Archive for the ‘Carriers’ Category

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.

Planned Maintenance – Alltel USA

We have been informed of maintenance that will affect our connection to Alltel USA.

Premium and Standard Rate traffic to and from Alltel USA subscribers will be delayed during the maintenance period. Clients will experience MT and MO SMS delays.

The maintenance work will be carried out at the following time:

2010-04-08 00:01 PDT to 00:50 PDT

MOs will be queued by Alltel USA. MTs will be queued by the 84444.com gateway and will be passed on after maintenance is complete.

Here is the current market share for cell phone carriers in the United States.

1. Verizon : 31.2%
2. AT&T : 25.0%
3. T-Mobile : 12.1%
4. Sprint : 12.1%
5. Tracfone : 4.8%
6. MetroPCS : 2.3%
7. US Cellular : 2.2%
8. Boost Mobile : 2.1%
9. Cricket : 1.7%
10. Virgin Mobile : 1.7%
Others : 5.0%

84444.com uses MX Telecom as its aggregator of carrier mobile data traffic.  84444.com congratulates both companies on the acquisition.  We have been told that it is business as usual and are happy that our competent team from MX Telecom will remain intact after the acquisition is completed.

Amdocs a leading provider of customer experience systems, has acquired MX Telecom, a leading mobile payments and messaging aggregator with operations in Europe, US and Australia. Under the terms of the agreement, Amdocs has acquired MX Telecom for approximately $104 million in cash, net of debt and cash.   MX Telecom is the aggregator that provides connections for 84444.com to

MX Telecom will become part of Amdocs’ OpenMarket, a business of Amdocs that operates a market leading mobile transaction hub. The acquisition accelerates OpenMarket’s plans for global expansion into key markets. The joint OpenMarket MX Telecom business will provide a hosted platform to extend mobile payment and messaging capabilities through an integrated network and product portfolio.
Jay Emmet, General Manager of OpenMarket, said, “This strategic acquisition expands OpenMarket’s global footprint and substantially increases our market leadership in the rapidly growing mobile payments market that will extend well beyond messaging in the coming years. In addition, it strengthens our product portfolio with an extensive set of value-added services for merchants.”

Alex Moir, Managing Director of MX Telecom, added: “We are delighted to be joining forces with OpenMarket. OpenMarket’s mobile payments platform is highly synergistic with MX Telecom. This acquisition will enable the combined organization to better serve our customers and accelerate our global growth plans. Our employees are proud of what MX Telecom has accomplished, and we look forward to continuing to shape the industry as part of the OpenMarket team.”

Brian Shepherd, President of Amdocs Interactive, expanded: “Amdocs is committed to the OpenMarket business and its global expansion. Amdocs’ deep relationships with service providers around the world, combined with the OpenMarket MX Telecom mobile transaction platform, have the power to transform the mobile services industry. As a hosted distribution channel for mobile services, OpenMarket enables service providers to efficiently use this channel to monetize emerging mobile services to brands, marketers, enterprises, and digital content providers.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Amdocs has acquired MX Telecom for approximately $104 million USD in cash, net of debt and cash. The impact of the acquisition on Amdocs’ non-GAAP earnings per share is expected to be modestly accretive in fiscal 2010. The impact on GAAP results in fiscal 2010 will not be known until after Amdocs completes the purchase price accounting for the acquisition. Amdocs may incur a one-time acquisition-related expense in the quarter ending March 31, 2010 to account for certain costs related to the acquisition.