3ple-Media has revealed that the Philippines leading wireless services provider, Smart Communications, has installed its mobile multimedia platform Mercury, which incorporates WAP, Video, and the worlds largest MMSC (Multimedia Messaging service Centre).
The system is being run on high performance IBM System x servers and is capable of delivering over 1,000 MMS messages per second. The Mercury installation confirms Smarts belief in push mobile multimedia as the infotainment channel of choice for its 28.3 million subscriber base, says 3ple-Media.
News Bites is the first of a rolling programme of new multimedia services to be launched by Smart using the Mercury platform. The service includes headline topics, weather and horoscope information, in addition to well-positioned, precision-targeted advertising. Plans for future services launched with Mercury include live sports updates and customer relationship management services that make best use of continually updated knowledge of their subscribers behaviours, preferences and handset capabilities.
The Mercury platform allows operators such as Smart to take advantage of the holistic benefits of an end-to-end push multimedia environment in which they retain control of the lucrative and rapidly growing content value chain. Subscribers benefit from the powerful combination of relevant content with live broadcast delivery standards. The controlled environment also underscores inherent service assurances for subscribers such as anti-spam, virus protection and the opt-in preferences that they have come to expect from their operator.
3-ple Media adds that the Mercury platform breaks new ground in debunking the myth that mobile advertising cant provide the ROI and results-based analytics of online counterpart solutions. In reality, the company says, advertisers can wholly account for their spend, as the Mercury solution delivers complete campaign analysis as it happens, including the tracking of viral campaigns.
Danilo J. Mojica, Head of Smarts Wireless Consumer Division, says:
Mobile has become the single most powerful platform for directly communicating on a personal level with consumers. Advertisers budgets are shifting to communications vehicles with greater sales accountability, such as mobile. With solutions like 3ple-Medias Mercury platform, operators can occupy a significant position in the value chain of content, analytics and revenues.”
Smart expects mobile trends seen in SMS campaigns to translate well into the multimedia environment with high response to ads offering promotions, discounts, raffles and tips. The campaign building functionality within the Mercury platform not only translates to record delivery times for services but also supports a creative and collaborative environment in which Smart can build, manage and distribute its own content or work securely with third parties, such as brands and agencies, in developing compelling multimedia-rich services. The flexibility of this means that Smart and its tird-party content partners can utilise any combination of image, audio, text and video in developing new campaigns or services.
Earlier this week, Mercury won the GSM Associations Mobile Innovation Award for Most Innovative Carrier Infrastructure.