Mms Cross Networks

eoghanjordan

Anybody know when Voda users will be able to send MMS cross networks?

jesus_thats_gre

They will be able to. Just not at the moment.

Emmo

The main stumbling block is now technical implementation on both networks, the differing standards used by each operator are very very incompatable at the moment.

Emmo

eoghanjordan

Ah, so even when they sort out mms from Vodafone IRL to O2 IRL, it still won't work between IRL & UK?? (other other countries etc)

jesus_thats_gre

I would guess that Vodafone and O2 would both want customers to be able to send to their networks their other networks in other countries.

I am just guessing here, but I presume that their is only a certain amount of MMS solutions available, i.e. Nokia, Ericssons and a few others. Eventually, it will become pretty straight forward to ensure compatibility between these different services. I am just guessing but it sort of makes sense. Just a guess.

crowbar

the 30kb limit on vodafone's mmsc is the big stumbling block here in ireland for inter-operator mms.

the other, bigger problem is how the hell do you actually send mmses to other operators? mms is ip-based and doesn't go over the same ss7 links that inter-operator sms uses. i hear there are proposals on the table to use the gprs grx for mms traffic, but afaik right now they are just that - proposals.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by crowbar
mms is ip-based and doesn't go over the same ss7 links that inter-operator sms uses.

Only an issue if the media being 'sent' is uploaded to a server which is not on a public IP or on an intranet.

jesus_thats_gre

I think someone posted something previous about Vodafone and their Live service being hosted is the same way as an Intranet...

Vodafone’s WAP gateway has always been limited to an intranet. Even if they wanted to change that, they would have backward compatibility problems with handsets that are using false DNS’s to access Vodafone’s content.

I think it was you The Corintian. Considering that MMS utilises the WAP gatewat, would this be a major factor in the delay in getting cross network MMS?

crowbar

Originally posted by The Corinthian
Only an issue if the media being 'sent' is uploaded to a server which is not on a public IP or on an intranet.

you could presumably use nat to get around that problem. my point was more that (i would have thought) the operators would be quite reluctant to send inter-mmsc traffic over the public internet because there's no guaranteed quality of service. i mean, why does gprs roaming use an essentially parallel internet (ie. the grx) that each mobile operator is connected to, when there's already an existing public internet? because with a private network hosting a limited number of clients using a small number of well-defined services, you can more easily traffic engineer the links on the network and guarantee a certain level of service. operators wouldn't want a client roaming in australia to drop packets on a gprs call just because today there happens to be network congestion on links to australia due to a worm running rampant on the public internet, for example. (there are other reasons to use the grx too, like information security and exposure to hackers ...)

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
Considering that MMS utilises the WAP gatewat, would this be a major factor in the delay in getting cross network MMS?

wap is used by the mms handset to upload messages to and download them from your operator's mmsc. sending a message to someone with another operator involves your operator's mmsc routing your message to the destination operator's mmsc, so it's only the ip address of the mmscs that need to be real, public addresses. (looking at my phone's settings, o2 uses private addressing for their wap network too.)

The Corinthian

Originally posted by crowbar
wap is used by the mms handset to upload messages to and download them from your operator's mmsc. sending a message to someone with another operator involves your operator's mmsc routing your message to the destination operator's mmsc, so it's only the ip address of the mmscs that need to be real, public addresses. (looking at my phone's settings, o2 uses private addressing for their wap network too.)

The false IP may actually map to a real one for O2, as this previous thread discussed. If so, a recipient would have no difficulty downloading content.

I suspect that the reason for keeping things hidden behind an intranet have more to do with enforcing the single price-point for a MMS than any service guarantee.

wheresmybeaver

I was talking to a fella in O2 in Daunt square today and he said that you'd be able to send MMS cross network by Christmas, which sounds fairly realistic. September was a bit optomistic really!

O2 said as well that the T610 doesn't work with O2 to O2 MMS right at the moment, and it'll be fixed soon. I haven't sent any MMS yet as everyone I know with a camera phone are on Vodafone, can anyone confirm this?

Winters

I remember reading an article in a newspaper, The Irish Times at the beginning of the year. It said that o2 and Vodafone were going to introduce cross network MMS capability by April (2003). As expected, they are not on time but they seem to have been working on it for a while now.

A main reason they said in the article for the cross network cooperation was that being unable to send MMS from o2 to Vodafone was making the takeup of MMS enables phones lower then expected ...

Or so I recall

jesus_thats_gre

I was talking to someone yesterday and he suggested that it was being launched in the coming weeks.