How to Migrate your ShortCode

Migrate Your Existing Campaigns

Complete the Master Service Agreement and US PSMS Addendum.

Full payment of account set up, service and short code fees is required.

Provide letter or email to your account representative confirming shortcode(s) migrating to txtNation with current aggregator acceptance of migration.

You will receive notification once pre-provisioning of commercial code(s) is completed with an anticipated cut over
date.

If you are not ready to test application by the cutover date, the standard campaign provisioning process will apply.

Continued.. Step to launching a US Premium SMS Campaign

Test your connection
Test your application using the provided test code, keyword and “Implementation Guidelines” document.

For US PSMS your application and web site and URL should be tested and fully functional at time of submission to Sprint and Cingular and within four (4) weeks of campaign submission for all other carriers. US carriers require certification testing prior to launch.

For Canada PSMS your application and web site should be tested and fully functional within two (2) weeks of campaign submission.

Failure to meet these time frames may result in postponement of your campaign launch.
After you have received positive acknowledgement from the txtNation certification team that your campaign has been certified, you can launch your campaign.

2 Steps To Interconnect With txtNation And Launch Your Campaign

Complete the txtNation Agreement and USA PSMS (Your chosen US Premium SMS services) Addendum.

Full payment of account set up, service and short code fees is required.
You will receive a welcome package confirming your account details and log on information for your order.

Procurement Tool
Download the relevant documentation for the product and interface you chose found in the technical guides.

If you obtained your shortcode(s) directly from Neustar be sure to include your Neustar ID. If you have questions contact your Account Manager.

"Opt-In" and "Opt-Out" Nature of a Premium SMS Service in the US

Legal Issues
You must ensure that each User receiving Premium SMS Text Messages has "Opted-In" for receiving Premium SMS Text Messages. You must also ensure, that the User can easily "Opt-Out" of such a service as well.

Best Implementation
Users need to initially send an SMS Text Message into a Short Code "Send-In" number. (For sending in this SMS Text Message, the User will pay their normal text messaging price). This confirms a user has "Opted-In" for the service you are offering. With a User's consent, if you are running a subscription service, you are then entitled to keep on sending Premium SMS Text Messages to that User, as long as the User can somehow "Opt-Out" of the service at any stage. At a minimum the user must be able to "Opt-Out" by sending an SMS Text Message "Opting-Out" of your service or emailing your customer support address or, in certain cases, calling your live customer support toll free number.

Steps to launching your Premium SMS service in the US

Before launching a Premium SMS Service in the US, the following issues need to be understood, addressed and implemented:

* "Opt-In" and "Opt-Out" Nature of a Reverse Billing Service
* Premium SMS Users need to be on the correct Carrier
* Mobile Terminated versus Mobile Originated Reverse Billing
* Keyword or Short Code Approach?
* Incomplete Revenue Outpayments & Separate Accounts
* Advertising & Pricing Issues with Premium SMS Services
* Billing Cycles and Contract Duration
* How to run a "Subscription" Premium SMS Service
* How to run a "Two-Way" Premium SMS Service
* 8-Bit Smart Messaging and Multi-Part SMS issues
* Technical Connection Issues and Limitations
* Codes of Practice
* Account Setup
* Service Level Agreement and Support

PSMS US (Premium SMS US).

Premium SMS US for Interactive TV Voting Snapshot

One of the great success stories in the mobile commerce and advertising space has been the success of SMS interactive TV voting via Premium SMS. The text-to-vote category was one of the first places mobile marketing began to take shape in the European market, and in the United States, the success of mobile Premium SMS voting has created a great deal of excitement about the ability to connect with consumers via their mobile phones. American Idol alone said it had more than 600 million votes for contestants in its sixth season and more than 74 million on its season finale.

PSMS USA (Premium SMS USA).

Reality TV Driving Premium Sms USA Revenues

Telephia has published a report which says that premium SMS USA (PSMS USA) revenues totaled more than US$273 million, making up 32 percent of mobile content revenue in Q1 2007. Download purchases paid for via premium SMS (at off-portal storefronts) totaled nearly US$215 million, accounting for 79 percent of premium SMS USA revenue. These off-portal storefront purchases include content such as ringtones and horoscopes.

