OPTUS BRINGS MOBILE PICTURE MESSAGES TO AUSTRALIA

In another first, Optus today launched MMS (Multimedia Message Service) - the next generation of mobile messaging.

Taking a snapshot with your camera phone and sending it to a friend or business associate will now become a reality, giving people the ability to send full colour images, text and sound from their mobile phones.

Allen Lew, Managing Director of Optus Mobile, said that with the launch of MMS Optus has led the mobile market again with innovative mobile services that meet its customers' needs.

"We've seen the success of SMS, now for the first time consumers in Australia will be able to enjoy high resolution colour pictures, images, animation and sound as part of their mobile messaging experience.

"For many businesses there are real benefits in being able to take a picture and to instantly send it to an email address. For example, real estate agents taking digital photos of properties and sending them to potential buyers," Mr Lew said.

MMS is the first mass-market application Optus will provide to its colour handset users on its data network.

"Taking pictures of a birthday party, holiday snaps or a new baby and sending them to any email address or to your friends who have an MMS phone will prove popular.

"The beauty of MMS is that it is easy-to-use, it is low cost and by Christmas there will be a large variety of handsets available," Mr Lew said.

As a special introductory offer, Optus will provide MMS free to customers for one month, after that Optus MMS will cost 75 cents per message.

"This is great value. If a picture is worth a thousand words then for as little as three times the price of an SMS you can have a hundred times the fun," Mr Lew said.

Optus has built a special application giving customers a 'virtual' photo album hosted on the internet where they can send images and display them for friends to view.

If you don't have an MMS phone, but someone sends you an MMS, Optus will notify you via SMS that you have a picture waiting for you at a specified website.

"As customers begin using their mobile phones for data rather than just voice, applications such as MMS will play an important role for Optus driving mobile market share and increasing ARPU," he said.

Mr Lew believes person-to-person communication will drive MMS take-up by consumers. For business, MMS will be a powerful tool to speed sales and improve customer service.

People who want to take advantage of MMS will be able to buy an MMS-capable handset. Most feature full colour screens and many will have in-built cameras or camera attachments.

In the future, MMS handsets will also have the ability to run Java based applications such as games to coloured information pages as well as be able to play video.

Optus will launch MMS with two handsets with cameras by the end of the month into retail stores. The Nokia 7650 will retail for $1,209 outright or for $449 on a 24 month 99 Your Call Plan, while the Ericsson T68i with CommuniCam will retail for $639 outright or a $0 on a 24 month 99 Your Call Plan.

Optus MMS will be available to Optus contract customers on the Optus mobile network.

For more details contract:
Louise Ingram
Optus Corporate Affairs
Phone: (02) 9342 5042