November 26, 2003
Operators Reinventing Home Phones to Compete with Mobiles
Taska Manzaroli of Dow Jones Newswires published on Yahoo, describes how European fixed-line operators are reinventing home phones to compete with the popularity of cell phones, by adding popular features such as SMS and picture messaging.
-- BT this month produced a corded phone capable of sending and receiving text messages
-- Deutsche Telekom unit T-Com is launching its first color screen handset with message capability in two weeks and is set to showcase a device with a built-in camera next year
-- France Telecom said last week it will market fixed picture messaging in the second half of 2004.
"But there are still technology issues to resolve. In Germany, a message to a fixed-line phone without SMS capability is delivered as a voice message, which can sometimes be difficult to discern. In the U.K., the message disappears unless it is sent to a compatible device. And with picture messaging, operators still have to ensure there is a uniform standard. "
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2003/11/002406.htm