Voting/sweepstakes entries generated more than US$35 million. While voting/sweepstakes entries generated only 13 percent of total revenues for premium SMS transactions, they represented 47 percent of premium SMS volume, equaling more than 34 million transactions.

"Premium text messaging continues to be an additional way to reach consumers directly - off the carrier decks. Premium SMS in USA has grabbed a healthy slice of the mobile content market, accounting for an off-portal share of 32 percent," said Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of mobile media, Telephia. "Moreover, marketers are experimenting beyond the standard rate SMS voting pioneered by American Idol and tapping into premium SMS with voting/sweepstakes campaigns. NBC's Deal or No Deal has translated into a Premium SMS US hit, generating nearly half of the volume and revenue of voting/sweepstakes entries in the first quarter of 2007."

Premium SMS Transaction Volume and Revenue Share (U.S.)

Category Type	Volume Share	# of Transactions (000)	Revenue Share	Total Q1 2007 Revenue
Off-portal Storefront Purchases	40%	29,544	79%	$214.9M
Voting/Sweepstakes Entries	47%	34,716	13%	$35.4M
Other*	6%	4,208	6%	$17.4M
Chat/Community	7%	5,497	2%	$5.7M

Source: Telephia Premium SMS Report and Telephia Attitudes and Behavior Survey, Q1 2007

txtNation to Deliver Significant Enhancements to Enable Service Providers to Deliver Leading Services (Premium SMS USA).

txtNation, a leading provider of mobile messaging and billing solutions, today announced the first timescale for the likely rollout of Version 5.1 of it’s multi award winning Control Panel (CP 5.1). This new release of txtNation’s messaging and processing platform is designed to simplify transactions between mobile content providers and individual consumers. The platform delivers a highly scalable system architecture that enables significant improvement in the integrity of the financial data associated with mobile transactions.

txtNation’s innovative platform features new capabilities that will enable automated authorisation for digital content transactions, additional online resources for mobile commerce management, and expanded support for further countries / enhancements to the platform offer digital content providers an alternative to the traditional approach of legacy aggregators for processing inbound transactions. Unlike legacy systems, txtNation’s Control Panel Version 5.1 inbound and outbound requests and statistical break down section is now modelled after large-scale processing systems such as those used by credit card clearing houses and online retailers.

PSMS USA (Premium SMS USA).

Staying in touch with what the U.S. carriers want...

Alltel:

· The use of the word ‘free’ in SMS campaign advertising is not permitted at this time by Alltel.

· Alltel’s holiday provisioning freeze schedule is still pending release from the carrier. Stay tuned.

· Daily/Weekly Subscriptions will no longer be supported by Alltel. Any subscription based programs must be billed on a monthly basis. Programs that are currently running will be grandfathered in. With the exception that any additional programs submitted will follow the new guidelines.

· Going forward, Alltel’s monthly price point cap is $9.99 (For Premium SMS USA services).

at&t Mobility (formerly Cingular O/B):

· AT&T will have holiday provisioning freezes between 11/20/2007 – 11/25/2007 and 12/24/2007 – 01/03/2009

Cellular One:

· Cellular One will have holiday approval and provisioning freeze over the dates of 11/26/2007 – 11/30/2007 and 12/24/2007 – 01/02/2008.

Sprint/Nextel/Boost:

· Boost is not accepting weekly campaigns at this time, only daily or monthly.

· Chat is being regulated at a $0.99 per message rate, higher price points are not currently being approved by the carrier.

· Daily subscriptions will not be approved at a tariff higher than $0.99/day ($30/month) moving forward.

· Per Sprint, any campaign submissions which are controversial or political in nature should call this out in the program overview/description

· Video downloads are being reviewed and approved on a case-by-case basis. The maximum size for Sprint approval consideration is 100kb

· All standard rate binary content is being reviewed for approval on a case-by-case basis. Please note, the likelihood of approval is slim.

· Holiday provisioning freezes will begin 11/21/2007 – 11/25/2007, other freezes will be 12/23/2007 – 01/02/2008 and 01/20/2008 – 01/21/2008.

