Happy days for Verizon Wireless and Sprint customers have arrived. Like recent announcements between other mobile service providers regarding the sharing of MMS data, the two companies today said they had inked a deal to allow their two user bases to do the same.
The agreement specifically will allow customers of Verizon Wireless and Sprint to exchange picture and video messages with one another directly. The MultiMedia Messaging Service agreement will find Mobile 365 providing the interoperability for Verizon Wireless customers and VeriSign for Sprint customers. Mobile 365 and VeriSign support the CDMA2000 1X network standard used by the two carriers.
Pierre Barbeau, general manager of Picture Mail for Sprint, noted: “All carriers in the wireless industry are moving towards picture-sharing interoperability because it will allow usage to grow, just as it did for SMS text messaging. Interoperability also makes it easier for customers to stay in touch with their family and friends, no matter which wireless provider they choose.”
Jim Straight, vice president of wireless, Internet and multimedia for Verizon Wireless, said: “Inter-carrier text messaging has proliferated in the marketplace since it was introduced a few years ago and we believe multimedia messaging between customers on different wireless networks has the same potential. Our customers across the country have embraced picture messaging, and now they can enjoy sending and receiving multimedia messages with Sprint’s wireless customers.”
