Services

Services

With more than 3 billion people using GSM and approximately 80 percent of the world's population covered by mobile networks, GSM is fast becoming the preeminent way to deliver information, communication and entertainment services to people worldwide.

From the launch of traditional voice services in the early 1990s, the GSM family of technologies has become increasingly sophisticated and GSM networks now offer a wealth of mobile data and entertainment services. The growth of SMS (Short Messaging Service), also known as 'text messaging', continues, with an estimated one trillion messages sent globally in 2005. More advanced messaging services - such as MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), IM (Instant Messaging) and mobile email - offer users an even richer mobile messaging experience.

Mobile communications also has the opportunity to become the new personal entertainment and information medium of choice. Already dubbed the 'fourth screen,' after television, cinema and the PC, the industry is delivering a vast array of media rich content to users throughout the world. Such services include advanced mobile gaming applications, mobile music, and TV and video content.

For users, the mobile phone offers convenience, immediacy and personalisation. Such benefits have fostered the growth of location-based services and mobile commerce applications. Meanwhile users are also able to enjoy the experience of accessing Internet-style services on hundreds of thousands of WAP sites that contain much of the information and images found on the wider Internet.

Please click on the relevant service (see left sidebar) for specific details.

IN FOCUS Delivering the next generation of multimedia services The GSMA, along with its partners, has been driving the development and trials of new technology and commercial frameworks for the next generation of mobile multimedia services since 2005. A successful series of interoperability trials has been carried out based on the Session Initiation Protocol(SIP) and Internet Protocol Multimedia Services (IMS). The reconstruction and re-emergence of Iraq as a truly economically strong country is reliant on a number of key activities. Alongside humanitarian aid... More on this...

IN FOCUS Mobile Spam Code of Practice The Mobile Spam Code of Practice is a new initiative from the GSM Association (GSMA) and its member operators. It has been devised to protect the secure and trusted environment of mobile services to ensure customers receive minimal amounts of spam sent via SMS and MMS. The Code takes a firm stance on how to deal with mobile spam messages that are either fraudulent or unsolicited commercial messages... More on this...

IN FOCUS Micro-Payment Systems and their Application to Mobile Networks In many developing countries, particularly in rural areas, access to financial services is limited, resulting in a large percentage of the population operating on a cash only basis and outside of the formal banking system. However, the proliferation of mobile services in these countries has created a unique platform to provide financial services over the mobile network. In light of the growing size of international and national banking remittances, there is a great opportunity to capitalise on the benefits of such a system... More on this...