T-Mobile:

· All promotional websites (whether staging or live) must have the look and feel of a website in production at the time of carrier review for approval.

· Reminder: T-Mobile does not support short codes longer than 5-6 digits at this time.

· T-Mobile holiday provisioning timelines may double during the holidays, however, there are no set freezes at this time.

US Cellular:

· No Updates at This Time

Verizon:

· Verizon will have holiday provisioning freezes on the following dates 11/21/2007 – 11/23/2007, 12/24/2007 – 12/26/2007, & 12/31/2007 – 01/02/2008.

Virgin:

· Virgin does not support short codes longer than 5-6 digits at this time

· Virgin will have holiday freezes for approval and provisioning on the following dates 11/28/2007 – 12/03/2007 and 12/24/2007 – 01/02/2008.

Highlights:

· Reminder: All promotional websites must for Premium SMS USA must be MMA compliant and meet carrier specific guidelines prior to submission for approval. We have seen an increase in the number of carrier rejections across the board for this reason.

mBILL's Direct Connections to Mobile Operators (Premium SMS USA)

From the largest consumer brands, to media companies, to the smallest enterprises seeking to launch programs in the mobile channel, txtNation delivers complete mobile messaging and financial capabilities that power mobile commerce business. txtNation provides the most reliable connections to mobile operators and delivers proven technology for managing Premium and Standard Rate programs that demand high performance server uptime, message delivery and high volume throughput, resulting in improved profitability and mobile commerce success.

mBILL Platform for Premium SMS in the USA

mBILL core Premium SMS USA features:

• Bill end-users for receiving SMS Text Messages
The mBILL Platform (IR-Web) is a sophisticated gateway platform with the ability to send automated Premium SMS messages. With direct connections to wireless carriers, we can deliver text messages to all top US carriers and many international destinations who support Premium SMS.

• Let us handle Subscriber Management
txtNation has built a sophisticated permission management system to meet the ever changing carrier requirements. The system allows customers to implement a per-carrier business logic to deal with opt-in, help, opt-out, capping of monthly charges, phone number changes, refunds, etc. The mBILL Permission Systems is integrated with the mBILL gateway platform and handles carrier requirements in a fully transparent way. Our customers need not worry about implementing carrier specific rules into their applications. txtNation will handle it for them.

• Generate immediate revenue with a variety of tariff rates
txtNation supports all tariff rates of all carriers, giving customers the flexibility to decide which tariff is best suited for their premium service. The charge to the end-user appears on their monthly mobile phone bill, or is deducted from their pre-paid credit.

• Select your own Common Short Code
Premium SMS requires the use of a 5 or 6 digit Common Short Code. These short codes are more easily memorable than premium rate numbers. txtNation's routing platform fully supports routing based on Common Short Codes.

• Dynamic reverse number look-up
Customers no longer need to ask their end-users which wireless carrier they are subscribed to. We can look up the carrier based on phone number and route the messages accordingly. txtNation also provides customers with a look-up interface that allows them to query the carrier information without sending a text message. The results are guaranteed correct, even when the end-user has ported his existing number to a different carrier. You will never lose your customer again!

• Integrated with most operating systems
The IR-We platform is accessible through the public Internet by either submitting requests or, for the advanced SMS application developers, SMPP requests. This allows your existing Unix, Linux, or Windows systems to integrate easily with the gateway platform.

• Multipart SMS messaging for long text messages
The IR-WEB platform fully supports message concatenation for sending text messages that are longer than the maximum text limit (typically 160 characters). These different message parts are automatically glued back together by the receiving phone.

• Support for SMS ringtones, operator logos, group graphics, picture messaging, and EMS
The mBILL platform is capable of sending any of the above content types to end-users’ phones. Some of the content types require specific handsets. The end-user is billed when they actually receive the content on their phone (note: subject to carrier approval.).

• Support for MMS
The QMP platform supports the sending and billing of MMS messages. Through the industry standard MM7 SOAP API, customers can submit their MMS content, or a link to the content to us, and we take care of the delivery and the billing. The billing is completed through a Premium SMS transaction following successful download of the MMS content. (note: subject to carrier approval.)

