T-Mobile on Instant Messaging

Mobile network operators are starting to focus - again - on instant messaging.

Last week Total Telecom reported on T-Mobile's plans for mobile instant messaging. It is understandable to see why T-Mobile's strategy of enabling mobile access to the Internet is now starting to heavily focus on IM, as the company can clearly see the potential that IM provides by offering a great opportunity to increase its ARPU.

ProcessOne's recent survey of 2,000 mobile users supported this by highlighting that 60% of users are willing to switch from text messaging to instant messaging provided they are sufficiently educated by the operator on how to use it and are provided with clear pricing.

It is great that T-Mobile is taking a positive view on IM, so hopefully other operators will follow suit to provide as broad and, importantly, as interoperable a service as possible. As indicated by our recent survey the key to mobile IM success is to enable users to communicate with each other in real-time irrespective of what device and network they are on.

You can get more details on the article from Total Telecom: Skype not relevant to us - T-Mobile CEO -