BEDMINSTER, New Jersey, United States—Through a deal with message interoperability company InphoMatch, Verizon Wireless is now the last of the nationwide, consumer-focused carriers to allow its users to send short message service (SMS) messages to subscribers of rival carriers using only a phone number.
Verizon said it will open its network to messaging with other wireless carriers as part of its much-advertised Mobile Messenger service. Customers will pay US$0.10 for sending and US$0.02 for receiving SMS messages from fellow Verizon customers or subscribers of other carriers.
AT&T Wireless Services in November became the first carrier to offer cross-carrier messaging. Cingular Wireless, Sprint PCS and VoiceStream Wireless followed soon after. Analysts have pegged messaging interoperability as one of the main reasons behind the massive growth in text messaging in Europe and Asia. Without network interoperability, it was either impossible to send messages to subscribers of another carrier, or customers had to type in recipients’ long and obscure carrier server addresses.
“We’ve long been a proponent of inter-carrier text messaging and know that the American consumer will appreciate our efforts to bring them a quality nationwide service that is easy to use, always-on and complements a mobile phone when it is inappropriate to talk or more convenient than having a voice conversation,” said John Stratton, Verizon’s vice president and chief marketing officer. “As the largest wireless carrier, we are positioned to make the biggest impact in the growing SMS market.”
Business-focused Nextel Communications has not announced message interoperability.