• Ability to bill for WAP content download
Customers can now bill end-users for WAP content (such as Java games, polyphonic ringtones, true tones, etc.). The transaction is initiated with a WAP Push message, which gets Premium charged to the end-user’s phone bill. (note: subject to carrier approval.)

• Integrated billing solution WEB content
Through txtNation's integrated mPUSH solution, web content providers can now bill end-users for premium content, accessible through their website.

• End-to-end solution for interactive television
Use Premium SMS to allow your viewers to participate in a live television event. Give them the possibility to vote, to chat, to voice their opinions, to play games, etc. The possibilities are endless. txtNation offers a full end-to-end solution for broadcasters and producers who want to embed text messaging into their programs and turn also-ran content into leading edge productions, driven by the audience.

• Full and detailed reporting
txtNation provides full and detailed reporting of all messages processed by the platform. Our CP, Control Panel access gives you the full transparency that you need to effectively manage your Premium SMS campaigns.

AT&T SMS Campaign Certification

AT&T has implemented a new campaign for Premium SMS USA for the certification process effective immediately:

Your applications must be LIVE when your short code is provisioned with AT&T. At a minimum, the short code must respond to messages and have an informational website available.

Campaign short codes that fail certification testing will be re-tested in 5 business days. We will notify you if your campaign fails certification testing by AT&T so you can make the appropriate corrections within the allotted time period.

If the short code fails re-test, AT&T will reject the campaign and de-provision the short code on the 6^th day.

To re-submit a de-provisioned campaign, you must re-submit your campaign application again.

Certification testing is expected to begin within 10 days of campaign approval by AT&T. Essentially, campaigns will now be provisioned and certified in a single step by AT&T, instead of in two steps as before. Therefore it is essential that campaigns be ready for certification testing when submitted.

If you have any questions, please contact your account representative.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Best Premium SMS USA Shortcode Practices

BEST PRACTICES: Operating a Successful Campaign

Common Short Codes (CSC) showcase the power of mobile communications by highlighting the versatility of wireless as more than a voice portal. CSCs present an unlimited array of contact possibilities all focused on increasing interaction with mobile consumers. CSCs help establish a two-way conversation with the people that matter most. your customers.

There are some critical points to keep in mind when creating and implementing an effective CSC program. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but each of these recommendations is important to the overall success of your campaign.

Get Subscribers/Promotion

*	Mobile interaction does not stand alone; rather it leverages other forms of communication including print, radio, television, online, and out of home advertising.
*	All advertising and promotional material must clearly indicate if the service is a subscription.
*	Subscription terms and billing intervals must be specified/disclosed to customer.
*	Clearly communicate all material terms and conditions of the program.
*	Service Pricing information is clearly and conspicuously indicated.
*	All advertising, promotional material, and service Help message clearly display the opt-out information.
*	The service is not promoted as "free" when premium fees are associated with the service that the subscriber will pay with a reasonable level of participation in the program.

Get Permission

*	It is vital to respect a wireless subscriber's right to privacy. ALWAYS gain permission from the people you plan to engage by employing an opt-in procedure.
*	Gaining permission saves money. Each message sent costs money. Ensuring the customer wants to receive messages avoids any waste of your marketing budget.
*	Sending unsolicited messages creates a negative impression and erodes brand recognition; prompting subscribers to avoid the service and file complaints.
*	Avoid purchasing lists of numbers; always have customers opt-in and subscribe to receive content. For applications that require payment, create double opt-in process for subscribers that ensure willing participation.

Get Creative

*	CSCs enable a host of possible applications, limited only by the ability to design and build the mechanisms to support the programs. There are however, three broad categories of campaigns: 1) Promotional, 2) Informational, and 3) Marketing.
*	Review business goals and objectives. It is likely that more than one type of campaign will be applicable. Examples of each of these campaigns are contained in the "Case Study section of the website.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Premium SMS USA . How to Start?

USA Premium SMS Service & Cross Network Short Codes.

All Carriers:

MT-billing. End-users pay standard rate charge to send a text message to the short code. No revenue share on the MO message. Adult services are not permitted. Please contact your Connection Software sales representative for further information regarding service limitations. Short code charges are for 5 digit codes obtained from Premium SMS USA short code registry. Costs for unique network specific codes are additional. Please contact your Connection Software Sales representative.

