Telefonica to launch converged messaging

Spanish incumbent Telefonica’s mobile division plans to introduce an integrated messaging service that will alert users by SMS when they receive new e-mail. The system will also permit interworking between e-mail, SMS, MMS, IM and voice service, and allow users to upload the contents of their devices to a backup server.

The service is based on Openwave Systems’ Personal Digital Repository and IP Adaptive Messaging platform. According to Alfonso Perea Moraleda, senior manager of messaging services development at Telefonica Moviles, the carrier hopes the new service will act as a “loyalty link” to fight churn and also stimulate greater data usage.

The offering should also facilitate users who want to change device, by permitting painless transfer of personal information. Configuration – a routine problem for mobile e-mail users without a corporate IT department – should also be much simpler. Although the service resides in the core network, it is all-IP.

According to Moraleda, Telefonica chose the Openwave solution specifically because of its open and IP-oriented architecture. It is, however, independent of IMS and related technologies, although it is capable of integration with an IMS core network. An SS7-over-IP interface permits the read-out of e-mails as voice.

Although Telefonica considers it a value-added service, there are no plans to offer it to non-subscribers as a paid-for service. “We’re not an internet player – we don’t have a business model for that,” said Moraleda.