless-enabled tablets, laptops and modems: 20.2 million; Dec. 2010: 13.6 million (+49%).
• Minutes of Use (MOU): 2.296 trillion  (+2%)
• SMS sent and received: 2.304 trillion 2010: 2.052 trillion (+12%).
• MMS sent and received: 52.8 billion.  Surprisingly down from 56 billion the year before.
• Average local monthly wireless bill (includes voice and data service): $47.00 which is down 21 cents from last year.

When it comes to smartphones, minorities are more likely to own advanced telephones than Whites.

• 2/3 of Asians owns smartphones
• 57% of Hispanics own smartphones
• 54% of Blacks owns smartphones
• 45% of Whites own smartphones

Every advertisement or promotion of your interactive text message marketing program must include the following.

Message and data rates may apply

The carriers are beginning to crack down on advertising that does not include this message with the promotions.  It is critical that this message be included on all advertisements promoting your keyword and short code.

ALOHA: Mobi PCS joins 84444.com

84444.com knows that your business success depends on your mobile programs reaching the largest number of American consumers.  That’s why we are constantly striving to add new carriers to our portfolio.

We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of providing SMS short code services to Mobi PCS.  Formerly known as Coral Wireless, Mobi PCS is Hawaii’s largest local operator with over 60,000 subscribers.

Aloha Mobi PCS!

The United States announced today that it is contesting the impending AT&T Wireless and T-Mobile merger under grounds that it violates its anti-trust rules. No doubt, that the merger will not be good news for the USA consumer, as less competition in the mobile market would mean higher prices for consumers.

Currently, the four major mobile carriers have the followign subscribers.

• Verizon — 106.3 million
• AT&T — 98.6 million
• T-Mobile — 33.6 million
• Sprint — 52.1 million

The combined AT&T/T-Mobile company would become the dominant US cellular carrier. The Obama administration has vowed to fight the merger and has indicated that the previous administration had not done enough in this area.

T-Mobile has also come under fire recently for a text message T-Mobile trivia game that it is promoting.

Sprint added a short code surcharge on April 1, 2011.

The carriers certainly aren’t making it any easier for the text message marketing industry.

On April 1, 2011, Sprint, Nextel, and Boost began charging surcharges on all text message marketing sent from a short code.  Sprint’s actions follow up T-Mobile which did the same in the Fall of 2010.

T-Mobile Takes a Vacation

Important Notice: T-Mobile USA Campaign Freeze August 6 through August 23, 2010

Please be informed that T-Mobile USA will freeze all campaign submissions and certifications for two weeks starting at 5:00PM Pacific Time, August 6, 2010. The freeze will end at 9:00AM Pacific Time, August 23, 2010. During this period, new campaign creation, campaign status change requests, and message route edits in 3PG will be submitted to T-Mobile after the freeze is lifted.

Certification requests will continue to be submitted to T-Mobile, but the requests will not be processed until after the freeze ends on August 23. Certifications submitted during this period will be processed in order of submission. The freeze is part of T-Mobile’s migration from CoGa to the 3PG and SDG platforms.

Planned Maintenance on AT&T Mobility USA

AT&T Mobility USA have informed us of planned maintenance on their SMS billing platform.

Type: Carrier maintenance.
Partner Impact: Renewal notifications on AT&T Mobility USA will be delayed during the maintenance period. MT and MO traffic will not be affected.

The maintenance will be carried out at the following time:
2010-05-06 02:00 EDT to 09:00 EDT.

In the event of an outage, premium traffic to AT&T Mobility USA will be queued on the MX Telecom SMS gateway for delivery once maintenance has been completed.

Planned Maintenance – US Cellular

US Cellular have informed us of planned maintenance on their billing platform.

Premium rate SMS messages to US Cellular subscribers will be delayed during the maintenance period. These delays will last for approximately 20 minutes. Standard-rate MT messages and MO messages will not be affected.

The maintenance work will be carried out within the following times:

Pacific: 01:00 to 04:00 on 04/21/10

Eastern: 04:00 to 07:00 on 04/21/10

MT messages will be queued by the 84444 gateway and will be passed on after maintenance is complete.

Planned Maintenance – Verizon USA Binary

Impacted Services: Verizon USA Binary MTs.

Description: Partners may experience binary MT delays.

We have been informed of maintenance on Verizon’s binary SMS platform.

The maintenance will be carried out at the following time:

2010-04-13 05:00 EDT to 05:30 EDT.

Binary MTs sent to Verizon USA customers will be queued on the 84444.com gateway for delivery once maintenance has completed.