No commercial decision has been made by Sprint whether binaries (specifically ringtones and wallpapers) will be supported on premium SMS and associated payouts.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

The leading Premium SMS USA platform.

mBILL, txtNation's provides gateway connectivity services for you to reach every major North American wireless carrier and hundreds of millions of mobile consumers worldwide for both Premium SMS USA (PSMS USA) and Non-Premium SMS USA services.

Our mature carrier relationships and reputation for reliability, performance and service allow you to get to market as efficiently and competitively as possible. We take care of the technical and commercial complexities of message delivery and billing so you don't have to. The world of mobile content moves quickly - with txtNation and their leading mBILL platform you won't be left behind.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Alltel Subscription Periods and Price Cap

Alltel has revised their policies regarding subscription periods and pricing effective immediately:

1. Daily / weekly subscriptions are no longer allowed. Moving forward, only monthly subscriptions will be supported by Alltel.

2. Price points higher than $9.99 will only be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Content providers must clearly define the value of content at higher price points.

Existing approved campaigns will be grandfathered in, but all new campaigns must meet these new requirements. Campaigns currently in process will be reviewed and if they do not meet these new guidelines, you will be notified by your account manager.

Please contact your Account Representative if you have any questions.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Verizon Wireless Monthly Spending Cap

Please be reminded that the Verizon Wireless monthly spending cap of $100 is based on a calendar month – and not based on when a user signs up for a subscription, i.e. subscription start date.

For example:
Suppose a subscriber signs up for a chat service on August 28^th. Since the spending cap is $100/month, the subscriber can spend $100 between that date and the 31st of August.

On September 1, the spending cap is reset to $100, and the subscriber can consume up to $100 through the end of September, Sept 30.

Verizon Wireless has detected an increasing number of errors of this type. Please examine your application and modify as necessary immediately.

Please contact your Account Representative if you have any questions.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Premium SMS... Defined

Premium SMS / Reverse Charge SMS is the smartest way to make micro-payments for products and services. Charge for access, charge for information, charge for ringtones or logos, sms voting - how you use reverse charge SMS - is your choice!

It's a well documented challenge, how to build valuable, and profitable revenue streams. Yet most companies offering premium content are struggling to find a workable business model. Most use credit or debit card transactions, and have little success - with fraud, lazy customer attitudes, and the hassle of integrating secure solutions or the un-professionalism of outsourced payment solutions - it's hard to find a way to move forward.

Premium SMS in the USA has never been easier...

Let us introduce txtNation's Premium SMS, powered by mBILL. This is a unique solution offering a discrete, unbranded, secure and instant payment solution that can be integrated within any system or service you have to offer.

• Shared shortcodes available with instant keyword setup.

• Range of tariffs available on our shared shortcodes, along with dedicated shortcodes if required.

• Multiple actions on receipt of messages:
  
  HTTP PUSH - Pushing the information and contents of the SMS to any internet
  based server
  
  REPLY WITH STANDARD MESSAGE - Reply to the inbound SMS with a normal
  outbound SMS
  
  REPLY WITH CHARGED MESSAGE - Charge the recipient for receipt of outbound
  SMS.
  
  SMS TO EMAIL - Forward the contents of the SMS onto any email address of your
  choice.
  
  CONTENT PUSH - On receipt of a correctly formatted inbound message, we can
  delivery a whole host of the latest mobile phone content, including ringtones,
  logos, mobile backgrounds, games and more!
  
• We also provide instant real-time statistics, free of charge, detailing all reverse charge SMS messages sent through our service.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Neustar SMS Changes

You used to be able to squeeze an extra month or so out of the normal short code rental period by renewing after the official expiration date. No later. Neustar has changed its policy and will now start the new renewal period from the expiration date regardless of when you actually renew the short code.

Example:
Expiration date: November 1
Code Renewal date: December 1
New Renewal Period starts November 1

Under the old policy the new renewal period would start on December 1st, saving you 1 month of short code costs.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

ShortCodes USA

For clients who intend to provide a range of different mobile services; want a unique, customised or easy to remember number; expect a high monthly volume of messages or want to offer more complex two-way services - a dedicated short code is for you.

We will help you set up your own dedicated short code and a billing account with the Mobile Carriers with fast application and implementation.

Once the short code is set up, you will own the short code, xxxxx and can assign a tariff rate to the message. Messages sent to xxxxx are forwarded to you and as all short codes are MO or MT billed (dependent on the country), messages are charged to the user when they are successfully delivered to the handset or on the user sending. With the dedicated short code option you can even choose the number of your required code.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

US Premium SMS Revenues

Telephia released the first ever study on Premium SMS in the USA. Over the course of the first quarter of 2007, a total of 74 million premium SMS transactions were processed across all carriers, for a total retail value of $273 million.

A couple of interesting statistics:

• Mobile content downloads dominate in value (79% of total revenue). Average premium transaction value is $7.27
  
• Off-portal content downloads now account for 32% of all mobile content downloads.
• TV based voting and sweepstakes account for 47% of total volume, but that total is probably based on a few stand out hits like 'Deal or No Deal', who accounts for half of that volume. Average premium transaction value is $1.
  
• Based on Q1 results, we can now safely say that 2007 Premium SMS USA revenues will exceed $1 billion.

Here are some thoughts about these numbers:

• The high transaction value associated with mobile content ($7.27) clearly indicates that the vast majority of all mobile content downloads is charged on a monthly subscription basis. If that is the case, roughly 10 million users are currently signed for monthly subscriptions, or about 4% of all mobile subscribers in the US.
• Furthermore, if we assume that binary content subscriptions (ringtones, wallpapers, games, etc.) typically cost $9.99 per month, where as pure text subscriptions (horoscopes, jokes, etc.) cost $4.99, it follows that 54% of all mobile content subscribers sign up for text alerts, and 46% sign up for ringtones.
• It is clear that most premium sweepstakes and voting contests run at a $0.99 price point.
• It is interesting to see that voting+content account for over 90% of all revenues. This means that other premium sms categories such as chat, dating, and micropayments haven't really taken off yet. This is hardly surprising given the limited support amongst carriers as well as the severe restrictions that some carriers are imposing on such programs.

Control Panel Access (CP5)

If you are a current client: please view all your PSMS US traffic online at CP5:
http://cp.txtnation.com.

Making Premium SMS USA Pay

In Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, many wireless subscribers swear by premium SMS services. What will make U.S. subscribers clamor for fee-based content?

In Tokyo, Yumi Shimbun relies on premium short message service (SMS) for fashion tips, horoscopes, daily news about her favorite celebrities, and help with her homework.

In the United Arab Emirates, Leila Al Zarad downloads ring tones and games to her mobile phone regularly. She also subscribes to a daily service that sends her a text alert when it's time to pray.

In London, Jane Murray credits premium SMS with helping her lose 11 pounds. Murray participated in a BBC offering that provided dieters a forum to compare the results and effects of various diet plans, in conjunction with a BBC television show called "Diet Trial." Users received daily diet tips and could interact directly with show guests.

Making SMS a Must-Have

All three women agree that their mobile phones are their "No. 1 essential tool for living," as Shimbun puts it. But tell one about the services the other two use on their phones and the response is, at best, a polite yawn.

Compelling content that is also targeted to a particular regional or consumer market is the key to making premium SMS sell well anywhere, says Forrester research fellow Lisa Pierce.

"Content that is valuable, that enhances a user's life, that provides useful information or enjoyment will be a revenue driver," she says. "But looking at, say, the Asian market for specific ideas on what will work in North America isn't a good idea. The physical infrastructure is different, consumers' interests vary widely ... all this is obvious but sometimes gets lost in the rush to deliver services."

To come up with compelling content, you have to know your customers.

Al Zarad and Shimbun say they wouldn't be interested in the sort of diet service Murray swears by. Meanwhile, Al Zarad, 22, has "absolutely no interest" in horoscopes. Murray, 24, says she very occasionally reads them in the paper. Shimbun, 18, says she and all her friends couldn't live without their SMS horoscopes.

"A lot of people subscribe to more than one horoscope service, so they have a consensus on what their day will be like," Shimbun explains. "It's a weather report for your life; you just have to have it."

The only premium mobile service all three women use regularly with equal enthusiasm are downloadable ring tones.

The Keyword Is 'Compelling'

Last May at the Consect Global Wireless Summit held in New York, providers pondered whether the American market would adopt or eschew premium SMS.

Premium SMS certainly seems like an ideal vehicle to deliver appealing content offerings. It not only enables the instant delivery of exclusive content, services, and entertainment, but it also converts a phone into a credit card of sorts, allowing users to purchase goods by dialing a number or simply pointing their phones at products or vending machines.

Enpocket, based in New York, is developing a premium SMS service that would allow users to purchase event tickets. For a moderate service fee and the cost of the ticket, an image with a bar code would be delivered to a user's phone. The bar code could then be scanned to gain entrance to the event.

Premium SMS can also allow for micropayments—sums less than a dollar—to view online content or participate in contests, polls, or other activities. Because of the associated processing fees, credit cards aren't a viable medium for these tiny transactions. By comparison, adding a 50-cent charge to a user's mobile phone bill is convenient and affordable.

"But don't assume that you need to get a cut of every single service your users access," warns Pierce. "(NTT) DoCoMo has been successful in partnering with companies offering high-value or obviously popular premium SMS services. But there are many, many offerings that DoCoMo doesn't get a percentage of. The point is that all those offerings have enhanced the value of the overall service, and that's where DoCoMo sees its profit."

The company knows when to charge, and how much, to keep customers coming back for more.

"Don't be a gatekeeper," Pierce advises. "You can't own a piece of every service you offer. Nextel is another example of a company that's doing it right."

If You Build It, Will They Pay?

But will U.S. users pay any fee for SMS content, no matter how small? In parts of Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, mobile phone subscribers quickly embraced premium SMS. But U.S. customers are currently getting used to standard text messaging, and experts at the Consect Global Wireless Summit agreed that it would behoove the industry as a whole to get premium SMS up and running now, before customers become too accustomed to getting their text for free.

"The Internet was free for so long that it's incredibly difficult now to add a fee structure to content," says Okinawa-based Internet business analyst Hidero Hokai. "Even in Japan, people will not pay for Internet content that they access over their computer, but are happy to pay for the same content when viewed on their phone screens. No one here ever got used to receiving free premium content on their phone."

According to the Shosteck Group, a consulting firm, the average premium text message could generate as much as 6 to 10 times the revenue of a standard text message. In a June 2003 study, Shosteck analysts predicted that premium SMS will account for about 12 percent of gross revenue from non-voice services by 2007, particularly for GSM operators in Europe and Asia.

Virtually every industry analyst agrees that premium SMS will be the next big thing—assuming carriers, solutions vendors, and content developers team up to create quick and easy ways to access targeted, useful, irresistible products and services.

Forrester's Pierce concludes: "The big question is not whether customers will pay for content, but whether they will pay for the content that's offered."

Article taken from: http://www.sun.com/br/comms_1021/feature_sms.html

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

Verizon limits Premium SMS tariff to $9.99

Verizon Wireless announces an important change to their handling of new premium SMS campaigns. Effective immediately, the maximum price point available for new premium short code based campaigns will be $9.99.

This change only applies to new campaigns that are submitted to Verizon for approval. Campaigns that are currently running on price points higher than $9.99 can continue to do so.

Find out more at mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.

New AT&T Branding Guidelines

With immediate effect, AT&T no longer allows the use of its logos and trademarks by off-portal content providers and aggregators. This means that all official branding logos and AT&T registered trademarks MUST BE REMOVED IMMEDIATELY from all consumer facing materials, such as websites, brochures, advertising, etc.

In promoting products and services, content providers should make it clear that they are the sole provider of services. Promotional material should not imply that AT&T provides the service, but only that your service can be purchased by AT&T subscribers.

Any reference to AT&T needs to be made using plain text.

AT&T's auditing partner, Accenture, will start auditing 3rd party websites and advertising for infringement of the above rules within 2 weeks.

Please make sure to remove all infringing AT&T references from your promotional materials asap to avoid possible cancellation of your short codes.

Find out more at: mBILL: www.m-bill.net. Contact us at: sales@txtnation.com.